Kayleigh {K-Books}

Half Bad by Sally Green is a breathtaking debut novel about one boy's struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches.

You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.

You get sick if you stay indoors after dark.

You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one.

You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen.

All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.

Easy.

Half-Bad was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I do admit that I'm not entirely sure what drew me to it as I'm not really a big fan of witch books but regardless I really wanted to read this one. I'd heard so many amazing things about this book and I really thought that it would be something that I loved. Unfortunately I feel like the hype surrounding this book ruined it a little bit and I was left feeling like it wasn't as good as everyone is making it out to be.

Nathan is a half. Half White witch, half Black witch. Because of this he is treat differently to everyone else. The White Witches don't trust him because he is part Black and the Black Witches don't trust him because he is part White. Nathan has been chained up in a cage since he was fourteen but he needs to escape and find Mercury before his seventeenth birthday... otherwise he may not survive.

Half-Bad had such a strong storyline. I felt like the storyline was very unique and different to any other YA Paranormal books out there and I really enjoyed following the story. Nathan has had such a awful life. Nothing has gone right for him and he has been pretty much exiled since birth. I felt so sorry for him and with this being his story this is most definitely not a happy story. It's actually rather depressing and one of my problems with the book was that it just made me depressed. Even though I really liked the storyline everytime I went to read some more I had a thought of 'Yay I'm gonna go depress myself again... hide the knives before I decide to off myself.' I really found it THAT depressing that although I wanted to find out what happened to poor Nathan I really didn't wanna read because it would put me in a very depressing mood.

Sally Green's writing style is so unique and different that it was quite something to read. It was so good for Nathan's mental state at the beginning and her use of foreshadowing at the beginning of the novel was perfect for this story. Though with me listening to the audiobook of Half-Bad I admit that the writing style transferred as quite odd for the first few chapters. Nathan's voice came off as quite strange and I didn't quite understand why his thoughts were so short and snappy. You don't really understand his mental state in those first few chapters until you have listened to more and found out what happened to him in the past.

Half-Bad is without a doubt one of the most unique Witch novels I have ever read and I did enjoy the story although I was a little disappointed and didn't think it was as good as the hype surrounding it. Due to all that hype I definitely went into the book expecting something amazing and I feel that that ruined my experience of this book. If I had not heard of any hype surrounding the book and I had gone into it with no expectations I probably would have found it more enjoyable than I did. Regardless it does have a strong, addictive storyline and it definitely worth a read but you will need a very happy book to follow this one.