By Caitlin
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Hamlet, William Shakespeare
From the opening pages of this novel that feature this quote it’s clear that you are holding something very special in your hands; something exciting, and that’s before we’ve even got to Sally’s own writing. There aren’t many YA authors who could pull off using a quote from the bard himself but Sally Green is one of them.
The action centres around witches who live among humans. But these witches are not like any other literary sorcerers you may have encountered. They don’t wave wands, ride broomsticks or brew potions (well, maybe occasionally) and some of them have an extra ‘gift’ or ability such as healing.
However this is a divided community with the ‘good’ White Witches on one side and the ‘evil’ Black Witches on the other. In the middle of this division is where we encounter protagonist Nathan whose dual magical heritage has left him with a slight identity crisis!
It’s not that simple Glinda!
Add to this uncertainty: his mother is dead and his father is a notorious Black Witch wanted by the ominous Council; he must receive three gifts from his father before his seventeenth birthday or DIE, and you have a recipe for an intense, action-packed, magical coming of age novel. How will he track his father down whilst being hunted himself?
Green has achieved what I feel most YA authors aim for: a book that cannot be pigeon-holed. Her style of writing, switching between Nathan’s own perspective and omniscient narrator, leaves the reader hooked. Green’s use of language makes this a novel that an adult would not be ashamed to admit having read.
WARNING: this book is not I repeat NOT easy to put down. It is all the clichéd words: thrilling, gripping, dramatic and so much more.
So whichever witch you may be I urge you to join #TeamHalfBad with me!
Reviewed by @CaitlinMehta
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