otakubookworm
Written on Apr 24, 2014
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
e_rodz_leb
Written on Mar 8, 2014
Before we start – let me say that although this is a book about modern day England and witches, it is not like Harry Potter. I wanted to get that out there up front. If you read Half Bad expecting a ‘fantasy’ feel, full of magical beings and a tight group of loyal friends, you will be sorely disappointed. However, I loved Half Bad, it is very different and in this case different is a good thing.
Now, on with the review.
What would you do if everyone always expected the worse from you? What if you were never given the chance to prove yourself? What if you were ostracized for just being born?
These are the questions that are constantly asked of Nathan. He is not labeled as “half bad”, but as being completely rotten and guilty, without any proof whatsoever. I mean, it’s not like anyone has any say on what parents they get. Poor Nathan had a very unstable life, but even though he was constantly under watch and restricted by a collection of unfair mandates (called resolutions) by the Council of White Witches, he is also loved by his grandmother, and his half-sister Deborah and half-brother Arran. There is also a romantic interest, Analisse, but their ‘relationship’ is very short, as contact between Nathan (a half-code or half-blood) is prohibited. All in all, Nathan is pragmatic and a realist, he knows who the ‘bad guy’ is, even if they hide themselves behind the Council.
The first part of the book is so full of angst, pain, oppression, discrimination, and abuse. In contrast, the second part of the book is one of discovery, it’s for Nathan to figure what to do with his life, to make difficult choices and discover who he is.
The pace is slow, especially at the beginning. The story was enough to intrigue me, especially since it starts on the part where Nathan is living in the cage and he talks about himself in a very detached way. I’m glad that I kept on reading because the story, the plot and the witches’ lore and politics (can I use the term ‘world building’ here?) was fascinating to me. The writing is very different, it starts in the second person and then settles in the first person.
Half Bad is a book about witches, but curiously lacking in magic. It’s a story about prejudice, judgment, and survival against all odds. It is also about love, from family, friends and even romantic love. I can’t wait to see where the story is going next.
Quotes (from the ARC):
“The trick is not mind. Not to mind about it hurting, not mind about anything.The trick of not minding is key; it’s the only trick in town. Only this is not a town; it’s a cage beside a cottage, surrounded by a load of hills and trees and sky.It’s a one-trick cage”
“Notification of the Resolution of the Council of White Witches of England, Scotland, and Wales. Any contact between Half Codes … and White Whets and White Witches is to be report to the Council by all concerned….
“Shall I go and lock myself in the cellar now? I ask.”
About the cover: I really like the shiny silver cover and the half face bathed in blood. I also like the font in black and white, intertwined in the middle.
lizarodz
Written on Mar 8, 2014
Before we start – let me say that although this is a book about modern day England and witches, it is not like Harry Potter. I wanted to get that out there up front. If you read Half Bad expecting a ‘fantasy’ feel, full of magical beings and a tight group of loyal friends, you will be sorely disappointed. However, I loved Half Bad, it is very different and in this case different is a good thing.
Now, on with the review.
What would you do if everyone always expected the worse from you? What if you were never given the chance to prove yourself? What if you were ostracized for just being born?
These are the questions that are constantly asked of Nathan. He is not labeled as “half bad”, but as being completely rotten and guilty, without any proof whatsoever. I mean, it’s not like anyone has any say on what parents they get. Poor Nathan had a very unstable life, but even though he was constantly under watch and restricted by a collection of unfair mandates (called resolutions) by the Council of White Witches, he is also loved by his grandmother, and his half-sister Deborah and half-brother Arran. There is also a romantic interest, Analisse, but their ‘relationship’ is very short, as contact between Nathan (a half-code or half-blood) is prohibited. All in all, Nathan is pragmatic and a realist, he knows who the ‘bad guy’ is, even if they hide themselves behind the Council.
The first part of the book is so full of angst, pain, oppression, discrimination, and abuse. In contrast, the second part of the book is one of discovery, it’s for Nathan to figure what to do with his life, to make difficult choices and discover who he is.
