Half Bad

Half Bad (March 2014) is the debut novel of author Sally Green. It is also the first book in a trilogy of the same name. The book became an instant bestseller because of its similarity to the Harry Potter series. Green followed Half Bad with Half Wild (2015) and Half Lost (2016). The Half Bad trilogy was eventually produced as the Netflix series entitled The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself. It ran for one season in 2022. The author says she derived inspiration from Wuthering Heights in developing this series. Green then went on to write another trilogy after Half Bad. It was entitled The Smoke Thieves. The first book in the series of the same name was published in 2018. It was followed by Demon World (2019) and The Burning Kingdoms (2020).

Half Bad is a young adult fantasy for readers over 12 or in grades 7 to 12. It is classified under Teen & Young Adult Fiction on Social & Family Violence and Teen & Young Adult Fiction About Parents. This study guide and all its page citations are based on the book's Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The book contains graphic descriptions of torture, violence, and physical abuse, much of which is directed at or perpetrated by children. Such material may be inappropriate for younger or more sensitive readers.

Half Bad is set in contemporary England, where witches live alongside ordinary humans and blend into mainstream society. The novel's timeframe is not linear and frequently consists of flashbacks by the main character from when he was four until his 17th birthday. The point of view occasionally shifts between second and first person. However, events are consistently described from the perspective of the teenage protagonist, Nathan.

As the novel begins, an unnamed speaker describes the experience of living in an outdoor cage. He is a teenage boy who repeatedly tries to escape. The reader soon learns that the boy has magical abilities and is being confined by a witch, who seems to be both his jailer and caregiver. The boy unsuccessfully tries to escape and suffers numerous injuries, which he self-heals. Part 2 of the book and all the succeeding chapters describe Nathan’s suffering at the hands of Fairborn Witches who have a vendetta against the faction of Blood Witches. Since Nathan is half Fairborn and half Blood, he has drawn the ire of the Council of Fairborn Witches, which seeks to control him for its own purposes. In following Nathan’s life and the abuse he suffers, the novel explores the themes of Separating Good from Evil, Wild Versus Tame, and Identity and Identification.

Plot Summary

At the story's beginning, 15-year-old Nathan Edge is imprisoned in an outdoor cage in a rural area of England. He is being guarded and trained by a middle-aged witch named Celia. Nathan has the magical power of self-healing but hasn’t yet come of age. When he reaches 17, he will undergo a Giving Ceremony in which a relative must give him three gifts and a small amount of their blood. Then, he can come into his full powers and receive his own magical Gift.

Nathan has aroused the ire of the Council of Fairborn Witches because his mother is Fairborn, and his father comes from the rival faction of Blood Witches. The Fairborns are trying to exterminate all Blood Witches in the British Isles and are particularly intent on killing Nathan’s powerful Blood Witch father, Marcus.

As the boy grows up among his Fairborn relatives, he is subjected to repeated harassment and abuse from other Fairborns and the Council. He gets into such frequent fights at school that his grandmother homeschools him. Despite his isolation, Nathan forms an attachment to a Fairborn Witch named Annalise. Their covert romance ends when Nathan is attacked by her brothers, who carve the letters B and F into his back with a knife.

When Nathan turns 15, he is taken from his family and put under the supervision of a witch named Celia. He sleeps outdoors in a cage at night because many Blood Witches can’t bear to be enclosed after dark. His imprisonment in the country ends when the Council brings Nathan to London shortly before his 17 birthday, where he is tattooed with his Half Code status. Nathan escapes and goes in search of a powerful Blood Witch named Mercury, who might be able to conduct his Giving Ceremony in the absence of his family.

During his adventures, Nathan learns of a prophecy in which he is predicted to kill his father with the Detheridge dagger, which is why Marcus keeps his distance and why the Council seeks to control Nathan. Their goal is to force him to kill his father by enchanting his tattoos. Nathan escapes before the spell can be completed. With the help of an attractiveyoung Blood Witch named Gabriel, Nathan reaches Mercury in Switzerland. However, Mercury also demands that he kill his father.

When Annalise appears unexpectedly to seek refuge with Mercury, the elder witch casts a sleeping spell over her. Mercury intends to use Annalise as leverage to control Nathan. On Nathan’s birthday, Marcus unexpectedly appears and conducts his son’s Giving before disappearing again. As the novel ends, the Detheridge dagger has gone missing, Annalise is still in a trance, and Nathan is on the run from Fairborn Hunters. He plans to search for Gabriel, who may have been killed or injured by the Hunters.