Review: Half Bad by Sally Green

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and fifteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his sixteenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch—or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust—not even family, not even the girl he loves?

My thoughts
I have been hearing things about this book for a while so snapped up the chance to review it when offered it for review.

For me this book was about the way in which we treat people different from ourselves. Witchcraft aside for a moment I liked the message this book had about diversity and social exclusion. It really made me think about self fulfilling prophecies and the way in which people become the labels put upon them.

Coming back to the witchcraft I loved to take this book had on witches. The witches in this book are hardcore and I loved that while there was supposed to be a clear line between good and bad witches that there were a lot of characters who fell inbetween the gray area between the very black and white world of good and bad they were supposed to conform to.

The main character Nathan is. Really interesting one and what this book does well is let you see him grow both literally from a child to a young man but also in his outlook on life and as a character within himself in the decisions he faces. I,for one, was fascinated by his story and and very interested to see where it goes next (I'm assuming there will be a sequel).

All in all a book I thoroughly enjoyed because it was a bit different from everything else out there at the moment on the market and because it made me think.