Author: Sally Green
# of Pages: 394 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and sixteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his seventeenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch—or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust—not even family, not even the girl he loves?
Review: I received a lot of grief for reading this book. Everyone who found out I was reading it told me it was a bad book or thought that a story about witches was ridiculous.
It was interesting that Green decided to call these all of these magical beings, regardless of gender, "witches" as it is more common (somewhat more accepted by society) to call the males wizards. But to each their own. Despite the criticize my friends had for this book, it's not half bad (see what I did there?). Especially for an author's first book, the story was actually quite interesting for a book that I expected to be a cliche paranormal-romance.
What I liked the most about that book is, although there is an underlying romantic plot, the story is mostly driven by Nathan's bond he has with his family and the way he refuses to believe in social norms. His character is rough, snarky, yet likable and definitely well developed.
Half Bad is an easy, quick read (especially since I spent the past year only reading classics...). While it did exceed my expectations, it did not reach the level of depth I am searching for in a book. I can't think of comparable books right now (perhaps Amanda Hocking's books? or Shatter Me?), but if you are looking for a read that has a plot that is simple to understand, this is a good book for you. As for me, I don't plan on reading the rest of the series.
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