Half Wild (Half Bad, #2)

by Sally Green

"You will have a powerful Gift, but it s how you use it that will show you to be good or bad." In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, seventeen-year-old Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most powerful and violent witch. Nathan is hunted from all sides: nowhere is safe and no one can be trusted. Now, Nathan has come into his own unique magical Gift, and he's on the run--but the Hunters are close behind, and they will stop at nothing until they have captured Nathan and destroyed his father.

Reviled for his half-witch status, seventeen-year-old Nathan discovers his own magical Gift while fleeing Hunters who would also destroy his father. The plot contains profanity, sexual references, and violence. Book #2

• ISBN10: 0670017132
• ISBN13: 9780670017133
• Publish Date: 24 March 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jo]

ETA: Since writing this review, I have discovered that the author Sally Green is transphobic. Leaving my review here for transparency, but do not support Sally Green or her books in any way.

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I wasn't all that impressed with Half Bad, but I was told by my boss that the story gets better in Half Wild, that there was more of everything I thought Half Bad was lacking, so I decided to give it a go. And I'm happy to say Half Wild is a much better book!

Nathan now as now received three gifts and blood from his father, Marcus, and is now a fully fledged witch. But his father left him soon after, and the Hunters are still after him. Gabriel is nowhere to be found, and it's been weeks since Nathan last saw him. But they said they would meet at the cave, and so he waits. Instead of Gabriel, it's Nesbitt Nathan finds at the cave - a Half Blood who works with powerful and influential Black Witch Van Dal. Van and Nesbitt rescued Gabriel after he was shot, and have nursed him back to health. Now he's back with Gabriel, Nathan's only thought is to rescue Annalise from the nefarious Black Witch Mercury, who has her under a death sleep. He can't do so without the help of Van and Nesbitt, but they will only help if Nathan agrees to join the rebel Alliance of Black, White and Half Blood Witches who want to overthrow the Council of White Witches, now run by Soul O'Brien. Soul is sending his Hunters out across Europe to persecute all Black Witches, and punishing White Witches who oppose him. It's time to stand together to fight against a common enemy, but the Alliance is lead by people he doesn't trust, and is suspicious. But if joining the Alliance is the only way to save Annalise, he doesn't have a choice. All the while, Nathan is struggling to control his Gift - the same Gift his father has, of transformation. But the animal part of him has a mind of his own, and Nathan is scared of himself.

Oh, how happy I was to discover that Half Wild is so much more exciting! A whole lot more goes on in this book than in Half Bad, and the company never stay in one places for long, always moving on to somewhere new, always something to do, someone to speak to, someone to find. Half Wild is much faster paced, but the first half is still a little slow for my liking, and at times things seemed a little too convenient. The second half is where the story really picks up, where things really start moving forward, and I flew through it.

There's a hell of a lot more action in Half Wild than the previous book, but that's not to say it's action packed, and not all of the action is in fighting, but in the moving, racing against time. There are various parts of the book that are really interesting and sometimes disturbing and gory, and I was pretty gripped. The world building still bothers me a little; there's just not enough information about the how and the why. However, there's so much going on in this book that by the second half this bothered me much less, and I just wanted to know what was going to happen.

I really like the main group of characters in this book. Van and Nesbitt are awesome; Nesbitt really amused me, even if he wound Nathan up most of the time, and Van is just so intriguing. I wish we got to know more about her, and actually get to see her make the potions she's so fantastic at, rather than be told she needs to make one, have time pass and it's done. I'm quite fond of Gabriel too, he's so wonderfully loyal. However, I do have a problem with the romance aspect of these books. I cannot understand why anyone is interested in anyone. We have never - not in Half Bad or Half Wild - seen any real reasons why Nathan likes Annalise, why she likes him too, or why Gabriel likes Nathan. The key word is seen. We're just told that they've hung out, separately, had conversations while hiking and running and waiting, or while hanging out after school by the cliffs. But we don't get to see those feelings develop. I don't really know anything about Annalise except she's pretty and she's part of the O'Brien family. We know far more about Gabriel. And yet Nathan is completely in love with her. I don't get Gabriel's feelings for Nathan either. Nathan was awful at the very beginning of their friendship, but suddenly they're best friends. I really think we should have got the chance to see these relationships develop, rather than just be told that they did. Saying that, I've always liked Gabriel more than Annalise, so I'm rooting for him.

