Inspired by the upcoming summer release of the last book in Jo Walton's Thessaly Trilogy, which tells the story of the goddesses Athena's attempt to create Plato's Republic, I spent much of this month happily ensconced in the classical world of Greece (mainly) and Rome (a little).  I re-read The Republic for the first time since I was 18, which is a little more than 4 decades ago...  And  I also listened to two audio courses on Plato and read a book of essays by Mary Beard about classical Greece and Rome.

 

I started the month with Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage, an audio course by my favorite linguist, John McWhorter. The Day of the Scorpion is the second book in Paul Scott's Raj Quartet, set in India during WWII, Dragon Day is a thriller set in modern day China, Bring the Monkey is a spoofy English country house mystery, and A Thousand Pieces of You is a YA novel that explores the multiverse--it was a reread for me. I was about to start its sequel and just planned to skim the last chapter to remind myself of where it ended, but then couldn't resist diving back into the whole book. My original review is here: A Thousand Peices of You--Racing through a Multiverse of Alternate Lives. 

 

I often times try to use a sentence or something that a character says from a book as the title in my reviews on Booklikes. This sentence said/written by the character of Michele stuck with me until the very end. Why is the world not better than this indeed.

This book was only 72 pages and I had so many feels while reading. Told in a diary format style, the narrator is Gabriel's little sister. Readers were introduced to Gabriel in Half Bad (The Half Bad Trilogy Book 1). I would suggest that readers may want to start with this book since all events contained in Half Lies, happens before the events in Half Bad. I would just start off saying, this book will break your heart. In fact, I got to the last couple of entries in the diary and I just shook my head since even if I hadn't read the previous book, I could feel such a dark sense of foreboding while reading.

Michele is 16 and is resentful of having her life turned upside down. She and her whole family are black witches that have relocated to Florida. Michele is torn between wanting her father to be a better father, and also blaming him for the events that led to her mother's death. She hero worships her brother Gabriel and worries over him and his interactions with other black witches that they meet in Florida. We get to see Michele develop a crush and ultimately fall in love with a barista she meets named Sam.

This book gave me more insight into the character of Gabriel, which I really did enjoy, and we get to see another community of witches in America which seems to have different rules in place than the rules that govern the witches in England.

The setting of Florida I thought worked well and it was nice to move the action from Europe. It would be interesting to hear about what happened to this community of witches after the events of this book. I can say that I am starting to despise the Black and White witches both equally. And now I don't like the half Witches either.

I think that telling stories in a diary format can work sometimes, though most times you feel like you are missing a great portion of things since you are only hearing from one narrator while reading. I think it was cute that Michele's diary also had comments from Gabriel since he was totally snooping on his sister. I have to give Sally Green kudos since this diary entry format really worked and did make me think that I was reading a 16 year old girl's thoughts and feeling about her family and Sam.

The flow of the story worked well and everything transitioned smoothly. The ending broke my heart as I was reading and I wished for a total re-do since I was so mad at the ending.

Even though I gave this book five stars, and added it to my I love you, I know shelf on Booklikes, and to my favorites on Goodreads, I did still have some minor issues with the book. Readers still really don't get an idea why the White, Black, and Half witches don't all get along. I seriously hope book two gets into more detail. The world building that Ms. Green did in book one did not go far enough for me, and I hope that book two actually adds into what started this divide. If I can't get my mind around why Black, White, and Half Witches are running around trying to kill one another soon it's going to make me lose my enjoyment of this series. Just having things happen because that is always the way really doesn't satisfy me.

If I wasn't so busy all weekend I totally would have started Half Wild (The Half Bad Trilogy Book Two), however, I just didn't have the time to even peek at it.

I haven't read Half Bad yet, but I had heard a lot of things about it and let me put it this way, they were half good - sorry, I couldn't resist it. Many mixed feelings got me wondering, do I want to start reading yet another series. But then I saw Half Lies on Netgalley and it felt like a great way to get a preview of the series.