The pace is slow, especially at the beginning. The story was enough to intrigue me, especially since it starts on the part where Nathan is living in the cage and he talks about himself in a very detached way. I’m glad that I kept on reading because the story, the plot and the witches’ lore and politics (can I use the term ‘world building’ here?) was fascinating to me. The writing is very different, it starts in the second person and then settles in the first person.
Half Bad is a book about witches, but curiously lacking in magic. It’s a story about prejudice, judgment, and survival against all odds. It is also about love, from family, friends and even romantic love. I can’t wait to see where the story is going next.
Quotes (from the ARC):
“The trick is not mind. Not to mind about it hurting, not mind about anything.The trick of not minding is key; it’s the only trick in town. Only this is not a town; it’s a cage beside a cottage, surrounded by a load of hills and trees and sky.It’s a one-trick cage”
“Notification of the Resolution of the Council of White Witches of England, Scotland, and Wales. Any contact between Half Codes … and White Whets and White Witches is to be report to the Council by all concerned….
“Shall I go and lock myself in the cellar now? I ask.”
About the cover: I really like the shiny silver cover and the half face bathed in blood. I also like the font in black and white, intertwined in the middle.
violetpeanut
Written on Feb 6, 2014
This was really fantastic and would be a great read for adults even though it's being marketed as YA. I can't wait to read what happens next and will eagerly wait for the next book in the trilogy.
jnikkir
Written on Feb 1, 2014
-----------------------------
"There is nothing either good or bad,
but thinking makes it so."
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare
~~~~~
If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be intense. From the very first page, I was drawn in by the writing, the emotions, the voice, and the struggles of the main character. Nathan has grown up an outcast. In a world where the lines between Black Witches and White Witches have been clearly drawn, Nathan is unique, and alone. His mother was Cora, a White Witch; his father is Marcus, a Black Witch -- and the most sought-after criminal in the magical community.
I've never met my father...
But I know that my eyes are his eyes.
- Half Bad, eARC, pg 29
So, the driving force of this book is Nathan himself, and the struggles he faces as a Half Black / Half White Witch. But the main plot is Nathan's "quest" to find someone who will give him three gifts on his 16th birthday -- the necessary ceremony to make sure he officially becomes a Witch. If this doesn't happen, he'll most likely die. Of course, almost no one wants Nathan to succeed, since they're all convinced (despite lack of evidence) that he'll turn out to be as bad as his father.
The only witches who govern the community are the White Witches, as the Black Witches are all in hiding or living on their own; and most of this community is against Nathan. They think his status as a Half Code (half Black Witch) means that he will end up taking after his father and turning evil. Nathan is isolated from and attacked by almost the entire White Witch community, despite growing up in a loving (well, mostly loving) family who has complete (well, mostly complete) faith in him to be a good person, not defined by the evil of his father.
The Characters
Nathan completely carried this book, for me. There are lots of characters on the periphery, but Nathan's suffocating isolation in this world of White Witches is probably the most compelling thing about Half Bad. Nathan grows up in the shadow of his father, hated and feared because of his father's reputation as a horrible Black Witch. Despite growing up in the same loving household as his amazing siblings Arran and Deborah (I can't even talk about the awful sister Jennifer - she's horrible), he is never viewed as anything more than the product of a Black Witch - never half good, but always half bad.
"Gran says I'm a White Witch. She says I'm half White."
"You're half Black."
- Half Bad, eARC, pg 25
Nathan's family is most heavily present in the very beginning of the book, and less so as the book progresses; but their influence on Nathan is huge. Especially Arran, who always always made it abundantly clear to Nathan that being half-anything didn't matter. His actions mattered. Arran has a faith in Nathan that is absolutely unflappable and incredibly powerful, and that faith sustains Nathan when things become utterly bleak. It's like Nathan is at the center of this storm of people, a few of whom are lights in the darkness and who try to outshine the bad, but most of whom are dead-set against him and who try to tear him down by any means necessary. And the fact that Nathan has so few people in his life who actually have faith in him, whom he can trust, lends even more weight to those moments later in the book, when he meets people he can trust.
