Half Bad - YA Book Review

image credit

Nathan's family are White Witches, so that makes him a White Witch, too, right? It would if Nathan had the same father as his siblings, but he doesn't. His father is the powerful Black Witch Marcus. That makes Nathan half White and half Black. That also makes Nathan an enemy to the Council of White Witches.

Because of this, Nathan grows up an outcast and is eventually imprisoned for what and who he is. The White Witches are training Nathan to be used as a weapon against his father. But Nathan doesn't want to kill anyone. He just wants to know his father and escape his captors.

Not only is Half Bad the first book in a new trilogy, but it's also the debut book by author Sally Green. This book is getting some early praise, being called the next Hunger Games. There are some similarities, but this book also draws from the magic/fantasy/dystopian world that so many young adult authors are creating nowadays. It's a good book and definitely kept my attention. There are a lot of characters, and some of them you only meet briefly, so it can be hard to keep everyone straight. It can also be hard to understand what is going on in this magical world because you're kind of learning different things about the witches as Nathan learns them. Things aren't always clear right away, leaving you to wonder if maybe you missed something a few pages back.

I wasn't given an age recommendation for the book, but I think it's safe to say that it's going to appeal to teens and adults who enjoy similar book series, such as The Hunger Games.

Half Bad is published by Viking and is available to purchase today. I received a free review copy for my honest review.