There are White Witches, which are the good ones, and there are Black Witches, which...well, you get the idea. These aren't Harry Potter witches. There are no wands and few spells. Well, there are some potions, I guess. Each witch is given a gift on their seventeenth birthday which can be powerful or weak.
Nathan, our narrator, is a Half Code. His mother was White, his father, Black. His mother is dead, and Nathan lives with his grandma and three half-siblings, who are all White. The council of the White Witches is afraid of Nathan. He's constantly being tested, and eventually his movements are restricted, and he loses his freedom. Since Nathan is the only Half Code, they have special plans for him.
Nathan is conflicted. He's never met his father who has a very violent reputation, but he wants to. Nathan doesn't feel like a bad witch, but he also doesn't want to commit to being White. There is a Romeo & Juliet aspect to Half Blood also. Nathan and Annalise are strongly attracted to each other, and of course Annalise is the daughter of one of the most influential White families. This gets Nathan into a lot of trouble.
Eventually Nathan is taken into custody by the Whites. I don't really want to say too much about the plot, but it's exciting. Nathan is constantly in danger and put into many situations in which his survival skills are tested. He is told to trust no one, but he meets a couple of friends who help him along the way, and also is assisted by some who really are not to be trusted. The ending of the book is definitely open -- Nathan is given an impossible task. So we must wait to see what he does about this in the next book. I'm eagerly anticipating it.
I really have nothing negative to say about Half Bad. I found it unique, which always helps. The writing is easy and the excitement builds as the plot moves briskly. I care about Nathan and want him to prevail. What more can you ask?
Published by Viking Juvenile, March 4, 2014
ARC obtained from Library Media Connection Magazine
386 pages
Rating: 5/5
5 stars - just placed a hold for it at the library. Sounds really intriguing and I can't wait. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSee, I'm completely the opposite of you. I really just didn't like the book. While I felt for Nathan and all the crap that he was subjected to, I just didn't really care what happened to him (sorry, Nathan!). But yay! Yours is one of the first reviews I've read and I'm curious to see what others thought of this, especially since there's supposed to be a lot of money pushing this book along (or so I've heard).
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