Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Penguin Books Ltd, Hardcover (Signed Edition).
Description
In modern-day England, where witches live alongside humans, Nathan, son of a White witch and the most powerful Black witch, must escape captivity before his seventeenth birthday and receive the gifts that will determine his future.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Angela7546
Being a huge Harry Potter fan, I was more than delighted to stumble across Half Bad by Sally Green. It's a tale that resembles the wizarding world in the popular fantasy series but is also very different in every possible ways. I agree with the hype around this book that it is an impressive debut
Summary:
Sets in modern England, the story chronicles the coming-of-age journey of teen protagonist Nathan Byrn, a Half Blood (Half Code) with a White Witch mother and a Black Witch father. Since birth, Nathan has been labeled an abomination because Black Witch is viewed as evil and wicked. They are meant to be hunted and killed, especially for Nathan's father Marcus Edge, the most powerful and notorious Black Witch of all time.
After the death of his mother Cora, Nathan and his step-siblings are placed under the guardianship of his Gran. While struggles to live a secluded life under constant scrutiny from the Council of White Witches (governing organization for the White Witch community), Nathan entangles in a forbidden romance with Annalise O'Brien, a beautiful young Whet (underage witch) from a pure White Witch bloodline. And soon after the exposure of this taboo relationship and increasing restrictions adopted by the Council, Nathan abandons home and embarks on a perilous adventure to seek his true heritage and to explore the real meanings of good and bad.
My Thoughts:
The premise itself is brilliant and extremely intriguing. Although mostly narrated in first-person perspective, the book commences with second person tense, which is uncommon and instantly grabs the reader's attention. It's the perfect setting and tone to be immersed into the depressing and horrible reality of Nathan's confinement in a cage.
The author's compelling and alluring writing style is an excellent complement to the gripping storyline. Character development is decent, and I quickly got attached to Nathan, which isn't usually the case for me when it comes to a male protagonist. His life is full of unfair treatments, discouraging hardships, and heartbreaking circumstances, yet Nathan is determined to overcome these obstacles and prejudice. How can I not like and root for such a strong, uplifting character.
I loved the characters and plot in this story but not the magical world that the author created. Unlike the fascinating world that I came to adore in Harry Potter, the setting is plain, boring, and unappealing in Half Bad. There are not much details or back-stories provided, and everything is pretty vague when it comes to witchcraft and magic. I would love to learn more about the Council, the history of the feud between the two groups of witches, and the significance of Marcus and the Fairborn.
And what disappointed me the most is the lack of actual magic. It's a book full of witches, hunters, potions, and healing powers, yet there is hardly any magic used or talked about in the story. Even for the elite group of Hunters, employed by the Council to catch Black Witch, they use guns as weapons instead of magic and wands (or some special voodoo spells).
The pacing in this book can get very strange at times. The beginning is fast-paced, interesting, and engaging, then it drags out for pretty much the rest of the story and eventually ends with an anti-climactic finish.
As a YA novel, this may not be appropriate for very young readers as there are quite a lot of tortures, beatings, and brutalities. From time to time, Nathan's world crumbles into a dark desolation that was painful and uncomfortable to read. But the author does bring up some bigger issues such as nature vs nurture, and I really appreciate that. Overall, I think this is a great novel and sets a very promising start for the Half Life trilogy.
Show More
from Green, but it needs a miracle to even come close to the amazing works by J. K. Rowling.Summary:
Sets in modern England, the story chronicles the coming-of-age journey of teen protagonist Nathan Byrn, a Half Blood (Half Code) with a White Witch mother and a Black Witch father. Since birth, Nathan has been labeled an abomination because Black Witch is viewed as evil and wicked. They are meant to be hunted and killed, especially for Nathan's father Marcus Edge, the most powerful and notorious Black Witch of all time.
After the death of his mother Cora, Nathan and his step-siblings are placed under the guardianship of his Gran. While struggles to live a secluded life under constant scrutiny from the Council of White Witches (governing organization for the White Witch community), Nathan entangles in a forbidden romance with Annalise O'Brien, a beautiful young Whet (underage witch) from a pure White Witch bloodline. And soon after the exposure of this taboo relationship and increasing restrictions adopted by the Council, Nathan abandons home and embarks on a perilous adventure to seek his true heritage and to explore the real meanings of good and bad.
My Thoughts:
The premise itself is brilliant and extremely intriguing. Although mostly narrated in first-person perspective, the book commences with second person tense, which is uncommon and instantly grabs the reader's attention. It's the perfect setting and tone to be immersed into the depressing and horrible reality of Nathan's confinement in a cage.
The author's compelling and alluring writing style is an excellent complement to the gripping storyline. Character development is decent, and I quickly got attached to Nathan, which isn't usually the case for me when it comes to a male protagonist. His life is full of unfair treatments, discouraging hardships, and heartbreaking circumstances, yet Nathan is determined to overcome these obstacles and prejudice. How can I not like and root for such a strong, uplifting character.
I loved the characters and plot in this story but not the magical world that the author created. Unlike the fascinating world that I came to adore in Harry Potter, the setting is plain, boring, and unappealing in Half Bad. There are not much details or back-stories provided, and everything is pretty vague when it comes to witchcraft and magic. I would love to learn more about the Council, the history of the feud between the two groups of witches, and the significance of Marcus and the Fairborn.
And what disappointed me the most is the lack of actual magic. It's a book full of witches, hunters, potions, and healing powers, yet there is hardly any magic used or talked about in the story. Even for the elite group of Hunters, employed by the Council to catch Black Witch, they use guns as weapons instead of magic and wands (or some special voodoo spells).
The pacing in this book can get very strange at times. The beginning is fast-paced, interesting, and engaging, then it drags out for pretty much the rest of the story and eventually ends with an anti-climactic finish.
As a YA novel, this may not be appropriate for very young readers as there are quite a lot of tortures, beatings, and brutalities. From time to time, Nathan's world crumbles into a dark desolation that was painful and uncomfortable to read. But the author does bring up some bigger issues such as nature vs nurture, and I really appreciate that. Overall, I think this is a great novel and sets a very promising start for the Half Life trilogy.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
It is always with trepidation that one approaches a new novel about which there has been much buzz and excitement, as the question remains whether the story will live up to the hype. Then there is the added pressure of the subject matter. There have been many novels written about witches living
However, one does a disservice to Ms. Green’s series by comparing it to J. K. Rowling’s. For, the exciting thing about Half Bad is that Nathan’s fate is anything but certain. Unlike Harry, who is the knight in shining armor no matter what his age, it is not clear at all on which side of the battle Nathan will finish. Not only does his parentage impact his choices and his eventual fate, so do all of the interactions he has with fellow witches. Some of those interactions are plainly disturbing and create plenty of reasons for why Nathan would want to side with his father. Along the same lines,the definitions of good versus bad remain unclear throughout the novel. A reader’s opinion changes with each scene, as Nathan learns a new piece of information about his family or about the witch community at large. There is something refreshing about the lack of definitive answers, unclear paths, and and hints at future reveals that diminishes the impact of any similarities and allows readers to focus on Nathan and Half Bad as a unique and exciting story in its own right.
