Half Lies

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 show more 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. show less

Witches are almost always a great read for me. Sally Green’s world with witches is very unique. I didn’t dislike Half Bad, but I also wasn’t screaming for people to go pick it up. When I saw there was a prequel, I spent the 0.99 to see if it made a difference. Boy did it!

Half Lies is basically what happened in Gabriel’s life before he meets Nathan and it was fascinating. It’s a short story/prequel and it was a quick read. I honestly don’t know if the prequel was out before I read Half Bad, but I wish I’d read it first. I think it would’ve given me a whole new appreciation for Nathan’s situation and I definitely would’ve paid more attention to Gabriel.

Gabriel’s sister Michele is the focus of Half Lies and she’s so show more darn likable. I was rooting for her from page one and I will admit that I was not at all happy with how things turned out (not blurting out the end is killing me). I do love that Sally Green doesn’t shy away from the violent nature that seems to be inherent in her Black witch characters. Although to be fair, the White witches aren’t much better and are actually worse in some ways.

I really liked Half Lies. It was good enough that I’m planning to go back and re-read Half Bad before Half Wild comes out in March. I think it deserves a second chance. I would definitely recommend Half Lies. If you haven’t read Half Bad yet, read Half Lies first. If you’ve already read Half Bad and were underwhelmed by it, then you may want to read Half Lies. You could end up having the same reaction I did.

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I was sobbing for Gabriel! I know I knew the story by reading Half Wild before this but still... Ms. Green you have a beautiful style, when I normally dislike first person tellings but I devour your books! Anxiously awaiting the conclusion of this trilogy though dreaming that it should never end!

I've heard a lot about this trilogy and decided I would start with this novella to see if I liked the authors writing and try out the world and such. It wasn't bad and I did find myself enjoying it. I will probably go on to the first book and see how I like it. I would recommend this book. 4 out of 5 stars.

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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 show more 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! show less

Could have gone without it, but it didn't make me want to throw my kindle against the wall either.

Could have gone without it, but it didn't make me want to throw my kindle against the wall either.