Half Wild

I love books that make you miss the principal character once the book is done, as was the case with this book. This doesn't happen often to me, so this one (and the previous one) caught me by surprise.

Nathan is on a rollercoaster not of his own making, so he has to play by other people's rules, so I hope what we've seen in this book leads to him making choices for himself and take charge.

Can't wait for the third book!

AAAARGHHHH!!!!

V good

Lebih baik daripada perkiraanku sebelumnya. Hidup Nathan benar2 menyesakkan menurutku. Sejak kecil diasumsikan sebagai penyihir jahat karena ayahnya merupakan penyihir jahat paling perkasa & ibunya penyihir putih. Padahal sbnrnya ayah & ibunya saling mencintai, namun karena mereka tdk ditakdirkan bersama akhirnya sang ibu menikahi penyihir putih. DIa punya 3 saudara tiri, 1 membencinya, tapi untungnya 2 lainnya menyayanginya.
Sejarah terulan ketika Nathan mencintai Annalise, penyihir putih. Setelah sekian lama akhirnya Nathan bisa menghabiskan waktu dgn sang ayah, eh malah keadaan membuat Annalise melakukan hal di luar dugaan & hilanglah kesempatan Nathan untuk lebih mengenal ayahnya. Ditambah lagi harus kehilangan salah 1 saudara tiri yg menyayanginya. Lalu ada Gabriel, yg dianggap sahabat terbaik oleh Nathan, ternyata mencintai Nathan.
Typical YA fantasy actually, star-crossed lover, love triangle, except for boy-boy romance. Seandainya di buku ketiga ini gk berkembang mgkn serial ini akan jadi favoritku. Mirip sama seri The Young Elite, main protagonist anti-hero, tapi cerita hidupnya menyesakkan...

I read all 3 of these in a week so now it's a little hard for me to differentiate between what happened in 2 & 3? This series definitely has that thing that makes it hard to stop reading? Like I definitely wanted to know what happened, so I was engaged on that level, but also I'm not convinced these are any good? It has kind of a fairy tale sensibility maybe, where no character really gets like...developed? At all?

I do really like the bi love triangle set up. For awhile I thought that when Gabriel turned back into his witch form, he was going to be a girl witch and that's why everyone was calling him "Gabrielle"? But...I guess they were just being homophobic? Uhhhhhhh well anyway I'm glad he's a boy witch.

I have many things to say about this book but I just wanted to get this out of the way. The writing is superb and I honestly couldn't tear my eyes away from it. Devoured the last half of the book in just 2-3 hours and I wish I savored it just a bit more. I wish things turned out to be better for Nathan because his whole life has been a tragedy (except for the meeting with Gabriel, because let's all be honest, he is bae.)
I don't want Arran to die because Nathan has already lost too many members of his family.

Other than that? Perfect book. Perfect pace of the plot (except for the beginning which was kinda slow and just filled with him pining after Annalise).

10/10 A++ Would recommend except to homophobes tyvm.

EDIT: more comprehensive review on my blog
https://bookblubbs.wordpress.com/

Similar to the first book, this one left me wanting more. With the first, Half Bad, we learned about Nathan, his challenges growing up and the rules of the world he lives in. A world where black witches are feared and hated, and Nathan is half white witch, half black witch. Now with Half Wild, we delve deeper into Nathan's abilities and the corruption brewing in the magical council. We witness first hand as Nathan witnesses new brutalities brought on by the supposed good witches and the sacrifices he must make in order to build a better world for himself. Rife with battles, heartache and retribution, the reader will never want to stop turning the pages, eager to seek out what will happen next.

What can I say about this book? After reading Half Bad I wasn't sure what to expect from Half Wild, but this sequel was simply amazing. That ending made me scream and that last sentence made me want more. (Them feels)

If you haven't read this series yet what are you waiting for?

Well then.

Well.

Then.

So, that was a bit of a plot twist, eh?

It was amazing, to be honest. It was so good, I don't even know what to say. I liked it better than the first one, and it was a lot gorier, too. In a good way. I like gore.

But anyways, it was a fantastic sequel, and the whole trilogy so far has just been phenomenal. I don't think I can wait for Half Lost, but I'll do it anyways.

There was one thing I didn't like, though. This line made me cringe:

“Her skin is soft and skin-colored.”

winces

JUST SAYING: Gabriel and Nathan are meant to be. ;)

Wow I loved this so much. Review to come. In the meantime, this series is amazing.

Review (read 4/23/15-4/26-15):

It can be a little hard to know what to expect from a sequel. Sometimes an author hits it out of the park, and it's amazing, and sometimes it's a let down (which is especially sadmaking when you loved the first book).

Half Wild, however, was definitely the former.

I had pretty high expectations jumping into the Half Bad sequel, and I have to say, those expectations were totally met. Half Wild is dark, exciting, full of action and complicated characters (and character relationships) and I was racing through this book to find out what happened. Nathan/Gabriel are one of my favorite ships, and I really loved some of the new characters and magic introduced in this book.

Like Half Bad, the voice is raw and arresting and it was interesting to see Green play with different formats and stylistic choices. There isn't nearly as much second person POV in Half Wild as there was in Half Bad, but even though I loved the second person POV in Half Bad, I didn't mind the shift.

Nathan's character development has been super fascinating to watch, and the ending was seriously awesome, and 2016 is too far away because I want the next book now. If you like dark, violent, gritty YA fantasy, I honestly cannot recommend this series more. It's on my perma-favorites list for sure.