Half Bad is as much a discussion of will and determination as it is a commentary on the long-standing nature versus nurture development debate. Nathan is the ideal subject for this debate, having one parent from each side of the witch populace. Nurturing White witches raise him but fellow White witches, that are not his family, torment him for his Black parentage. It is not until the Counsel starts truly limiting his freedoms wherein he starts exhibiting more of his darker side, not because he wants to do so but because he feels trapped into doing so. It is a fascinating dichotomy that serves to heighten the tension and build genuine sympathy for Nathan and his plight.
Half Bad is also an eerie reminder of pre-war Germany and its escalating persecution of the Jews. The Counsel and its interminable notices limit the actions of those with mixed parentage, especially those with Black witch ancestry, just as the Germans created more and more restrictions for Jews as their power increased. It is no wonder that readers, and Nathan, begin to question the “goodness” of the White witches given the growing number of notices that curtail every aspect of Nathan’s life and the actions they take to “protect” other White witches from Nathan’s potential evil side.
Nathan’s story unfolds quickly and succinctly. Told solely through his eyes, readers only learn as much as Nathan knows or learns himself. It is a methodology that works very well given the large swaths of gray area that occur around the Black and White witch world. It also works well because of Nathan’s ignorance about his past and the magical world in which he lives, as it gives Ms. Green a perfect opportunity to explain the unfamiliar elements of Nathan’s world without disrupting the narrative. There are plenty of remaining unexplained elements to help flesh out future stories in the series, but she still captures a reader’s imagination with the tidbits shared during this opening novel. Nathan himself is a genuinely sympathetic character, forced into the most horrible of situations just because of who his father is rather than any cause created by him. He raises a reader’s natural curiosity through his innate goodness and the tribulations he faces at the hands of the Counsel.
Every question answered raises more questions, and a reader has the distinct impression that there are more bombshells out there waiting for their release. The blurring of definitions between good and bad is too obvious not to be a clue to future plot twists, although at the end of Half Bad, readers have nothing but hypotheses to back up this assumption. However, one has the feeling that Nathan’s father is not necessarily the evil incarnate the Counsel makes him out to be, or else he is but he has good cause for being so. Either way, these intriguing possibilities leave readers breathless with anticipation for further stories in the Half Life series.
Show More
among humans, blending in while maintaining their own societies and political structures. Some have been more successful than others. Half Bad has the dubious pleasure of not only generating a lot of excitement months in advance of its release, it is also about a topic many readers are going to compare to the Harry Potter series. On the surface, the similarities are great and deserve such comparisons. Both boys grow up fairly ignorant of their past and the magical community at large. Both live with extended family rather than their parents. There are bad witches and good witches and a fight between the two divides the community.However, one does a disservice to Ms. Green’s series by comparing it to J. K. Rowling’s. For, the exciting thing about Half Bad is that Nathan’s fate is anything but certain. Unlike Harry, who is the knight in shining armor no matter what his age, it is not clear at all on which side of the battle Nathan will finish. Not only does his parentage impact his choices and his eventual fate, so do all of the interactions he has with fellow witches. Some of those interactions are plainly disturbing and create plenty of reasons for why Nathan would want to side with his father. Along the same lines,the definitions of good versus bad remain unclear throughout the novel. A reader’s opinion changes with each scene, as Nathan learns a new piece of information about his family or about the witch community at large. There is something refreshing about the lack of definitive answers, unclear paths, and and hints at future reveals that diminishes the impact of any similarities and allows readers to focus on Nathan and Half Bad as a unique and exciting story in its own right.
Half Bad is as much a discussion of will and determination as it is a commentary on the long-standing nature versus nurture development debate. Nathan is the ideal subject for this debate, having one parent from each side of the witch populace. Nurturing White witches raise him but fellow White witches, that are not his family, torment him for his Black parentage. It is not until the Counsel starts truly limiting his freedoms wherein he starts exhibiting more of his darker side, not because he wants to do so but because he feels trapped into doing so. It is a fascinating dichotomy that serves to heighten the tension and build genuine sympathy for Nathan and his plight.
Half Bad is also an eerie reminder of pre-war Germany and its escalating persecution of the Jews. The Counsel and its interminable notices limit the actions of those with mixed parentage, especially those with Black witch ancestry, just as the Germans created more and more restrictions for Jews as their power increased. It is no wonder that readers, and Nathan, begin to question the “goodness” of the White witches given the growing number of notices that curtail every aspect of Nathan’s life and the actions they take to “protect” other White witches from Nathan’s potential evil side.
Nathan’s story unfolds quickly and succinctly. Told solely through his eyes, readers only learn as much as Nathan knows or learns himself. It is a methodology that works very well given the large swaths of gray area that occur around the Black and White witch world. It also works well because of Nathan’s ignorance about his past and the magical world in which he lives, as it gives Ms. Green a perfect opportunity to explain the unfamiliar elements of Nathan’s world without disrupting the narrative. There are plenty of remaining unexplained elements to help flesh out future stories in the series, but she still captures a reader’s imagination with the tidbits shared during this opening novel. Nathan himself is a genuinely sympathetic character, forced into the most horrible of situations just because of who his father is rather than any cause created by him. He raises a reader’s natural curiosity through his innate goodness and the tribulations he faces at the hands of the Counsel.
Every question answered raises more questions, and a reader has the distinct impression that there are more bombshells out there waiting for their release. The blurring of definitions between good and bad is too obvious not to be a clue to future plot twists, although at the end of Half Bad, readers have nothing but hypotheses to back up this assumption. However, one has the feeling that Nathan’s father is not necessarily the evil incarnate the Counsel makes him out to be, or else he is but he has good cause for being so. Either way, these intriguing possibilities leave readers breathless with anticipation for further stories in the Half Life series.
Show Less
LibraryThing member RussianLoveMachine
An exciting fantasy about modern day witches in England, told from the perspective of a male with protagonist. The first volume in this series combines magic, corrupted leaders and their henchman The Hunters, and survival for an exciting twist on witch stories. Highly recommended for fantasy fans.
LibraryThing member Aly_Locatelli
First off, I'd like to say that yes, I was quite reluctant to read this because it did sort of scream Potter spin off.
Actually, I didn't enjoy it very much. It seemed to me that Sally Green has suffered with a bumped head and decided to write this, well, diary that reeks of emotional manipulation
Nathan is a Half Blood (sound familiar?) which means he's Half White Witch on his mother's side and Half Black Witch on his father's side. Black witches are like the terrorists of this paranormal reality. They maim, pillage and kill and are basically monsters. So it's no surprise that the Council (made up of solely White Witches) would put out a law that any Black Witch found should be arrested or killed.
Being Half Black Witch, Nathan has been mocked and bullied his entire life. He can't read or write, can hardly defend himself and has spent the last two-and-a-bit years of his life locked up in a cage and guarded by a Big Bad Woman.
He has to escape to find Mercury, 'the witch that eats children' if he wants to collect his three Gifts and become a full blown, scary witch.
So here's what I did like: Sally Green drove the point home countless of times by showing us how terrible Nathan's life has been up to this point. He's been bullied, attacked and mocked, he's been cut up like a slice of bacon and chased, and all this because his dad is some scary guy who kills people and eats their hearts.
