Half Bad (Half Bad, #1)

by Sally Green

The inspiration for the Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself

“An enthralling fantasy in the Harry Potter tradition.”—Time magazine

“A bewitching new thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal

In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live alongside humans, one sixteen-year-old boy is trapped between the two sides. Nathan's father is the world’s most powerful and cruel witch, and his mother is dead. Both groups of witches see Nathan as their greatest threat—or their greatest weapon. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, he 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.
 
Now streaming on Netflix as The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself.

• ISBN10: 0147511461
• ISBN13: 9780147511461
• Publish Date: 13 January 2015 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 464
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780147511461

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Half Bad and Sally Green’s writing in general, but if I’m being perfectly honest, this novel was a bit of a struggle for me. The world she was building, and Nathan’s story itself – all that was fine and lovely and well built and fascinating. It’s not the story I struggle with, but the speed of the story.

The format of this story is steady, but slow. It started well, in the. Idle of Nathan’s captivity, but then we go full stop and rewind to Nathan’s early childhood and work our way back up to that moment. While Green uses this time to create the world and establish the rules and to better understand the political atmosphere between the white witches and black witches, there never seems to be a change in pace. This is a constant problem for me in this novel – even when things feel like they should be heating up, they just… don’t.

I think that may be partially the writing style. It’s in first person present and that’s a bit of an uncommon tense and definitely took me through a loop. Maybe things feel dull because Nathan’s perception is calm and level. Additionally, this could have been a side effect from the narration. I never really felt like the narration was poorly done – the voice seemed to fit Nathan, but it’s possible the pacing may have read better to me if it had been my own perception of Nathan’s voice, so that’s a possibility.

The world itself is gruesome. There’s a lot of blood and bone and death and horror if you stop and pay attention to the words, to the language used. The world really is interesting, with edges of real history sliding into just the right places to make me uncomfortable. I see the early edges of Nazi Germany in the way the council treats half-codes and that in itself is interesting enough for me.

So while I struggled through the pace of the book, and the characters held nothing special for me, I do appreciate the political climate Green has set forth. At the end of Half Bad, we have experienced so much of Nathan’s backstory and the present – where the true story lies – is just beginning so I think I will stick around for book two… on a purely probationary basis. I’m curious where things are heading and how they will work out, but I’m not in love with the characters or the story… yet.

[elysium]

DNF p.73
I gave it a try, moving on.

[paperbackjedi]

Half Bad takes place in our world in England, only there are witches. Good witches, bad witches, and fains (which are humans) and the world of witches is governed by The Council of White Witches who pretty much decide whether or not a witch is Black or White. Black witches are Evil and hunted when they fall out of line and White witches are Good and never to be questioned. You get the gist. Nathan is a halfcode which means he’s half Black and half White. His mother was a powerful White witch and his father is the most evil and terrifying Black witch of all time. So things don’t go so well for Nathan with the Council because they don’t know which way he’s going to go and they pretty much make his life a living hell. They want to train him to kill his father which is the last straw. He determines that he needs to escape from the Council, meet his father and come into his gift, and try and figure out how to survive in this world that’s so incredibly not on his side.

The world building is chilling. I almost believe there are witches among us and a shadowy organization who claims to maintain the checks and balances of good and evil. The idea, while not a new concept, is explored deftly and brings to light issues that have far reaching and relevant real world applications. Is anyone truly just one thing? How do you define good and evil and how do we become who we are? It’s a thoughtful book about the nature of people as a whole and the role an individual can play in the grand scheme of things. It’s also very compelling; I read this book in once sitting and didn’t even stop to break for food. The pacing was strong, but I did feel a bit of a lull around the middle of the book where I felt the story wasn’t progressing, but I pushed through and the last quarter of the novel really ramped up so if you start feeling frustrated, keep with it. It gets so good.

We don’t have real access to a lot of characters in this book. There are many secondary characters, but they don’t really contribute to the story other than to assist Nathan on his journey both physically and emotionally. Annalise, the girl Nathan loves, plays a notable part in the beginning as she’s the first to really accept him and as a White witch with a reputable family, it’s a big deal for him. Nathan obviously clings to her as she’s one of the few good things he’s had in his life and I understand his fixation on the first person outside of his family to want anything to do with him. I’d like to know more about her though and I hope we’ll find out more in the next book. Nathan’s family is present for the beginning of the book as well; his grandmother, his brother Arran, and his sisters Deborah and Jessica. While his grandmother, Arran, and Deborah are supportive and love him, Jessica pretty much wants the guy dead and tries to hurt him whenever she can. It makes for a complicated living arrangement. My favorite character from the novel aside from Nathan is Gabriel who is a Black witch Nathan comes in contact with during the latter half of the novel. Gabriel is mysterious and intriguing and does his best to help Nathan in his endeavors, but can only do so much due to his own circumstances. There are a bevy of other witches, both White and Black who are out to help or hurt Nathan, but the ones worth mentioning would be spoilery so I’ll just leave it at the characters I’ve already mentioned.

The writing style was unique in a way I think you’ll have to experience to understand. It’s first person perspective from Nathan’s point of view and we spend the entire novel in his mind, hearing his thoughts, and seeing what he sees. It felt a bit like Tahereh Mafi and her Shatter Me series only less romantic and more direct. His emotions are hard to understand at first because they’re so compartmentalized, but as you see what happens to him, you begin to understand this and it’ll break your heart. It’s oddly confessional and starkly intimate and I really enjoyed it. The chapters are also split up nicely with titles relating to the events in the novel and they go back and forth in time to explain different parts and memories from Nathan’s life. The structure really worked for me and kept things interesting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Aside from the middle where I felt like we weren’t going anywhere, it was a really strong read. I loved the world and Nathan and I wanted to know more about the other characters and I will be picking up the second book in the series this weekend. It’s definitely a bit of a darker read, so make sure you aren’t expecting something light and fluffy and you’ll probably enjoy this a lot. I know I did.