One other point I have to make, is about the romance. Yes, there is a girl in the picture. She isn't a terribly interesting character, to me -- but then again, we really don't get to know her very well anyway, because the two are separated for quite some time while Nathan is off dealing with things that no one should ever have to deal with. Does he dwell 24/7 on his lost love? Does he pine for her day after day, knowing they're meant to be together, and Oh, the injustice of their separation!? No. He's got some other pretty important priorities, like, idk, staying alive, and finding someone to give him three gifts on his birthday so he can officially become a witch. He thinks about her, yes, but it isn't constant. The point of this book isn't romance, and it never felt like it was trying to be. So I really appreciated that.
The Writing and Pacing
I loved the writing. Half Bad is not a pretty book. The writing is often beautiful in its starkness, but the story itself, and the events that take place, are anything but pretty, or happy. But even with the stark writing, it's the kind of starkness that makes you believe every word on the page, makes you feel every emotion as Nathan experiences it. It draws you in from page one and doesn't let go. It actually starts out in second-person for a few chapters, and then goes into first person soon after. But instead of that being weird, I loved it. All it did for me was throw me into Nathan's life head-first, and I think that was a huge part about why it immediately sucked me in.
The trick is to not mind.
Not mind about it hurting, not mind about anything.
- Half Bad, eARC, pg 4
The writing really feels like Nathan is telling this story as it's happening to him. For those second-person sections -- you know how you sometimes use 'you' when you're telling a story to someone? As you do... ;) It felt like that. Many sections are very stream-of-consciousness (but never forced or awkward), which really served to draw me into the story even more. Everything about this book just sucked my focus onto it the whole time I was reading.
As for the pacing, this is one aspect where I think opinions are going to diverge. The first half of the book is paced excellently, and written beautifully, and just... I loved everything about it. It's comprised of flashbacks to Nathan's incredibly unfair childhood, as well as details about his current... situation... (locked up in a cage outside his captor's cottage in the middle of nowhere). It's often hard to read, but also a little too easy, because the writing grabs you and doesn't let you look away.
The second half is mostly present-day, and is pretty fast-paced. With all the action and capital-S-Stuff that happens, it has sections that feel very different from the first half, and the writing wasn't quite as striking, to me. I didn't not like it -- I was still glued to the pages, and was feverishly turning them to find out what would happen. But that's me. I was attached to Nathan, to his story, and there was no going back. But it does have a distinctly different feel and pace from the first half, which might throw some people off. Not me, but some people.
The Worldbuilding
I can't even. Everything about this world feels so real. While I was reading, I totally believed that witches were a thing. This culture of White Witches and Black Witches and one single Half Code (one! there are no others! And they are terrified of him). Anyway. It just all felt believable, and even though we're in the dark about a lot of things (just as Nathan is) it never felt like there's any information lacking just for the sake of it -- like it's being kept out for the sequel or something. Everything feels fleshed out from page 1, and even though we don't have detailed knowledge of everything yet, it's all there and very much present in the periphery.
In conclusion...
This book was one of my most-anticipated early 2014 releases, and I was not disappointed. I loved it. The first half may have been stronger writing-wise, but I was glued to the entire thing from start to finish. It's the kind of book where you stay up WAY too late reading just one more chapter; and then when you wake up before your alarm anyway, you don't even care, because, Oh, look, I have extra time to read!! (No, I'm serious, this actually happened to me.)
Green deals with the issues of nature vs. nurture; people's tendency to judge others without knowing them; and what happens when people who fear someone actually become the ones who need to be feared. Nathan's predicament is unenviable and awful, and I felt for him the entire way through. I cannot wait for book 2.
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There were books involved...