It's honestly really sad because it reminds me so much of the society we live in now, where kids are constantly labelled because of their family. Your dad's in prison? You're going to turn out just like him then! Your mum's made mistakes? You're going to be a disappointment!
You know?
I also liked the
I'm lying, that's the only part I liked.
For crying out loud, it's a book about witches and there isn't a dribble of magic used. Black Witches are supposedly feared because they are strong and ruthless, but Nathan spends half of his time whining about how bloody unfair his life is. If you don't like it then do something about it. It doesn't matter how many obstacles you head butt on the way, the only thing that matters is that you DO something.
But does he? Course not. He only manages to escape his weird cage because he's arrested. There is fuck-all world building and if it weren't for the fact that I LIVE in England and have read the HP books, I'd be as confused as the next guy. There's no description, no character building, nothing.
We see Nathan grow up, from the age of about 7 up until 17, and you really do feel bloody terrible for him, but at the same times I, anyway, was absolutely exasperated. He constantly victimises himself instead of standing up and doing something about it. His Gran sticks up for him, as do his brother and one of his sisters, but do something, boy! Don't let them coddle you forever!
And the WRITING. Christ, a child could've done a better job. You're constantly slammed with short sentences, no adjectives, and the plot is just insane. If you're going to read this book in the hopes that you'll read about some great, life changing adventure, then put it back down because it's nothing like that at all.
Imagine reading someone's journal, and you get Half Bad. WHOLE BAD. TERRIBLY BAD.
It's 380 pages of boring, badly written sentences. I just could not engage myself and it took my longer to finish than usual. You can definitely call it an 'easy read', if you're looking for a book about someone's awful life story, because it's definitely easy.
My reluctance to pick it up in the beginning has morphed into full blown annoyance that I didn't listen to that loud voice that screamed, "DO NOT READ. YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED."
Throughout the book, we learn nothing about Nathan's father, nothing about his mother, we never find out why his father is so badly wanted by the Council. All we see is countless of beatings on Nathan and him running away.
Seriously. That's it.
However I gave it 2 stars for a reason. 1 star because I did honestly feel bad and sympathise with Nathan for his life at home and on the road and the 2 star because I'm sure it would have GREAT potential as a story of only Sally Green could untangle that mess of thoughts and tried to make some sense of what she was writing, so I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt in the hopes that in the next book in the series, the books improve.
Actually, I didn't enjoy it very much. It seemed to me that Sally Green has suffered with a bumped head and decided to write this, well, diary that reeks of emotional manipulation
Show More
and with a storyline so thin you could mistake it for a tissue.Nathan is a Half Blood (sound familiar?) which means he's Half White Witch on his mother's side and Half Black Witch on his father's side. Black witches are like the terrorists of this paranormal reality. They maim, pillage and kill and are basically monsters. So it's no surprise that the Council (made up of solely White Witches) would put out a law that any Black Witch found should be arrested or killed.
Being Half Black Witch, Nathan has been mocked and bullied his entire life. He can't read or write, can hardly defend himself and has spent the last two-and-a-bit years of his life locked up in a cage and guarded by a Big Bad Woman.
He has to escape to find Mercury, 'the witch that eats children' if he wants to collect his three Gifts and become a full blown, scary witch.
So here's what I did like: Sally Green drove the point home countless of times by showing us how terrible Nathan's life has been up to this point. He's been bullied, attacked and mocked, he's been cut up like a slice of bacon and chased, and all this because his dad is some scary guy who kills people and eats their hearts.
It's honestly really sad because it reminds me so much of the society we live in now, where kids are constantly labelled because of their family. Your dad's in prison? You're going to turn out just like him then! Your mum's made mistakes? You're going to be a disappointment!
You know?
I also liked the
I'm lying, that's the only part I liked.
For crying out loud, it's a book about witches and there isn't a dribble of magic used. Black Witches are supposedly feared because they are strong and ruthless, but Nathan spends half of his time whining about how bloody unfair his life is. If you don't like it then do something about it. It doesn't matter how many obstacles you head butt on the way, the only thing that matters is that you DO something.
But does he? Course not. He only manages to escape his weird cage because he's arrested. There is fuck-all world building and if it weren't for the fact that I LIVE in England and have read the HP books, I'd be as confused as the next guy. There's no description, no character building, nothing.
We see Nathan grow up, from the age of about 7 up until 17, and you really do feel bloody terrible for him, but at the same times I, anyway, was absolutely exasperated. He constantly victimises himself instead of standing up and doing something about it. His Gran sticks up for him, as do his brother and one of his sisters, but do something, boy! Don't let them coddle you forever!
And the WRITING. Christ, a child could've done a better job. You're constantly slammed with short sentences, no adjectives, and the plot is just insane. If you're going to read this book in the hopes that you'll read about some great, life changing adventure, then put it back down because it's nothing like that at all.
Imagine reading someone's journal, and you get Half Bad. WHOLE BAD. TERRIBLY BAD.
It's 380 pages of boring, badly written sentences. I just could not engage myself and it took my longer to finish than usual. You can definitely call it an 'easy read', if you're looking for a book about someone's awful life story, because it's definitely easy.
My reluctance to pick it up in the beginning has morphed into full blown annoyance that I didn't listen to that loud voice that screamed, "DO NOT READ. YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED."
Throughout the book, we learn nothing about Nathan's father, nothing about his mother, we never find out why his father is so badly wanted by the Council. All we see is countless of beatings on Nathan and him running away.
Seriously. That's it.
However I gave it 2 stars for a reason. 1 star because I did honestly feel bad and sympathise with Nathan for his life at home and on the road and the 2 star because I'm sure it would have GREAT potential as a story of only Sally Green could untangle that mess of thoughts and tried to make some sense of what she was writing, so I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt in the hopes that in the next book in the series, the books improve.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kayceel
I struggled with this one. It was very difficult to get into, and it is BRUTAL. Part of my difficulty in getting into the book is it begins with a chapter written in 2nd person in which a young man, who sleeps in a cage, is beaten and treated like an animal being trained to fight. It's very
Nathan is a half blood: half white witch (read: "good") and half black witch (read: "evil"). As such, Nathan's life is increasingly regulated (think the slow ramp-up of the treatment of Jews in Germany before WWII) by the white witch Council. He is an orphan, being raised with three siblings by their grandmother, and while his grandma and two closest siblings are sympathetic to Nathan's continued singling out (it seems like Nathan is the *only* half blood in England), his oldest sister is cruel and hateful, destined to be a Hunter - a white witch who hunts down and kills black witches - when she gets older.
The story plays a lot with the idea of nature vs nurture, and "sins of the father" (Nathan's father is a Voldemort-type character, only very much alive). If you're the kind of person who wishes Harry Potter included more death, torture, despair, and dismemberment, than Half Bad is definitely for you!
Recommended for those with strong stomachs for torture.