[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.

With the YA Book Prize 2015 awards ceremony coming up, and an event I'm going to with Sally Green on the panel, I thought it was about time I got stuck in to Half Bad. Receiving a mostly positive review from from Cynthia of Afterwritten, I was really looking forward to reading this, but I've finished thinking it was merely ok.

In a world of witches, where White Witches - the good - hunt Black Witches - the bad, Nathan is the son of a White Witch and a Black Witch, and his very existence is repugnant. Unsure whether he is going to become a White Witch or a Black Witch, Nathan has been watched most of his life, called in by the White Witches Council for assessments to see on which side he will fall. Deciding it's far too dangerous to leave a possible Black Witch at his home, he is now locked in a cage, his guardian an approved White Witch - because not only is Nathan a Half Code, he's also the son of Marcus, the deadliest Black Witch in England. But if Nathan doesn't escape and find his father to receive his three gifts on 17th Birthday, he could die.

The story starts off in second person narration, which, as opposed to first person which is "I/me" or third person which is "he/she", is; "you/your". This was a little jarring at first, but I got used to it pretty easily, and I think it was pretty clever on Green's part. It's a great way of showing where Nathan in mentally. He's had a pretty crappy life so far, and now he's living in a cage outdoors. By thinking "you" instead of "I", he distances himself from the things he's going through. As I said, it doesn't last for long, as the story switches to tell Nathan's story from when he was a child to present day.

The world building of of this urban fantasy story is pretty interesting for the most part. There are White and Black Witches who despise each other. Black Witches spend a lot of time killing other Witches, White or Black. On their 17th Birthday whets - underage Witches - are given three gifts from a parent or grandparent, drink some blood from that relatives hand in a magical ceremony, and will soon develop their Gift, their own magical talent, and they are now a Witch. Some White Witches then go on to be Hunters, to hunt down Black Witches, and there's a White Witches Council of England, Scotland and Wales, who rule over the White Witches. I couldn't tell you what other Witches do with their time.

We learn all this fairly early on, so most of the time, we're with Nathan in his cage, or learning how he ended up there, and what happens afterwards. And even afterwards... Half Bad is generally quite a slow novel, I found. It's interesting, but not a huge amount happens, not all that exciting anyway. Most of that comes very near the end of the novel, and even then I was urging the pace to get faster, the tension to be more edge-of-your-seat, and for there to be more action.

Half Bad isn't a bad story, it was interesting and I kept reading, just not a huge deal happens in it. I was expecting more, despite the mixed response this novel has had. I enjoyed it, but I can't yet say if I enjoyed it enough to pick up the second book, Half Wild. I might need some convincing.

Thank you to Penguin for the proof.

[Leah]

I really enjoyed this book. It actually reminded me a bit of Harry Potter, if Voldemort had been Harry's dad, in a weird sort of way. It was definitely a very intriguing opening to a series, and very much deserved of all the hype it has - I can see why fans are raving about it, and I am soooo looking forward to book two, especially because I have so many questions that need answering. Like, what is Nathan's magical gift?!?!?!?!

Sally Green is an exceptional writer and I loved the fact the novel used first and second-person narrative - which was confusing at first, but I soon got the hang of it. Half Bad is actually the only book I've ever read to make use of the second person narrative and it was pretty cool once I got into it.

I can't wait to read book two and get more story on the black witches and the white witches. It's super intriguing and Nathan is very much a character to root for!

[shannonmiz]

3.5*

I liked it, but I wasn't blown away. I was mad, because these are some really awful characters. I mean, “Half” Bad sounds like an outright lie. Go with Almost Exclusively Bad, and you've got a truthful title. I just needed some good guys, a few brighter moments. It was entertaining, and I am looking forward to Half Wild though!

[wyvernfriend]

Clever, interesting look at good and evil and perception. There is a lot of grey in this story.

[anne]

Fair bit of torture and pain. Male main character. Ending set up for sequel.White witches and black witches.

[leahrosereads]

Disappointed. That's all that comes to my mind after reading Half Bad. I'm disappointed in the writing, in Nathan's (the main character) voice throughout this novel, but mostly, I'm disappointed with the ending.

I feel like absolutely nothing got resolved, and no matter how intriguing a concept for a novel is, if the story isn't written well enough for the concept, it's not going to keep me coming back for more.


I really thought I was going to love Half Bad. As I've said in other reviews, I don't actually need much to want to read a novel. So when I found out that this was about a witch, a male witch, dealing with the persecution of his society being both a black and white witch, I was instantly intrigued and excited to read it. And while Nathan does have to deal with a lot of crap throughout this novel, and I wanted to feel for him, I just couldn't muster up those feelings for the majority of the book.

I blame Sally Green for that. It shouldn't have taken over 200 pages to get me to feel something for the main character, and it shouldn't take a second book to resolve issues from the first one. I feel like I've read 1/2 a book. It ended awkwardly to me, and there was so little resolution in this novel.


I'm not going to continue this series, and I don't think I can really recommend it either. I guess if you like male adolescent main characters, cliff hangers, and all build-up but nothing to show for it, then this may be the novel for you.

[Stephanie]

I really enjoyed the beginning of this, but started to drag toward the end culminating in a less-than-dramatic finale. Hmm.