 

I didn't understood too much of the story, which is of course entirely my own fault. I take all the blame for not understanding the differences between the White and Black witches and why exactly they hate each other so much. Written as if Michele's diary it's a record of her new life in Florida together with her brother Gabriel and her father. The story took a dark road near the end.

 

One thing I know for sure after reading Half Lies, I want to read Half Bad to try and figure out everything. This is a prequel for the series, but I wouldn't recommend reading this one before Half Bad because I think you'll end up like me, left with a lot of questions.

 

Half Lies is the prequel to the Half Bad Trilogy. The first book is Half Bad and the second book, Half Wild, is expected to be published in March.

 

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Follow my travels as I visit the world via books (since I have neither the money nor the time to do it in real life). It's not meant as a challenge (for my) but I'm just curious to see how many places I visit whilst reading. So I keep track of them and update the maps every ten books. Prepare and get ready for the next ten stops...

 

After my exams I now had one week to relax before starting again, and I think it's safe to say I used it one reading. I read more than 10 books, which means it's time for another update on my 'travelling'.

 

Only one book this time that didn't really have a setting that was made clear: Chronicles of Steele: Raven.

 

This episode focusses mostly on North America it seems. After starting in Chicago (Illinois, US) for Under Different Stars, I moved on to Michigan (US) for 18 Things to which I returned for 18 Thoughts after a short break in the UK for a literary festival (Fest). I then went to Boston (Massachusetts, US; The Scarlet Letter - Manga Classics), followed by New York (US; Seventh Heaven) and Seattle (Washington, US; Zhukov's Dogs). A short trip to Canada (Whisper) eventually lead to Florida (US; Half Lies), the last stop on this part of the journey.

 

Part 21-30:

Countries Visited: 3 (Canada, UK, US)

New Countries Visited: 1 (Canada)

Continents Visited: 2 (Europe, North America)

New Continents Visited: 0

American States Visited: 6 (Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Washington)

New American States Visited: 5 (Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York)

New Places: 6

Most Visited Country: USA (7)

Most Visited Place: Michigan, US (2)

Not Set: 1

 

 

Total:

Countries Visited: 6 (Canada, France, Germany, Spain, UK, US)

Continents Visited: 2 (Europe, North America)

American States Visited: 10 (California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington)

Most Visited Country: USA (14)

Most Visited Place: London, UK (3)

Not Set: 5

 

Also read my earlier travels:

Part 1 - Part 2

Publication Date: Available Now from Penguin Random House UK Childrens.

 

(61 pages e-book)

 

Source: Netgalley

 

Set in the months before Half Bad, Half Lies takes the form of a diary written by Michele, the sister of Gabriel, Nathan’s Black witch friend. Having fled Europe for Florida, Michele falls in love with a local White witch boy. There, she finds that the divide between the Black and White witch communities is just as dangerous as it was in the life she’s left behind.

 

Half Bad was one of my favourite books read this year, way back in January and I have been very excited for the sequel, Half Wild, coming in March 2015 to a bookshop near you, so when I spotted this “prequel” short story featuring Gabriel and his sister I was very pleased. As a way to wet your appetite for the new book this worked really well.

 

Told in Diary form, Michele talks about losing her mother, running away to Florida and attempting to settle into a new community. Even here though, the White Witch/Black Witch divide is dangerously close and when Michele meets Sam there are problems ahead for both of them.

 

I actually found this to be quite an emotional tale considering its short length –  Ms Green manages to pack a lot in there without making it over complicated and it flows along beautifully as we read a young girl’s thoughts as she falls in love, realises the chasm that exists between people and tries her best to make it work anyway.  The mythology of the “Half Bad” world is solidified here, a different perspective from that of Nathan as we watch Michele grow up in a world where love and loyalty can often be at odds.

 

The ending floored me, a real emotional tug on the heartstrings and gosh I am now VERY impatient for Half Wild – I want more from this eclectic and well imagined universe as soon as possible. This was a perfect teaser and just confirms my original feeling that this is going to be one of my favourite YA series ever. Also my love for Gabriel is complete. More Gabriel please.

 

Happy Reading Folks!