Show More
unpleasant and, thanks to my dislike of 2nd person, hard to let oneself get carried into the story.Nathan is a half blood: half white witch (read: "good") and half black witch (read: "evil"). As such, Nathan's life is increasingly regulated (think the slow ramp-up of the treatment of Jews in Germany before WWII) by the white witch Council. He is an orphan, being raised with three siblings by their grandmother, and while his grandma and two closest siblings are sympathetic to Nathan's continued singling out (it seems like Nathan is the *only* half blood in England), his oldest sister is cruel and hateful, destined to be a Hunter - a white witch who hunts down and kills black witches - when she gets older.
The story plays a lot with the idea of nature vs nurture, and "sins of the father" (Nathan's father is a Voldemort-type character, only very much alive). If you're the kind of person who wishes Harry Potter included more death, torture, despair, and dismemberment, than Half Bad is definitely for you!
Recommended for those with strong stomachs for torture.
Show Less
LibraryThing member zzshupinga
ARC provided by NetGalley
Nathan is sixteen years old and lives in modern-day England. In a cage, beaten, shackled, trained to kill, and the illegitimate son of the world’s most terrifying and violent with, Marcus. His only hope for surviving is to escape his captors, find his father, and receive
This is one of those books that causes some people trouble, because it alternates between first and second person perspective. If you have trouble with that...still give the book a try its worth it, because this is a great read and one that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. Nathan is a powerful, and well written main character. From the very beginning we want to see him meet his goal, to escape living in a cage and the horrors he faces. And Sally Green doesn’t pull any punches from there as things get darker...and yeah they can get pretty dark. But because you want to see Nathan survive you keep reading and keep hoping that the next page might be a little bit of hope for him.
This is one of those books that will keep you horrified, but going back for more to see what happens to Nathan, to see if he makes it out, to see if he gets what he’s looking for. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next volume. 4 out of 5 stars.
Nathan is sixteen years old and lives in modern-day England. In a cage, beaten, shackled, trained to kill, and the illegitimate son of the world’s most terrifying and violent with, Marcus. His only hope for surviving is to escape his captors, find his father, and receive
Show More
the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers before its too late. But he has no one to trust. No family. And not even the girl he loves. Nathan will have to trust himself to find his escape and to claim what is his. But only time will tell if that will happen.This is one of those books that causes some people trouble, because it alternates between first and second person perspective. If you have trouble with that...still give the book a try its worth it, because this is a great read and one that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. Nathan is a powerful, and well written main character. From the very beginning we want to see him meet his goal, to escape living in a cage and the horrors he faces. And Sally Green doesn’t pull any punches from there as things get darker...and yeah they can get pretty dark. But because you want to see Nathan survive you keep reading and keep hoping that the next page might be a little bit of hope for him.
This is one of those books that will keep you horrified, but going back for more to see what happens to Nathan, to see if he makes it out, to see if he gets what he’s looking for. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next volume. 4 out of 5 stars.
Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
I liked it, set in an alternative world where white and black witches battle for supremacy and neither really have the moral high ground, though both seem to believe that they do. The story opens with our narrator describing his everyday life, living in a cage, trying to push the limits of his
It is the assumptions of the adults around him that force Nathan to do what he does and the cascade of issues made this an interesting read.
I would like to read more by this author.
Show More
captivity, then he explores what led to this and then the story gets twisted in love versus family honour and complicated politics that ask questions of good and bad and what it means. The Hamlet quote that opens the book "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so".It is the assumptions of the adults around him that force Nathan to do what he does and the cascade of issues made this an interesting read.
I would like to read more by this author.
Show Less
LibraryThing member CinaChilders
Let’s see..
This book took me days to finish and I have mixed feelings about the story as a whole. I liked the book, at least for the most part. Some things irked me, like this poor boy. Nathan. Holy crap. The kid really suffered for nothing (something his daddy did, blah, blah). I wanted to crawl
Honestly, I was a little bored at times. Some stuff didn't make sense to me. But I still think this book is a decent start for what is going to be a trilogy, although I doubt I'll pick up the next one.
This book took me days to finish and I have mixed feelings about the story as a whole. I liked the book, at least for the most part. Some things irked me, like this poor boy. Nathan. Holy crap. The kid really suffered for nothing (something his daddy did, blah, blah). I wanted to crawl
Show More
into his world and do something. Kick some white witch butts for their stupidity. Honestly, I was a little bored at times. Some stuff didn't make sense to me. But I still think this book is a decent start for what is going to be a trilogy, although I doubt I'll pick up the next one.
Show Less
LibraryThing member crashmyparty
I was lucky enough to score a pretty, special silver-covered copy of this book from PTALive Melbourne. I don't know how to write this review, and I don't know how to rate this book. So I'm just going to start typing and hopefully I'll figure it out...
Sally Green's writing style is very different.
The plot picks up when Nathan escapes from being a prisoner of The Council (and personally it felt way, way too easy) and finds a witch who he hopes will help him get his three gifts and hence his magical ability when he turns seventeen. This is traditionally received from the closest living relative, but Nathan's mother is dead and his father just happens to be the evillest of the evil black Witches. Which is why everyone is keeping an eye on Nathan - or trying to.
What irked me about this book was the fact that we got very little, if any, background to the Witches, why Black is bad (we know why Nathan's dad is bad, but what about the others?). Where did the distinction come from? The moral ambiguity is rampant in this book. What makes someone good or bad? It is, obviously, more complicated than black and white. But the answer I want is why?. Possibly also how.
Nathan is an absolutely pitiful character, determined to find his father and answers I suppose, but not much else. He is wavering between what it means to be black or white, bad or good. He's got no idea what he's doing. He's different to your normal hero, he's not confident or self assured, he doesn't know what he wants, he's not on the path of righteousness for the greater good. I would like it, I think, if he wasn't so vague.
This book also needs more magic. A book about witches, in England of course because that setting just seems fitting, but hardly any magic.
So to sum it up, needs more magic and this poor kid needs some direction. And can I get some background with that too? Thanks.
I have decided this book gets 3 stars. Isn't that a bit vague of me? Probably.
Sally Green's writing style is very different.
Show More
To start with, we have a second person perspective for the opening chapters of the book before switching to first. We have slow, meandering story of a boy named Nathan, who has gotten a rough ride in life. A half White Witch and half Black Witch, white being good and black being evil, he is constantly persecuted for what he is. He struggles with knowing who he is and whether he is good or bad. He is not just what they tell him he is, but they, they being The Council, won't let him be anything else. The plot picks up when Nathan escapes from being a prisoner of The Council (and personally it felt way, way too easy) and finds a witch who he hopes will help him get his three gifts and hence his magical ability when he turns seventeen. This is traditionally received from the closest living relative, but Nathan's mother is dead and his father just happens to be the evillest of the evil black Witches. Which is why everyone is keeping an eye on Nathan - or trying to.
What irked me about this book was the fact that we got very little, if any, background to the Witches, why Black is bad (we know why Nathan's dad is bad, but what about the others?). Where did the distinction come from? The moral ambiguity is rampant in this book. What makes someone good or bad? It is, obviously, more complicated than black and white. But the answer I want is why?. Possibly also how.
Nathan is an absolutely pitiful character, determined to find his father and answers I suppose, but not much else. He is wavering between what it means to be black or white, bad or good. He's got no idea what he's doing. He's different to your normal hero, he's not confident or self assured, he doesn't know what he wants, he's not on the path of righteousness for the greater good. I would like it, I think, if he wasn't so vague.
