Half Lost by Sally Green

So many feelings now that I've completed this series. Half Bad began this whole crazy adventure, Half Wild delved even deeper into the characters' motivations, and now Half Lost brings this epic story to a close. I applaud the author for staying away from the typical YA stories throughout the whole series. While the idea of witches has obviously been used in YA books countless times, Sally Green's approach was very original and highly entertaining.

This book couldn't have been published at a better time. I'm really glad to have read this book during Pride Month. LGBTQ characters are getting more and more common in books these days, and the acceptance of these characters by major publishers (in YA no less!) is definitely overdue. It's time to accept diversity in books. With the recent events in Orlando, it feels even more appropriate to discuss it now. The main character, Nathan, definitely had issues about acknowledging his romantic feelings for his best friend Gabriel, but ultimately he came to realize that love is love. Gabriel was never shy about his feelings. For Nathan, even though it took a while to realize, I don't think it was so much about loving someone of the same sex, but more about loving someone after being betrayed by another lover. Especially in times of war.

Nathan and company have amassed quite a bit of followers and fighters to wage war against the corrupted Council of White Withes in England. Together, the Alliance is stronger than ever. They're learning to bide their time and wait for the most opportune time to attack. There's a lot of preparation and planning in this book, which slowed down the pace of the story quite a bit. However, I found it helped to better understand the characters, their motivations and their relationships. There are so many sides to Nathan and the title of the book is so fitting. He has felt lost throughout the series, but it's especially true at the beginning and the end of this book. One of the major themes of this book may have been self-discovery, but it's definitely about loss too.

Although the ending wasn't quite what I expected, I think the author went in the right direction. I like that it's not your typical 'happily ever after'. Life doesn't always end up the way you planned it, but I definitely didn't see this coming. I personally think Nathan's story ended perfectly. His story wasn't just about fighting, good vs evil, and war. It was also about endurance, love and acceptance. This book may have lacked a little bit in plot development but it definitely made up with an epic final battle scene and heartbreaking end. I may have cried during the last few chapters, but this gut-wrenching conclusion will be one I remember for a long time.

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Posted by Tynga at 03:16

 england, Half Bad, Paranormal, Penguin, Purchased, Sally Green, Viking, witches, young adult  Leave your mark

Half Wild by Sally Green

This sequel has surpassed my expectations. I wasn't overly pleased with the first book of the series, Half Bad, so honestly my expectations weren't very high. But I caved and gave this one a shot. I'm glad this series is getting better, however, I've definitely read better books. Nathan is still the protagonist of the story and he's still on the run from the Council of white witches and their Hunters. Things are far more interesting now that he has come into his Gift, and he's learning how to control it. With some old and new allies, Nathan continues to avoid and survive the white witches.

It's interesting to see a new love interest develop. It was totally unexpected but I'm definitely on board with it. I had a difficult time with Annelise, Nathan's love interest in book one, so I'm actually overjoyed that there's something else going on, in terms of love interest. My problem with Annelise was that she was simply too boring, and there was no spark between her and Nathan. Although, throughout a good part of this book, Nathan's goal is to save Annelise, I'm not convinced that it's out of love. I think it's more out of duty because he feels responsible for her being held captive. Anyways, I'm pretty sure many readers will be surprised with this new development and I think it was well plotted by the author. I usually hate love triangles with a passion but for some reason this one works!

I'm glad we see more of Marcus, Nathan's father. Obviously not the best father figure for a young man, Marcus still somewhat has a positive influence on Nathan. Who wouldn't want to spend time with their father after being apart for most of their lives? Even though Marcus may not be the best role model, Nathan does find new allies and new people to look up to. Being out in the wild suits Nathan but I think he has come to learn that he doesn't have to be alone, and accepting help isn't the worse possible fate.

