As you know by now, I’m a member of The Rick O’Shea Book Club over on Facebook and this month Rick had picked 4 YA reads that we could pick from or read all if we were that way inclined. I chose Half Bad by Sally Green. I had bought this book last month on a recommendation from Ellen Devonport over on Twitter so I was delighted to see I wouldn’t have to go buying the book.
I had read a brief synopsis of the book, and a quick look at a few reviews so I was happy enough to give it a go.
The blurb from Amazon is as follows;
“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.”
I generally start a new book in bed at night as it gives me the most uninterrupted reading time as opposed to during the day with a baby and a 5 year old around! I started this thinking ‘a few pages and I’ll sleep’, I was wrong. I found I didn’t want to stop reading as it was easy to read and every so often something happened that meant I kept reading on 😄
The book is about Nathan Byrn, a 16 year old boy, who was born to a white witch mother and a black witch father. Nathan does not know which he is, but is keen to find out, and also try find his father, Marcus. Marcus is the one of the baddest witches, and quite powerful, so needless to say, he’s hard for Nathan to find. Nathan has until his giving ceremony, when he will get his three gifts, to find out whether he is a white witch or a black witch. I won’t go into detail about the book, but it’s good! 😃
The book has plenty of action, and in my opinion, enough happening to make me want to buy that sequel, Half Wild. There are echoes of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, as well as Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments trilogy in the book, which I have no complaint about.
This book might not be to everyone’s taste, but I found it fun, for want of a better word. A welcome departure from my usual maim,murder and mystery trifecta that I tend to gravitate towards. I’d highly recommend it, especially if you have any YA readers in your house!
I gave it a surprising 4* on Goodreads.
Happy Reading! 😊📖