This book also needs more magic. A book about witches, in England of course because that setting just seems fitting, but hardly any magic.
So to sum it up, needs more magic and this poor kid needs some direction. And can I get some background with that too? Thanks.
I have decided this book gets 3 stars. Isn't that a bit vague of me? Probably.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Ajoobacats
Nathan is the child of a white witch and a black witch, this makes him a half-code and an outcast in the society of white witches who live alongside regular people but have their own hierarchy. His mother, who was a white witch is dead and his black witch father is a fugitive the white witches
I found this book initially hard to get into as Nathan's narrative didn't have a rhythm I could keep to, but after a few chapters the narrative flowed better and I was drawn into the story at the point Annelise was introduced in the book. Annelise is a white witch who is kind to Nathan and whom he likes very much. Her introduction into the book reinforces how strong the feeling against black witches and half-codes are as her brothers exact a horrible revenge from Nathan for meeting their sister and ultimately infractions seen by the white witches council leads to Nathan being locked away. His gruesome jailor is a bizarre character who is cruel and hard to read but on some level does form a bond with her prisoner. Nathan is a very capable young boy, who with his powers of healing, is able to take a difficult journey to get away from the white witches and it is exciting to read him doing so. However, the fleeting appearances of some characters that have a small role, but are described enough in depth to make you think they will be back at some point in the story, forms the basis, you soon realise, of a series of books that will no doubt follow. This is not Harry Potter fan fiction, Half-Bad introduces you to a new world of witches and adventure.
The story has a reasonable pace and although there is no profanity or scenes of an explicit nature some of the events Nathan endures is quite gory in places. He is supported by a number of other characters who are mysterious and helpful but you never know who he can actually trust. The magic in this book is subtle and not on the main stage as the plight of Nathan. The book ends to lead onto the sequel which is due for release next year. I did enjoy this YA paranormal fantasy thriller, and although not my usual genre I found the story surprisingly alluring and cannot wait to read what happens next to Nathan.
Show More
would like to capture and execute. Nathan is despised and feared by all except his grandmother, half-sister Deborah and half-brother Arran. At 14 Nathan is taken from his family, kept under guard and trained. He escapes months before his 17 the birthday when he must have a giving ceremony which needs the blood of one of his parents to complete. All white witches have the ceremony to come into their powers but black witches are rumoured to die if the ceremony doesn't take place. The council of white witches has an ulterior motive of using Nathan and his powers in the capture and killing of his fugitive black witch father, a prophesy that has been predicted in a vision. Can Nathan have his giving ceremony and survive? Will his coming into his powers result in the demise of his father? I found this book initially hard to get into as Nathan's narrative didn't have a rhythm I could keep to, but after a few chapters the narrative flowed better and I was drawn into the story at the point Annelise was introduced in the book. Annelise is a white witch who is kind to Nathan and whom he likes very much. Her introduction into the book reinforces how strong the feeling against black witches and half-codes are as her brothers exact a horrible revenge from Nathan for meeting their sister and ultimately infractions seen by the white witches council leads to Nathan being locked away. His gruesome jailor is a bizarre character who is cruel and hard to read but on some level does form a bond with her prisoner. Nathan is a very capable young boy, who with his powers of healing, is able to take a difficult journey to get away from the white witches and it is exciting to read him doing so. However, the fleeting appearances of some characters that have a small role, but are described enough in depth to make you think they will be back at some point in the story, forms the basis, you soon realise, of a series of books that will no doubt follow. This is not Harry Potter fan fiction, Half-Bad introduces you to a new world of witches and adventure.
The story has a reasonable pace and although there is no profanity or scenes of an explicit nature some of the events Nathan endures is quite gory in places. He is supported by a number of other characters who are mysterious and helpful but you never know who he can actually trust. The magic in this book is subtle and not on the main stage as the plight of Nathan. The book ends to lead onto the sequel which is due for release next year. I did enjoy this YA paranormal fantasy thriller, and although not my usual genre I found the story surprisingly alluring and cannot wait to read what happens next to Nathan.
Show Less
LibraryThing member scott.neigh
First book of a new series based on the premise of witches, good and bad, hidden in contemporary society -- some related themes to the Harry Potter books, but a different take on them and a very different sort of world. The central character's (absent) father is a powerful "evil" wizard and his
Show More
mother was a "good" witch, and most of this book is about him having to navigate the fact that the "good" witch quasi-state feels the need to subject him to intense surveillance, regulation, and (later on) punishment. I quite like the way that both the world and the story create a context in which the self-identification (and discursive construction) of those with power as "good" and "pure" can be critically explored, though their absolutely brutal treatment of the central character was a little hard to read in a few spots. It's quite disappointing, given the prominence of the labels "White" and "Black" to describe the two categories of witches in the book, that the fact that these terms also happen to be racial categories that are central to the social organization of our world was almost completely avoided, and that (unless a subtly deployed adjective or two slipped past me) all of the witches we have met so far are racialized as white. Good to see the matter-of-fact inclusion of a queer character, though. In any case, I'll definitely read the next one. Show Less
LibraryThing member ReviewsInAPinch
Witches are always interesting to read about, in my opinion. I really like the whole idea behind a magical world co-existing (even if in secret) with our normal world. Obviously, I love Harry Potter (like the majority of the world’s population), so I’ve been excited about this book/whole
The writing. I liked the author’s style of writing, but the actual prose wasn’t overly impressive. To clarify, it wasn’t bad. It was just unimpressive. This book was specifically compared to The Hunger Games and the comparison to the Harry Potter series is an easy one. I don’t think Half Bad was really at the same level of writing for those particular comparisons.
The character of Nathan was a bit confusing. At first I liked him, then I didn’t. It went back and forth like that for a while before I decided to like him at the end of Half Bad. Who knows where my head space will be during the second book. The author did a very good job of biasing the reader against the characters that you’re not “supposed” to like.
Frankly, my expectations were high for Half Bad. They may have even been a bit unrealistic. Therefore, I was disappointed. Other reviewers showered Half Bad with so much praise that it influenced my opinion before even reading the book. Alas, that is the danger with reading book reviews on major sites though. Plus you have no idea where your reading taste lies in relation to the reviewer’s taste.
When it comes down to it, I did end up liking Half Bad. I just think it had the potential to be much better. It did suffer from a slow start, but I really loved approximately the last half of Half Bad. The tone picked up and there was just much more action and it was exhilarating (as far as reading goes). Because of that, I would recommend Half Bad mainly to any young adult book lovers out there.
For more reviews, go check out reviewsinapinch.wordpress.com now!
Show More
trilogy for months now.The writing. I liked the author’s style of writing, but the actual prose wasn’t overly impressive. To clarify, it wasn’t bad. It was just unimpressive. This book was specifically compared to The Hunger Games and the comparison to the Harry Potter series is an easy one. I don’t think Half Bad was really at the same level of writing for those particular comparisons.
