Alright, alright, I’ll be honest – I started reading Half Wild (The Half Bad Trilogy, #3) by Sally Green, without remembering basically anything that happened in the first book. What a way to start a book, am I right? I just love to make things difficult for myself. Good thing it didn’t take me TOO long to get reacquainted! Guess what I also just realized… I never wrote a review for the first one. Ugh, this is how I know I’m getting old.
“You will have a powerful Gift, but it’s how you use it that will show you to be good or bad.”
In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, seventeen-year-old Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world’s most powerful and violent witch. Nathan is hunted from all sides: nowhere is safe and no one can be trusted. Now, Nathan has come into his own unique magical Gift, and he’s on the run–but the Hunters are close behind, and they will stop at nothing until they have captured Nathan and destroyed his father.
The Good
- The Characters – I think Green did a great job really showing the complexity and depth to her characters, even the minor ones. Obviously Nathan is extremely complex and is at constant war with his inner demons. But I liked how we were able to witness some of the other characters have their own secrets come to light. And I really enjoyed the newcomers to the story – especially, Van and Nesbitt. I believe that they even stole some of the scenes. And that Gabriel, what a sweet guy.
- Plot – You know how typically the 2nd book in a series or trilogy has a drop in quality compared to the rest? Well, that wasn’t the case in this one! This book was exciting from start to finish, and took some unexpected turns that I really was surprised with (in a good way!). I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll just say – that cliffhanger killed me.
- Nathan – Man, talk about inner turmoil. Try going through your teen years that are already pretty crazy and emotional, and then toss into it that your a half Black, half White witch and everyone expects you to go crazy homicidal at any moment just like your dad… Yeah, I’d say that Nathan makes for one interesting character. I like watching him grow in this book and see how much he’d changed from the first book.
The Bad
- The Romance – Here’s the deal, I enjoy romance in my books. I like the fun will-they-won’t-they aspect and watching relationships develop. My only caveat with the romance in Half Wild was that I didn’t get that development, at least in regards to one relationship. I felt like it just came outta left field all of a sudden. Maybe I was just completely blind to it during the first book and wasn’t seeing what was right in front of me, but I wasn’t expecting it at all. If you’ve read this book then you’ll probably know what I’m referring to.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was expecting it to be another 2nd book hangover and just drag along as a filler until the conclusion. Luckily, I was wrong! This one was filled with new characters, some revisits, action, and a whole lot of WTF moments (the fun kind). Way to avoid that second book slump, Green!
Final Verdict: 4/5 Stars
What are your thoughts on Half Wild? Have you read this trilogy? Did you see that romance coming? Am I just an idiot? Okay, the last question was rhetorical… No need to answer that!
Wonderfilled Reads 