Page Count: 394
Published By: January 13, 2015
Published by: Penguin/Speak
Genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Romance
Source: Paperback
Source: Paperback
PROVIDED BY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
My Rating: 4.75 stars
Goodreads synopsis:
“Highly entertaining and dangerously addictive”— Timemagazine
“A bewitching new thriller.” — The Wall Street Journal
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?
In the tradition of Patrick Ness and Markus Zusak, Half Bad is a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive, a story that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page.
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Hey guys!
I was contacted by Penguin/Random House to do a special review on Half Bad in order to celebrate the release of the third and final book in the Half Bad Trilogy, Half Lost. I was so excited to be contacted by Penguin, because I've been wanting to read Sally Green's books for a while. Ben from benjaminoftomes on YouTube has been raving about these books for quite a long time, and it's made me really want to read them. There's actually a giveaway that will end on Monday that I regrettably forgot to post when it first started. So here is the link to it!
Giveaway:
- Dates: 2/22 – 3/21
- Rafflecopter giveaway: http://www.rafflecopter.com/
rafl/share-code/ NjliNDM1MTFmN2Y4NWJlNDFlZGZhMD I2NDYxYWQ4OjI5/?widget_ template= 5627e93058b80d6e0b616d91 - Restrictions: US only, ages 13+
- Prizes: The complete Half Bad series (Half Bad, Half Wild, and Half Lost), and a Penguin Teen totebag
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Praise for HALF LOST, the last book in the trilogy
“The Half Bad trilogy ends as strongly as it started in this conclusion to one of the finest recent examples of YA fantasy.”- PW
Praise for HALF BAD
“Highly entertaining and dangerously addictive.” – TIME Magazine
“Genuinely engaging.” -The New York Times
“
This is an enthralling fantasy in the Harry Potter tradition, powered by Nathan’s unique narrative voice.” – TIME.com, Best Books of 2014
“Much more than a book about witches. Her page-turner is a ruminative exploration of the nature of evil.” – The Boston Globe
“What if Harry Potter were never rescued from his uncle’s house?….THAT story would be Half Bad and it’s a KNOCKOUT.” – Justine Magazine
“Have you ever had the thing where you're so absorbed in reading a book that you try to keep reading it while walking around on the street, only to come close to being hit by a bus? I had a bit of that with the new young-adult fantasy novel Half Bad by Sally Green.” – io9
“Both gripping and surprisingly sophisticated” – The AV Club
“Sally Green’s Half Bad is the perfect novel for inspiring one to despise all of humanity or fall onto the ground and weep pathetically. Needless to say, it is an excellent book.” – Tor.com
“It’s refreshing…chances are, readers will want to revisit this world of witchcraft because, well, it's not half bad.” – USA Today online
“With a memorable main character and its themes of good and evil, Green’s book deserves to stand out.” – Bustle.com
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My Review:
I was at first really skeptical about this book, because the first couple chapters/part was really confusing. I didn't exactly know what was going on, but it was interesting so I kept on reading. I really liked where it was going once I got into the second section of the book. I really enjoyed Sally Green's writing style, and her characters and magical world was so compelling. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, and the over all magic system was really interesting. The differences between the black and white witches and the prejudice between them was really interesting. I thought that it was really really well done.
I really didn't like the beginning of the book. It was written in second person, and the way that it was started is really confusing. It later makes sense because after the first few chapters, it goes back into the beginning of his life. The beginning of the book starts out when he was a baby, then when was in his teens, then it reverts back to when he was a kid in the second part. It was just very strangely done. Sometimes the writing style felt a bit broken, and the pacing felt a bit off. Those problems alone have caused my rating to go from 5 stars to about 4.75 stars.
Once I got passed the weird first part, the book was very addicting. Sally Green's characters were very interesting, and the relationships between them were very cool to read about. As Nathan experiences the hardships that the opposing witches send his way, he perseveres through and doesn't give up on his goals. I really liked Sally Green's magical aspects and I really hope that I see more of it in the second and third book. I'm really excited about reading the rest of the books, I really hope that they live up to the hype. I cannot ever compare this book to The Hunger Games, because the only similarity between them are their YA genre status. There isn't much else that is similar.
I highly recommend this book. Lovers of Harry Potter, urban fantasy, and witch oriented books will love this book.
My Favorite Character: Nathan
My Least Favorite Character: Annalise
I hope you enjoyed this review!
Happy Reading!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~
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