The character of Nathan was a bit confusing. At first I liked him, then I didn’t. It went back and forth like that for a while before I decided to like him at the end of Half Bad. Who knows where my head space will be during the second book. The author did a very good job of biasing the reader against the characters that you’re not “supposed” to like.
Frankly, my expectations were high for Half Bad. They may have even been a bit unrealistic. Therefore, I was disappointed. Other reviewers showered Half Bad with so much praise that it influenced my opinion before even reading the book. Alas, that is the danger with reading book reviews on major sites though. Plus you have no idea where your reading taste lies in relation to the reviewer’s taste.
When it comes down to it, I did end up liking Half Bad. I just think it had the potential to be much better. It did suffer from a slow start, but I really loved approximately the last half of Half Bad. The tone picked up and there was just much more action and it was exhilarating (as far as reading goes). Because of that, I would recommend Half Bad mainly to any young adult book lovers out there.
For more reviews, go check out reviewsinapinch.wordpress.com now!
Show Less
LibraryThing member NCDonnas
I'm kind of torn about how to rate this. I almost want to rate it 5 stars because it was such a good story, but there were quite a few times were I felt that it went a bit too far w/ the violence. Now, I don't particularly mind dark or violent themed books, I usually enjoy them, but I want it to
Still, I will absolutely, without doubt be continuing this series.
Full review soon.
Show More
make sense and not just to be there for shock value which I kind of felt happened throughout this book. It sort of went from being reminiscent of Harry Potter to suddenly becoming like one of those Saw movies! Still, I will absolutely, without doubt be continuing this series.
Full review soon.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sszkutak
I was so excited to have been chosen to read this book early. There was so much hype over it and I could not wait, a book about witches, good vs. evil, and a kid in a cage?! Come on, that has awesome written all over it (no pun intended) and I flew through the beginning of the story. Nathan, our
Nathan is such a resourceful character, and it is refreshing that we have a male lead in a Young Adult book. Other characters are just as strong as well. Although some were maddening when it came to the plot, you cannot help but have a love/hate relationship with them. Added to the intense plot themes this book was wonderful. However, due to the amount of backstory and world building required to explain this world of witches and their idiosyncrasies put a bit of a damper on the plot here and there. The book is divided into six sections, the first two, as I mentioned, I flew through, after that though it was hard to read quickly. Sections three through about five were a little slow moving; important to the overall plot but running, hiding, and surviving can only be so exciting for so long. About half way through part five and through the end, I again flew through the pages. AND THEN it leaves the reader on the edge of their seat to wait for the following book! Arg! I cannot wait to read the next installment of this world.
So here are the overall pros and cons of this book. I loved the characters, the world, and the overall plot theme. I did not always like the pacing of the book - sometimes it was just too slow, but I cannot be too picky about that because it does lend a hand to that awesome world building that I loved! Oh the mixed feelings, so this is why it only got 4 stars. I really wanted to give it 5...
Show More
main character, is telling the story of ostracized witches through his own story of survival. We are told the story from Nathan's POV and also in 2nd person POV, which was a very interesting choice, but a very cool experience. At times this was a difficult read, there are a lot of overtones of racism and cruelty. The plot was beautifully done though, Green really builds this world of segregation and makes you really think about who is good and evil, there really isn't a clear line. Those that are dubbed evil have redeeming qualities, while those who are expected to do good are scheming and mean. Nathan is such a resourceful character, and it is refreshing that we have a male lead in a Young Adult book. Other characters are just as strong as well. Although some were maddening when it came to the plot, you cannot help but have a love/hate relationship with them. Added to the intense plot themes this book was wonderful. However, due to the amount of backstory and world building required to explain this world of witches and their idiosyncrasies put a bit of a damper on the plot here and there. The book is divided into six sections, the first two, as I mentioned, I flew through, after that though it was hard to read quickly. Sections three through about five were a little slow moving; important to the overall plot but running, hiding, and surviving can only be so exciting for so long. About half way through part five and through the end, I again flew through the pages. AND THEN it leaves the reader on the edge of their seat to wait for the following book! Arg! I cannot wait to read the next installment of this world.
So here are the overall pros and cons of this book. I loved the characters, the world, and the overall plot theme. I did not always like the pacing of the book - sometimes it was just too slow, but I cannot be too picky about that because it does lend a hand to that awesome world building that I loved! Oh the mixed feelings, so this is why it only got 4 stars. I really wanted to give it 5...
Show Less
LibraryThing member DarkFaerieTales
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Very unique fast paced YA paranormal read. With a modern day England setting and intriguing plot this is sure to be a big hit with paranormal fans across the board.
Opening Sentence: There’s these two kids, boys, sitting close together, squished
The Review:
There are two different types of witches: White witches; who are considered the good guys, and the Black witches, who are considered the evil, but it really depends on who you are asking. Sixteen-year-old Nathan is the product of both a White witch and a Black witch. His mother was a very loving, wonderful woman, but she killed herself when Nathan was little. His father is one of the most feared and dangerous Black witches to ever exist. Nathan is an abomination and not to be trusted because of his dark origins or at least that is what the White witches have everyone believing.
Every witch is given three gifts and their ancestors’ blood on their seventeenth birthday, so they can find their magical gift whatever it may be. It is also said that if you are a Black witch and you don’t get your powers, you will die shortly after you birthday. Nathan will need his father to perform the ceremony for him, but there is one big problem: he has never met his father and has no idea where to find him. With the White witches hunting him and time running out, Nathan will have to do whatever it takes it find his father or risk losing everything, including his life.
Nathan was a fascinating character that was easy to like right away. He has the good side from his mother and the darker more sinister side from his father. Because of this you get a very torn character that has dark tendencies, with a very deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong. His body wants him to perform acts that are violent and hurtful, while his mind is telling him to not act on his bodily desires. This made Nathan so unique and interesting to me, because you get the sides of both worlds in one person. I found that he was fairly easy to connect with as well, and from the very beginning I was cheering him on. Throughout the story you grow up with Nathan and get to experience so much with him, because of this you really start to care about him. Honestly, I loved being inside his head and can’t wait to see what is in store for him next.
Half Bad was a very unique witch book that was pure entertainment. It is full of action, suspense, and subtle romance. Nathan is so engaging and interesting that it was hard not to get totally caught up in his world. The story started off in second person, which I really enjoyed because it made you feel like all these events were happening to you in a way, so I felt an instant connection to the story. Then it moves into first person and you are able to connect more fully with Nathan. My one complaint about this story was that for about half the book I felt that circumstances forced Nathan to do the things he did instead of him making his own choices. This was a very character driven book and for a portion of the story he felt like a stationary object moving through the pages. But about half way through the book this does change and I liked him better once he started really living his own life.
This book covers a lot of our modern day bullying and discrimination issues that we have in our society. Because of his birth origin, Nathan is treated very different than other witches. I liked that Green implemented something that is so realistic into a fantasy book flawlessly. Even though the story is totally make believe you can take something from it and use it in your real life. It made the story easier to relate to and connect with on a deeper level. I loved the modern day England setting with a slight historical feel to it. The plot was very intriguing and the pacing never dragged. I felt that the ending was slightly rushed, but it still left me feeling satisfied. This is Green’s debut novel and I am honestly stunned by her talent. Half Bad was an amazing start to what I’m sure is going to be an epic series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone that likes a dark action-packed paranormal read.