There is definitely a plot change in this sequel. In Half Bad, the story was basically Nathan against the world of white witches. Now we realize that the conflict is bigger than Nathan, and Nathan isn't the only one demanding change. I don't want to reveal too much about the plot because I think readers are better off reading it straight from the source. It feels like this series went from a superhero's origin story in book one, to a hero's quest in book two. The change in plot is absolutely positive and it definitely makes things more intriguing.

The ending of this book is killer and I'm really looking forward to the last book of this trilogy. To the readers that were doubtful, like me, after reading book one, I say give this one a try. The line between Black and White is definitely grey and Sally Green has created a wonderful story to question morality and righteousness.



 

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Posted by Tynga at 03:56

 Half Bad, Magic, Penguin, Purchased, Review, Sally Green, Viking, witches, young adult  4 People left their mark

Half Bad by Sally Green

I've been thinking about this review for a while now. Although I did like the novel because it's easy to read and the characters are likable, I'm on the fence about this one. I think I read it so fast because I kept thinking something BIG was going to happen, but it feels like nothing ever did. Except maybe in the last 30 pages or so.

On the surface, it's a very simple "boy vs the world" type of story but as you start to piece everything together, the novel is actually quite twisted. Overall, Sally Brown created a very dark and twisted world. In her magical world, witches live within the human society and the humans unaware of their existence. They govern themselves with a Council and as we learn more and more about the main character, Nathan, we slowly realize that this Council is just a bunch of fanatics that want to rid the world of Black Witches. Nathan is actually half White and half Black, and ever since he was born, he's been discriminated against because of his Black Witch father. Nathan has never met his father, yet other witches fear him because they assume he will grow up to be as evil as his father.

One of my major issues with Half Bad is its predictability and the fact that nothing much happens. Much of the book is about Nathan's upbringing. This book is very much like a superhero's origin story. The only way to completely understand Nathan's motives is to know about his childhood, but beyond his character's history, there isn't much of a story. Everything leads up to Nathan's 17th birthday because that is the day a witch is supposed to receive three gifts from one of his or her parents or grandparents, and drink their blood. This allows a witch to receive their "Gift", their one magical ability that defines them as a witch.

Personally, I think Nathan doesn't really help his case because he doesn't really go a long with the Council's wishes. He could have done exactly what they were expecting from a White Witch and his life could have been simpler and he could have avoided a lot of pain and suffering. Honestly, I'm not quite sure why he ends up in a cage. He didn't really do anything that bad, yet he's sentenced to suffering no teenager should endure. Nathan is quite a refreshing character since he's not your poster boy hero. He's awful in school. He's not really a great brother or grandson. He runs off to live and sleep in the woods countless times. He doesn't have much going for him yet he finds the strength to keep going.

Besides Nathan, I found all the other characters superficial. Some of them played a major roles yet weren't detailed enough, in my opinion. For example, Nathan's love interest, Annalise leaves much to be desired. The romance between the two is foolish and almost non existent. There's just nothing there! But Nathan would do anything for this girl. Annalise is simply boring, and it's kind of sad to say, but I really don't care what happens to her. I do love the relationship Nathan has with his brother Arran, however. The two youngest of the family, they get along quite well, and I love how Arran stands up for his little brother, when pretty much everyone else hates him for just being half Black. As for the many antagonists, it's easy to hate them all because they've always been against Nathan and they've all done horrible things to him, but I just wish we could understand their side of the story a little bit more. Are they really so much against Nathan because of half of his biology? Don't they have any hope that with a proper upbringing, the son of a killer could turn out to be normal?

I still don't know what to make of this novel. On one hand, I enjoyed reading it because it felt so natural. Nathan, as a narrator, was so easy to follow and I loved his no nonsense outlook on life. On the other hand, the story felt a little too fake and somewhat forced. It fell short of my expectations, especially since there was so much hype surrounding the book when it first came out. I'll be checking out the rest of the series, especially since the release date of the next book is right around the corner, but instead of purchasing the book, I might just borrow it from the library.

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Posted by Tynga at 01:07

 Half Bad, Magic, Penguin, Purchased, Review, Sally Green, Viking, Witch, young adult  Leave your mark