The ending! I saw half of it coming, because it was so obvious. I was thinking, "Oh, come on,you fools!" But the other half... oh my god! Pretty blood awesome and disturbing, and wooow! Yes, I actually wowed, there. A small part of it is very convenient, I think, and if you've read it, you should know what I'm talking about, right? Far too convenient. It's going to make Half Lost, the the third and final book in the trilogy, very interesting, though! And I'm really keen to see where the story will end up. So yes! I am now invested in this story, and pretty looking forward to the final book!

Thank you to Penguin via Foyles for the reading copy.

[shannonmiz]

4.5

I never did a full review of Half Bad. I read, felt moderately apathetic about it, and threw it into a batch of "Books I'm Never Reviewing", and called it a day, much to the chagrin of basically everyone. When I won a copy of Half Wild, I felt a bit guilty, because I knew there were some readers who were dying to read it, more than I was especially after lukewarm feelings about Half Bad.

So I went into it with apprehension. And I came out of it flailing and screaming and needing the next one. Luckily, Kirsty-Marie @ Studio Reads was available for Goodreads flails and joint hatred of a particular character, so things were okay. I mean, as okay as they can be until the last book shows up.

But, the whole book wasn't a home run for me, and I will explain it by breaking it into thirds:

The First 1/3

Well, to be honest, this part was quite similar to the last book for me. And since I didn't love the last book, well, I was worried. I was bored of Nathan and his witchery. I was over his dumb father, and all these witches being proverbial witches as much as literal witches, and basically, I wasn't thinking I would like this. Also, I hate Annalise.

And Nathan was so concerned about finding her! I thought she ought to remain lost, frankly, but Nathan simply wasn't listening to me. And he was being extra irritating about finding her. Every other line seemed to be (and this is paraphrased) But what about Annalise? or We must find Annalise!  or If someone doesn't take me to Annalise, my face will melt off! (That last one was probably an exaggeration...)

So between Annalise, and my general lack of interest, I was afraid this wouldn't be going well. But then...

The Second 1/3

Things picked up! I really started to care more about the characters, my ship was firmly decided, and I was really getting invested in the story as a whole. Nathan was really struggling with his newfound powers, and it was really great to finally develop a connection with him. There were new characters introduced, who while not vital, definitely interested me. All kinds of witch politics and plotting were afoot, and I was pretty curious to see what would happen! Of course, Annalise was still there. No one was listening to my pleas that she needed to leave.

The Last 1/3

Well, this is where I got hooked for good. There is some insane action happening, along with some really great character and relationship development. Obviously I am not going to say much about the last third of the book, because that is mean. But by the end, I was pretty much just flailing about, ranting about how I simply cannot be expected to wait until 2016.

More things I liked:

• The cover of this ARC said UnAmericanized Proof. Well, good! If I am reading about a bunch of people in England, give me a bunch of people in England! I approve!


• We get a lot more Marcus insight. This is nice, because in Half Bad, he was kind of just this elusive myth, and in this book, he is an actual person (witch?).


• Gabriel. All the Gabriel. Someone give me a whole book called Half Gabriel, but really it is just All Gabriel. I adore him. You can clearly see my ship preference, and why I hated Annalise more and more as time went on.


• The action parts were really well done. I am usually iffy with action sequences. Sometimes I love them, and sometimes I am really overwhelmed, but I thought they were done perfectly in this book, and I was fully engaged.

I did not like:

• Annalise. Fine, I am beating a dead horse here, but she is boring, and dull, and useless, and those are her good qualities.

Bottom Line: If you liked Half Bad, I quite assume you will enjoy Half Wild. If, like me, you were a bit underwhelmed by Half Bad, still give this a chance! It really surprised me. The story grew, the characters grew, the plot grew... it was definitely an incredible sequel!
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight