Half Lost

Um, so this book has devastated me. I actually got legitimately teary, which is a first, and my heart hurts. Full review to come, but this series is special. Very dark, but very special.

FULL REVIEW:

It's going to be hard to write a review about this without spoiling anything, but I will do my darndest. Because this finale to one of my favorite YA Fantasy series deserves a very good review.

So given how much I loved [b:Half Bad|18079804|Half Bad (The Half Bad Trilogy, #1)|Sally Green|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413889712s/18079804.jpg|24802827] and [b:Half Wild|20814989|Half Wild (The Half Bad Trilogy, #2)|Sally Green|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413889802s/20814989.jpg|40160453], I had pretty high hopes for Half Lost. I was ready to see one relationship I despised crash and burn; I was ready to see the relationship I'd been dying to see since book one flourish; I was ready to see Nathan come into himself and become the truly powerful witch everyone knew all along he would be.

I got all of that and more.

The character development in this book is truly amazing; at the beginning, Nathan has gone extremely dark side. His obsession with exacting revenge on someone was so intense it was disturbing, and seeing him morph from book one into this dark, hurting person was legitimately hard to read. My heart ached for him, and for Gabriel, who stood hurting by his side as he watched someone he cared so much about become this unrecognizable person.

Half Lost is just as dark and raw as Half Bad and Half Wild. There were moments that made me cringe, and images that were disturbingly vivid. Green doesn't hold back or shy away from the harsh realities of war; it's there on the page for everyone to see, and I found it to be incredibly powerful.

And speaking of powerful, this book nearly made me cry twice. As I've said in my other reviews, I am not someone who cries easily—to this date I've never actually broken down over a book. But there was one moment in the book that made me so happy I actually got teary-eyed, and the other...well, I won't spoil, but I will say if I hadn't taken a break, it's very likely I would've full-on sobbed by the end of the book.

There are a lot of people who took issue with something that happens at the end—and I understand their grievances. But I feel it's important to say that I think what happened was handled really deftly, and it absolutely fit the story; as another reviewer said, it felt inevitable. And for me, at least, I found it a very powerful—and beautiful—ending to a wonderfully memorable YA Fantasy series.

Overall, the Half Bad series will remain on my favorites list. I really enjoyed the diverse characters woven into the story—from a bisexual and biracial protagonist with a learning disorder, to a gay major character, and not one, but two gender nonconforming characters, and more, the Half Bad series is one I'll continue to recommend to those who like (very) dark YA Fantasies and a story that will break you and put you back together again.

Diversity note: As mentioned in the review, Nathan, the protagonist, is biracial, bisexual, and has a learning disorder. A major character, Gabriel, is gay, and there are also two gender non-conforming characters.

I knew how it would end. But it still hurts.
I need a lot of fanfiction with alternative ending right now.

This book tore my heart out and chewed it up into little pieces, then spit it out and stepped on it. Seriously...it was difficult to read at times. Actually I'd better stop thinking about it because I'm starting to cry again. I luv u Gabriel 4 eva

This series destroyed me life in the best way possible. For a debut series, wow. Sally Green, you are amazing. This series will forever be one of my favorites. I can't wait to see what else Sally Green will write!!

Compared to the other books in this series. i really didn't like it. the direction the main character felt forced and off in this book.

Wow. That woman can write endings. So good that I wished the rest of the book was as great.
I'm still not sure if I like it more than the first one - probably, but definitely more than the second one. I really feel like Sally Green had soooo much lost potential in here. The final chapters showed that she's indeed capable of writing subtle whilst maintaining a certain intricacy.
I loved that.
I do not regret reading this series at all (maybe the 2nd installment - but we don't talk about that) but perhaps I should have spend my time with reading other books first. 🤷

A fitting finale for this trilogy. Sad, but honestly I don't see how it could have ended any other way. Watching Nathan evolve through these three books was impressive. You have a main character who's so flawed and is in constant battle with his own actions, trying to come to terms with who he is and hating himself, yet knowing he has to do bad things. I loved that he wasn't perfect, that he made so many mistakes, and was such a unique character.

The ending was bittersweet, but I think it was the best outcome for Nathan. Though I will be terribly (and forever) bitter about Gabriel, in a way, this is what they wanted. Peace and to live eternally with one another.
Thank you Sally Green. Those two characters will forever be my favorite male characters.

what the hell

but like literally what tho

Although it wasn't my favorite in the trilogy (I was, and still am, terribly and irrevocably in love with Half Wild), it was still very, very, very, very good.

The ending was heartbreaking and not what I expected at all. I'll admit, tears welled in my eyes a little. But, as it is, I can be a really cold chick sometimes, and so no, I did not cry. I wish I had.

The ending was really good. I will say, it was not ideal in many ways (first of all, that lad should not have died), but still good. I enjoyed the book, and this trilogy, immensely and am extremely sad to see it end. I hope Sally Green writes more novels in the future because I will definitely buy them.

I've read this saga because I didn't have anything else and because I read a tweet talking about the books when talking about how netflix always cancel their series with a lgtb+ protagonist.

If I'm sincere, I have mixed feelings with the books. The plot was very promising. It really has everything. But the writing style is pretty bad, meh at best. I'm not a fan of the books written in first person, and that I've read a Spanish version, but even without that, it felt weird. Like, I've read fics with better narrative than this.

Also, the end? It remembered me a lot to the end of THG, but darker and sadder. I couldn't not cry with it. Idk, I feel Nathan deserved better than that. It's pretty cruel that Annelise had a better end than him.

The good point for these books is the complexity of the characters. I enjoyed their development, their motivations. I just wish they could be better written.