Half Bad
Half Bad (Half Bad Trilogy, Book 1), by Sally Green 
Blurb: Wanted by no one. Hunted by everyone. Sixteen-year-old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled, trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan's only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers—before it's too late. But how can Nathan find his father when there is no one safe to trust, not even family, not even the girl he loves?I really, really wanted to love this book... I think the premise is great, the blurring between good and bad, and I think a story of persecution is going to ring with a lot of people at the moment. I also thought Nathan was an interesting characters; you can sympathise with him and I was on his side the entire time. His anger and alienation was seemed so real and heartfelt and I think that's what made me keep reading this book. Also, I just have to mention my other favourite character, besides Nathan... I feel like Gabriel is an underrated character and I loved him so much! I can't help but feel for him, since his love for Nathan is unrequited (at the moment anyway) and I really want to know what happened to him at the end. However, despite all that there were aspects that held me back. Firstly, the writing was very simple, which doesn't usually bother me, especially in a YA book, but it was so simple I was bored and felt like I was reading a children's book rather than something intended for Young Adults. Then there was Nathan's feelings toward his father - I can understand not wanting to kill him, I can understand when he was young thinking there might have been a misunderstanding and his dad wasn't that bad, but the undying faith even though he knew Marcus had killed women and children just didn't strike me as real. Finally, there was his 'relationship' with Annalise... again, it just didn't seem real or believable and I couldn't really mesh with her character. Despite being a little disappointed in this first book, I will go onto read the next one, mainly because I've already brought it (what can I say, they have beautiful covers and look great on my shelf!), but I'm also looking forward to seeing Nathan's magic in the second book, since, for a book about witches, there seemed to be very little magic.
My favourite quotes from 'Half Bad': " 'Someone once said that the best way to find out if you can trust someone is to trust them.' "" 'He has taken a life from me. The life of someone precious. And I intend to take a life from him. And as the only life he holds precious is his own, that is the one I will take.' " "Mercury may not die for the person she loved but she'll kill for her."
Blurb: Wanted by no one. Hunted by everyone. Sixteen-year-old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled, trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan's only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers—before it's too late. But how can Nathan find his father when there is no one safe to trust, not even family, not even the girl he loves?I really, really wanted to love this book... I think the premise is great, the blurring between good and bad, and I think a story of persecution is going to ring with a lot of people at the moment. I also thought Nathan was an interesting characters; you can sympathise with him and I was on his side the entire time. His anger and alienation was seemed so real and heartfelt and I think that's what made me keep reading this book. Also, I just have to mention my other favourite character, besides Nathan... I feel like Gabriel is an underrated character and I loved him so much! I can't help but feel for him, since his love for Nathan is unrequited (at the moment anyway) and I really want to know what happened to him at the end. However, despite all that there were aspects that held me back. Firstly, the writing was very simple, which doesn't usually bother me, especially in a YA book, but it was so simple I was bored and felt like I was reading a children's book rather than something intended for Young Adults. Then there was Nathan's feelings toward his father - I can understand not wanting to kill him, I can understand when he was young thinking there might have been a misunderstanding and his dad wasn't that bad, but the undying faith even though he knew Marcus had killed women and children just didn't strike me as real. Finally, there was his 'relationship' with Annalise... again, it just didn't seem real or believable and I couldn't really mesh with her character. Despite being a little disappointed in this first book, I will go onto read the next one, mainly because I've already brought it (what can I say, they have beautiful covers and look great on my shelf!), but I'm also looking forward to seeing Nathan's magic in the second book, since, for a book about witches, there seemed to be very little magic.My favourite quotes from 'Half Bad': " 'Someone once said that the best way to find out if you can trust someone is to trust them.' "" 'He has taken a life from me. The life of someone precious. And I intend to take a life from him. And as the only life he holds precious is his own, that is the one I will take.' " "Mercury may not die for the person she loved but she'll kill for her."
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