Half Bad

Half Bad is one of the most highly anticipated Young Adult books of the year. Its concept is certainly gripping: a world where those who wield magic are divided into Black and White Witches. White Witches rule and use their powers for good, and have been working for years to eradicate the evil Black Witches. Nathan is one of a kind, a Half Code, with a Black Father and White Mother. Facing prejudice from birth, as his freedom is increasingly restricted Nathan starts to question how just the motives of the White Council really are.

Yet despite this exciting premise the book fails to deliver in many ways. The opening, with Nathan in a cage attempting to defy a mysterious jailer, is intriguing, and the narrative then moves back to show Nathan’s early life leading up to his current predicament before continuing his story. However as Nathan’s struggles progress, the novel degenerates into many drawn out depictions of abuse and torture, to the point that the plot seems to exist only to serve these scenes, rather than the other way around. Additionally there are many elements introduced that are not explained later, leaving confusing holes. This is particularly true at the end of the novel, where the story does not feel completed, and the reader may feel blackmailed into reading the second novel in order to get satisfaction from the first.

Another issue in this book is the careless use of the terms Black and White. Whilst these are obviously terms meant to relate only to good and evil magic and there is no malicious intent, the term Black is used as an insult and it does not help that Nathan has darker colouring than almost all Whites, right down to the description of his ‘grubby-looking skin’ when a baby. He is later described as having olive skin, which is a stark contrast to the almost Aryan appearance of the love interest Annalise, and to Nathan’s own pure hearted half brother.

There are strong moments in this book that make for compulsive reading, such as the idea of the totalitarian council, the magical gifts that young witches inherit at age seventeen, and Nathan’s mysterious father. But it also feels incomplete and needlessly shocking.