Beauty and the Books: Half Bad by Sally Green

Hey ya'll!!

Another week, another book read. Like the new name change?! I decided to go ahead and change the name of my book related posts from "Book Work Series" to the new and improved "Beauty and the Books". I think it's a better fit, what about you? Today's Beauty and the Books is a review on Half Bad by Sally Green. I have been really excited to read this book and had high hopes for it. I enjoyed reading it, but it ended up being different than what I thought it would be. Find out more about the synopsis in my TBR here.

Half Bad is the first book in a new  trilogy, Book Two comes out at the end of 2015. It's about a boy named Nathan, who is half White Witch and half Black Witch. White Witches are good, Black Witches are bad. Nathan's mother was a White Witch, and had a husband and a family of her own. Nathan's father, Marcus, is the most evil of all Black Witches. He killed Nathan's mother's husband, and left her to raise Nathan and the rest of her children on her own. Nathan's mother couldn't deal with it all, so she committed suicide when Nathan was just a baby. Nathan and his siblings were then raised by their Gran. He has never met his father but knows of him. Nathan has to go into town to meet with the Council every year on his birthday. Starting as a young child, he is submitted to tons of questioning about himself and his father, a man he has never met.

I was surprised at how much the book dealt with discrimination, even though it didn't outright say anything about it. I don't know if that was Green's intention in writing it, but that's how it came off to me. You really feel for Nathan as he grows up with everyone hating and judging him, and assuming he's bad news just because of who his father is. No one will be his friend, his teacher's don't take the time to educate him like they do the other students, his oldest sister is very hateful towards him, and even the Council members discriminate against Nathan. The Council sends many notifications to Nathan's house, always changing and giving new rules and regulations pertaining to Half Codes (anyone who is a mixed witch), making his and his Gran's life that much more stressful and miserable. He does have people on his side though. His Gran, his brother Arran, and his sister Deborah treat him well, along with his schoolmate Annalise.

Annalise comes from a Pure White family, all who play major roles in the Council. She and Nathan form a friendship that quickly turns into something more. When her brother's find out about this, they confront Nathan and begin torturing him, hurting him terribly. His family is really upset by this, but know there's nothing they can do about it because Annalise's family is such a huge part of the Council. Soon, Nathan and his Gran are notified by the Council that he is to come in for more questioning. When he arrives and goes through his normal questioning, he is taken into custody, is given a new guardian, and is whisked away immediately, all while his poor Gran watches the whole thing.

Nathan's guardian is a tough, military type woman. She has him on a strict schedule and he is kept chained in a cage at night to sleep. Even though she hits him, and works him to the bone, they grow a sort of fondness towards each other. Just when they grow this newfound fondness, Nathan is taken away again. This time he is taken into the custody of the Council, where Annalise's brother is now working.

While in custody, Nathan ends up escaping. When he was still living with his Gran, he met with this old woman named Mary. Mary told him of people who could help him receive his Three Gifts. Every witch must receive Three Gifts on their Seventeenth Birthday in order to become a witch and find out their power. Nathan already knows that the first person he is supposed to find, lives in the area where the Council building is. Nathan begins his traveling adventures, making stop after stop, and meeting different people who are all steps to finding Mercury, the witch who hopefully will help him with his Three Gifts. I don't want to spoil the entire story, especially since this is the first book in a trilogy, so I'm going to stop the spoilers here.

Nathan is tested in many different ways in his short life, and even though the whole world seemed to be against him, he didn't let that stop him from achieving his goal in getting his Three Gifts. I think this is a great book about facing diversity, and being strong even when you don't have anyone cheering you on. It's a great book for kids in school to read as well. It does a great job of showing how we shouldn't discriminate against others for who their parents are, or where they come from. That everyone is their own person, and despite where they originate from, it doesn't always mean they are going to turn out that same way. We shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Sometimes the best people are the ones who have all odds against them, sometimes that person just needs someone to give them a chance.

If you enjoy fantasy and paranormal books, I recommend giving this one a try. I enjoyed it even though it was different than what I expected. There wasn't as much magic in it as I thought there would be. If there's anything negative for me to say, it would be that I wished the book would have been  more "magical". I'm really excited for Book Two.  Half Bad ended on a cliff hanger, so I think there will be a lot more magic and action in the second book!

I'm close to being done with my TBR List, and will be on the hunt for more reads pretty soon. Let me know what books you recommend, or what books you'd like to see reviews on in the comments below!


xoxo,
Casey