Review #27 - Half Bad by Sally Green

Half Bad is the first in a new series of UKYA books about a boy who is half white witch, half black witch. The white witches are known to be good and the black witches are known to be evil. The black witch who is the father is the most dangerous witch of all time. 

The first part of the book is in second person which is a really interesting stylistic choice so the book does feel really raw. The rest of the book is in first person which changed the tone quite drastically but it was still pretty good. It wasn't quite as powerful.

The book is really exciting and that is it's main reason you should read this. It is really gripping and I think that's why it is sold on such a wide scale (I mean WH Smiths is selling it as one of the 10 YA books it sell). I could not put it down. I would say this was an adventure book. I often feel adventure books have to be in the 9-12 section of a bookshop and this was wonderful because it was an age appropriate adventure book. Sally Green did wonderful things.

The book does have a part of it that is in the past and most that is in the present. The bit in the past is relatively on and explains why he is in a cage and why his family dynamic is what it is. I felt like the family dynamic was very similar to the one from Ender's Game.

The style was quite different from that usual UKYA style which I really enjoyed as the author just felt really confident with her voice and that was really refreshing. It's different.

I would recommend this if:

You want to read a fantasy YA book
You feel like something a bit different
You want a book you just can't put down

I wouldn't recommend this if: you actually want to revise

I gave this four stars