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Book review : Half Bad - Sally Green

Date- April 7, 2016

Title: Half Bad
Author: Sally Green
Genre: Fantasy, Witchcraft
Date of Publication:  24th March, 2014
Number of Pages: 384







Summary with a mini-spoiler- The book is about a boy named Nathan Byrn who lives in the society of witches, needless to say, he is also a witch. The society is spread over in England, Scotland and Wales. Two types of witches are prevailing. They are – white witches (good witches) and black witches (bad witches, dangerous for the white ones). Nathan is an exception. His mother was a healer and his father Marcus is the most ferocious being in the society of witches, and yes, he is a black witch. Nathan is a half black witch, which also indicates that he is half white also. He was locked in a cage from his birth up to a certain age. When he got unlocked, he started living with his Gran, Deborah (half sister) and Arran (half brother and the best friend of Nathan). Nathan is a boy, who has always heard bad things about the deeds of his dad and he was familiar with the vicious identity of his father. He also even knows that his father killed his near ones and of others also. That makes sense about why his father was at the centre of everyone’s revengeful mind. Though all these were known to Nathan, he had an untold love towards his father, with whom he had never got interaction  and he saw his father last when he was a new born baby. Every white witches of the society who are familiar to Nathan always made him listening to the carelessness of his dad about him, and how selfish he was. He has never seen him, as he grew up in the cage from his birth.
A witch can’t be a full witch if he/she doesn’t get at least three gifts in their 17th birthday and that also may cause their death within 2 or 3 years.  This was the weak point of Nathan.
There is a council of white witches. They are as if promised to themselves to kill Marcus, but they didn’t get a reasonable chance till then.  They were aware about the weak point of Nathan. They thought to use Nathan as a weapon and promised him to give three gifts which may save his life and can live as a white witch in the society of witches. Being dead or killing his dad were the only options left in his hand from which he had to pick one. Read the book to know the rest.
The things I liked- There are many chapters in the book which was easy to bookmark. I loved the characters she chosen. Going through it was a long journey but it didn’t make me bored. It was fully based on a being from fiction. I loved the way Sally Green described almost all the incidents and interactions took place in the life of Nathan. It was like, I got introduced to all the persons who are known to Nathan and I loved that. It was an ultimate reflection of the things observed by a boy throughout his ages.  
Comment- I am very happy that I read the book during my vacation and now I think that the time spent over this book was the best portion of my vacation and I am eagerly waiting for the sequel of it. It was a ‘Full Good’ read. 


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