Notable Scene:
I shake my head. “It’s happening to me, Arran. I feel it, I’m a Black Witch.”
“No , you’re not. That’s your body, not you.. the real you is nothing to do with being a Black Witch. You have some of Marcus’s genes in you, and some of Saba’a. But that’s physical. And the physical stuff, the genes, your Gift, they are not what makes a Black Witch. You have to believe who you are. You aren’t evil, Nathan. Nothing about you is evil. You will have a powerful Gift—we can all see that—but it’s how you use it that will show you to be good or bad.”
I almost believe him. I don’t feel evil, but I’m afraid. My body is doing things that I don’t understand, and I don’t know what else it will do. It feels like it has a will of its own and it’s leading me down a path I have to follow. The night tremors are taking me outside, forcing me to move away from my old life. The noises in my head also seem to be driving me away from people.
Whenever Jessica used to say I was half Black, Gran would say “Half White too.” And I had always thought of my mother’s genes and my father’s mixing in my body, but now it occurs to me that my body is my father’s and my spirit is my mother’s. Perhaps Arran is right, my spirit is not evil, but I have to put up with a body that does weird things.
FTC Advisory: Viking Juvenile/Penguin provided me with a copy of Half Bad. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: Very unique fast paced YA paranormal read. With a modern day England setting and intriguing plot this is sure to be a big hit with paranormal fans across the board.
Opening Sentence: There’s these two kids, boys, sitting close together, squished
Show More
in by the big arm of an old chair.The Review:
There are two different types of witches: White witches; who are considered the good guys, and the Black witches, who are considered the evil, but it really depends on who you are asking. Sixteen-year-old Nathan is the product of both a White witch and a Black witch. His mother was a very loving, wonderful woman, but she killed herself when Nathan was little. His father is one of the most feared and dangerous Black witches to ever exist. Nathan is an abomination and not to be trusted because of his dark origins or at least that is what the White witches have everyone believing.
Every witch is given three gifts and their ancestors’ blood on their seventeenth birthday, so they can find their magical gift whatever it may be. It is also said that if you are a Black witch and you don’t get your powers, you will die shortly after you birthday. Nathan will need his father to perform the ceremony for him, but there is one big problem: he has never met his father and has no idea where to find him. With the White witches hunting him and time running out, Nathan will have to do whatever it takes it find his father or risk losing everything, including his life.
Nathan was a fascinating character that was easy to like right away. He has the good side from his mother and the darker more sinister side from his father. Because of this you get a very torn character that has dark tendencies, with a very deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong. His body wants him to perform acts that are violent and hurtful, while his mind is telling him to not act on his bodily desires. This made Nathan so unique and interesting to me, because you get the sides of both worlds in one person. I found that he was fairly easy to connect with as well, and from the very beginning I was cheering him on. Throughout the story you grow up with Nathan and get to experience so much with him, because of this you really start to care about him. Honestly, I loved being inside his head and can’t wait to see what is in store for him next.
Half Bad was a very unique witch book that was pure entertainment. It is full of action, suspense, and subtle romance. Nathan is so engaging and interesting that it was hard not to get totally caught up in his world. The story started off in second person, which I really enjoyed because it made you feel like all these events were happening to you in a way, so I felt an instant connection to the story. Then it moves into first person and you are able to connect more fully with Nathan. My one complaint about this story was that for about half the book I felt that circumstances forced Nathan to do the things he did instead of him making his own choices. This was a very character driven book and for a portion of the story he felt like a stationary object moving through the pages. But about half way through the book this does change and I liked him better once he started really living his own life.
This book covers a lot of our modern day bullying and discrimination issues that we have in our society. Because of his birth origin, Nathan is treated very different than other witches. I liked that Green implemented something that is so realistic into a fantasy book flawlessly. Even though the story is totally make believe you can take something from it and use it in your real life. It made the story easier to relate to and connect with on a deeper level. I loved the modern day England setting with a slight historical feel to it. The plot was very intriguing and the pacing never dragged. I felt that the ending was slightly rushed, but it still left me feeling satisfied. This is Green’s debut novel and I am honestly stunned by her talent. Half Bad was an amazing start to what I’m sure is going to be an epic series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone that likes a dark action-packed paranormal read.
Notable Scene:
I shake my head. “It’s happening to me, Arran. I feel it, I’m a Black Witch.”
“No , you’re not. That’s your body, not you.. the real you is nothing to do with being a Black Witch. You have some of Marcus’s genes in you, and some of Saba’a. But that’s physical. And the physical stuff, the genes, your Gift, they are not what makes a Black Witch. You have to believe who you are. You aren’t evil, Nathan. Nothing about you is evil. You will have a powerful Gift—we can all see that—but it’s how you use it that will show you to be good or bad.”
I almost believe him. I don’t feel evil, but I’m afraid. My body is doing things that I don’t understand, and I don’t know what else it will do. It feels like it has a will of its own and it’s leading me down a path I have to follow. The night tremors are taking me outside, forcing me to move away from my old life. The noises in my head also seem to be driving me away from people.
Whenever Jessica used to say I was half Black, Gran would say “Half White too.” And I had always thought of my mother’s genes and my father’s mixing in my body, but now it occurs to me that my body is my father’s and my spirit is my mother’s. Perhaps Arran is right, my spirit is not evil, but I have to put up with a body that does weird things.
FTC Advisory: Viking Juvenile/Penguin provided me with a copy of Half Bad. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Ella.Kennen
This is a ridiculously good debut novel. It's a ridiculously good novel, period. Nathan is a Half Code -- half White Witch, half Black. And the Council of White Witches has it in for Half Codes, especially the one who happens to be the son of the most notorious Black Witch of all. With sparse,
It is fitting that author Sally Green chose to write about witches, because HALF BAD is spellbinding, and all good.
Show More
elegant wording, this book captures Nathan's life from his relatively innocent childhood growing up with his mostly loving White Witch family to ever more turbulent times as he wrestles with who he might be, who he should be, and who everyone around him is. It is fitting that author Sally Green chose to write about witches, because HALF BAD is spellbinding, and all good.
Show Less
LibraryThing member anyaejo
I listened to the audio and very much recommend the narration, it added nicely to Nathan's character and was just delightful to listen to. Half Bad is hard at times, but in the end not as depressing as I feared. I really enjoy unique and refreshing fantasy and Half Bad is very much that!
LibraryThing member slsmitty25
I first saw the book Half Bad by Sally Green on offer from First to Read from Penguin books. I wasn't offered the chance to preview the novel but was very intrigued by the storyline. A male witch who seemed destined to be a Black Witch but was also Half White, which he strives to emulate the
Show More
qualities of? I couldn't wait to get my hands on the book and jump in with both feet. The storyline confused me at first but once I caught on to the timeline I was hooked. I felt that we were given enough of the main character, Nathan's, personality to let us know who he is but not quite enough to determine which way Nathan would fall. He endures abuses beyond normal for a young adult but weathers through. We are left to decide if he perseveres because of the love and support of his family, the White witches he grew up with or the desire to please and make proud his absent Black Witch father; which makes me hope that there will be a second novel telling the choices Nathan determines. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisa.isselee
3.5 stars
Not overly spectacular. but I appreciated it enough to buy the sequel.
