Half Wild // It Didn’t Quite Exceed The First Book, But It Was Good Enough To Make Me Immediately Pre-Order The Third One

Half Wild – Sally Green
Published: 25th March 2015
Source: Bought
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
My Rating:

After finally meeting his elusive father, Marcus, and receiving the three gifts that confirm him as a full adult witch, Nathan is still on the run. He needs to find his friend Gabriel and rescue Annalise, now a prisoner of the powerful Black witch Mercury. Most of all he needs to learn how to control his Gift – a strange, wild new power that threatens to overwhelm him.

Meanwhile, Soul O'Brien has seized control of the Council of White Witches and is expanding his war against Black witches into Europe. In response, an unprecedented alliance has formed between Black and White witches determined to resist him. Drawn into the rebellion by the enigmatic Black witch Van Dal, Nathan finds himself fighting alongside both old friends and old enemies. But can all the rebels be trusted, or is Nathan walking into a trap?

I was really excited about this book after finishing Half Bad. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I’d seen good reviews that made me pretty optimistic I would be getting a really good read. There were certain elements of this book which bothered me and there were certain characters I still didn’t like, but it exceeded expectations and drew me in pretty fast.

What Made Me Love It Then?

This book was fantastic, even with my minor complaints (which will come later) I still loved it and can recommend it to everyone.

Nathan returned in this book in top form and he really reminded me why I enjoyed the first book. Nathan is not a perfect character, he is severely flawed (and with good reason) but he is so strangely likable. I don’t know if it’s the fact he is more sure of himself (in certain respects) or if it’s just that his grown up some but he kept growing on me.

I think the real reason I loved this book was the fact we got introduced to so many new characters. There was the return of my one true love, Gabriel (seriously, I adore that boy) and there was the introduction of Nesbitt, a character who could be annoying but somehow ends up being fun instead. I mean you get the good and the bad. There was the return of a character I am less than thrilled by (Annalise) but even that wasn’t enough to detract from the cool characters. It was nice to finally be able to have a proper cast of characters with Nathan no longer on the run/in a cage/singled out and ignored for being different.

There Is a Good Story To Go With The Characters

Considering the first book was all about Nathan trying to find a way to get the way to become a full witch (and continually escaping one problem or another) it was difficult to predict what direction this book would take. I mean, there wasn’t the same kind of set up you usually have from the first book to the second (in a good way). It made it all the more interesting to read because I couldn’t predict what was to come. This was a wild ride and a continual surprise and that’s what I loved.

I admit, the pacing of this book is a bit slower than the first, but that isn’t much or a surprise. Nathan was on the run in the first book, you can’t get much more fast paced than that. The first book was great set up with the flashbacks, and there were a still a couple in this one, but this book is all about moving the story forward and it did it well. I think the third book has been perfectly set up. You now have the lines properly drawn between the rebels and Soul O’Brien who has taken control of the UK with plans for the rest of Europe.

But Who Cares About That, Is It Worth Reading?

Did I love this book as much as Half Bad? Probably not, but I really enjoyed it. I think the problem with this book is that the action is not so insanely fast-paced as the first, so it felt almost sedentary in places. Obviously, it wasn't. Compared to any other book this was fast paced, but compared to the first it was a lot slower. It was great because it allowed for greater character and story development, but I missed some of the absorbing fast-paced storytelling. It picked up in the last part of the book and I was utterly hooked, but really, this is me finding faults over nothing. I loved the characters (for the most part) I love the path the book took in terms of the rebels and Nathan’s story with his family. I just really enjoyed this book and I’m excited to get started with the third.

Has anyone else read this, what did you think? Do you find yourself continually comparing books which are part of a series and picking faults? And who else struggles reading a book when they dislike one character?