Not overly spectacular. but I appreciated it enough to buy the sequel.
LibraryThing member brittaniethekid
Picked this up because a book about witches from a male POV is a rare find and relevant to my interests. It does have a lot of Harry Potter parallels as mentioned in many reviews but it's unique enough that you can easily forget about that and is less similar the farther you read.
In this world,
The biggest issue I had with the book is that it switches between 1st to 2nd person POV between chapters though it's all from Nathan's POV. Also some of the rules mentioned above don't make a lot of sense. In this world, being born into magic seems like an awful violence-filled short life.
In this world,
Show More
there are white and black witches with a lot of violence between them with the whites being the governing side and blacks mostly being independent and solitary. Upon turning 17, both types are bestowed 3 gifts and blood from a relative in order for their specific gift to appear, though they exhibit certain magical abilities before that (namely faster healing). The main character is half black and half white and is heavily discriminated against because of it to the point of outright abuse. As his 17th birthday approaches, he is ripped from his grandmother and half siblings, experimented upon by whites, isolated from society - but eventually is able to escape and goes to seek out one that can give him his gifts for fear that he'll slowly die without the ritual completed. There are a lot of different rules the witches have to live by both governed by The Whites and by magic itself (example: Nathan can't sleep inside without weird headaches because of his Black heritage and can also sense/feel electronic pulses from cell phones and TVs for some reason). The biggest issue I had with the book is that it switches between 1st to 2nd person POV between chapters though it's all from Nathan's POV. Also some of the rules mentioned above don't make a lot of sense. In this world, being born into magic seems like an awful violence-filled short life.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jennybeast
I'm intrigued by this witch-filled world. I'm interested in the boy Nathan and the choices he will make. I am very troubled by large parts of the book -- I don't care how easy healing is, a book that is consistently, deliberately about torture and abuse doesn't really work for me. There are bright
1: I don't understand why the council of white witches is going with systematic torture. What is it supposed to accomplish?
2: There is nothing about the portrayal of the white witches that indicates that white = good -- which I guess is sort of the point, but meh. That the good guys aren't ever really all good guys, and you have to just people on their individual choices is kind of a simplistic message.
So as an adventure goes, it's all right, but also kind a grind. A somewhat horrifying grind about the debasement of a person based on nothing more than his parentage and how he survives it. Timely, I suppose, but more prurient than preventative I suspect.
And finally, I know that I shouldn't hold the book responsible for not living up to the ridiculous hyperbole of praise on the back cover, but man, the cover is beautiful, so I like to look at it, and the back cover is full of crap.
Show More
spots, but I'm having a hard time with several things. 1: I don't understand why the council of white witches is going with systematic torture. What is it supposed to accomplish?
2: There is nothing about the portrayal of the white witches that indicates that white = good -- which I guess is sort of the point, but meh. That the good guys aren't ever really all good guys, and you have to just people on their individual choices is kind of a simplistic message.
So as an adventure goes, it's all right, but also kind a grind. A somewhat horrifying grind about the debasement of a person based on nothing more than his parentage and how he survives it. Timely, I suppose, but more prurient than preventative I suspect.
And finally, I know that I shouldn't hold the book responsible for not living up to the ridiculous hyperbole of praise on the back cover, but man, the cover is beautiful, so I like to look at it, and the back cover is full of crap.
Show Less
LibraryThing member fionaanne
A solid story that is incredibly well executed.
It is a shame it has received so much slagging on Goodreads because of how it was marketed.
It is a shame it has received so much slagging on Goodreads because of how it was marketed.
LibraryThing member bookbrig
I'm in a decided not-reading-rut right now, where I've started six books in the past three weeks and read none of them. I started this one and finished it in the same day, so maybe I should be giving it a fourth star just for that. It's a really interesting take on witches and government control,
Show More
with definite dystopian themes even if the world isn't dystopian at all. The story pulls you along easily, and is incredibly readable. It's also got some very intense abuse/bullying/violence. Like difficult to read intense. I'd recommend this for high school aged, primarily because of the wonderful writing that makes those scenes so evocative that I had to skim a few parts. Highly recommended, but keep that abuse stuff in mind because I feel like it might be somewhat triggering for survivors. Show Less
LibraryThing member Letora
I suppose it's a good sign when the book ends and I can't believe I don't have anymore pages to turn! The story is left with a nice big cliffhanger, in fact right in the middle of a battle. Aside from the abrupt end I was captivated by this book and am looking forward to the next.
The storyline
The plot was a little disjointed, skipping around at first until the author finally decided to stick with a linear flow. It wasn't hard to follow though, as Sally Green labeled the points in time she was going to talk about; I think if it had been written any other way it wouldn't have been as interesting. Green made sure to lay out the events in a way that built my sympathy for Nathan and allowed the reader to begin connecting with him. Let's face it, who hasn't been bullied in their life? My heart broke for Nathan as the punishments grew worse and no one bothered to listen to him. In a way I hope he strikes back at those who hurt him in the next novel, even though it means Nathan will become a different person.
The storyline
Show More
dealt with the theme of mistreating people who are different. Nathan is a half black witch, half white witch and no one can see the white side. He is simply part black witch and assumed to be evil. He has a few people that see behind the labels that have been thrown at him, but too few to actually let him live his life free of torment. Nathan was a character I wanted to see progress, I wanted to see him become stronger and prove everyone wrong.The plot was a little disjointed, skipping around at first until the author finally decided to stick with a linear flow. It wasn't hard to follow though, as Sally Green labeled the points in time she was going to talk about; I think if it had been written any other way it wouldn't have been as interesting. Green made sure to lay out the events in a way that built my sympathy for Nathan and allowed the reader to begin connecting with him. Let's face it, who hasn't been bullied in their life? My heart broke for Nathan as the punishments grew worse and no one bothered to listen to him. In a way I hope he strikes back at those who hurt him in the next novel, even though it means Nathan will become a different person.
Show Less
LibraryThing member StilesIsMyBatman
I dunno. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I didn't so much enjoy the second person point of view that it started with and sometimes switched to. The book itself was a bit slow for my liking. It picked up closer to the end, like the last 100 pages. I wish there had been some more exciting
Show More
bits, that the beginning had moved a little faster. But like I said, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. Show Less
Awards
Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (Nominee — 2017)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Nominee — 2016)
Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing (Nominee — 2015)
Independent Booksellers' Book Prize (Shortlist — Children's Fiction — 2014)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — High School — 2017)
Kids' Book Choice Awards (Finalist — 2015)
Branford Boase Award (Longlist — 2015)
Waterstones Children's Book Prize (Winner — Teen — 2015)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2015)
CCBC Choices (2015)
Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (Top Ten — 2015)
Language
Original publication date
2014-03-04
Physical description
8.74 inches
ISBN
0141354305 / 9780141354309
Local notes
In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and fifteen-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 sixteenth 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?
Signed by the author, with silver half-moons on the page edges.
Signed by the author, with silver half-moons on the page edges.