Half Wild: The Half Bad Trilogy, Book 2

Many bloody killings throughout the book, mostly from poison bullets and slit throats and guts. Some witches are gutted with throats torn out by an animal version of the main character, with some description of the aftermath. There's also some eating of human organs but mostly talk of it happening in the past. Some witches can heal themselves -- a good thing, because their ears are cut off and their hands are run through with stakes, and they're shot by poison bullets, hit with magic lightning, and given potions for death-like sleep. Talk of many mass executions of witches with hangings and some torture. Story of a girl's mother killed by hanging while she's blinded with a knife. A reminder that the main character's mother was forced to kill herself when he was young.

Talk of sex between a 17-year-old couple with little detail beyond kissing and entwined legs and a quick mention of what they should do for protection, with nothing resolved. Two teen boys kiss.

"S--t" is used many times, "f--k" rarely. Plus "badass" and "dips--t."

A witch constantly smokes special cigarettes that smell like fruit instead of tobacco and have a calming quality. Nathan, 17 and British, tries his first champagne with his friend Gabriel. Some scenes take place in bars.

Parents need to know that Half Wild is the second book in a fantasy trilogy about witches that the publisher is marketing to ages 12 and up. However, the amount of violence here and the overall edginess of the content make it pretty consistent with books most publishers aim toward the more mature young-adult crowd: high schoolers, not middle schoolers. The violence is consistent and gory when the main character, a witch, gets the gift of turning into an animal he can't always control. He guts enemies and tears out their throats, with descriptions of the aftermath. Many other witches die (from knives and poison bullets) in what is the start of an all-out war among them. There's plenty of talk of mass killings by hanging and torture. Sexual content also is mature: Two 17-year-olds have sex, although it's not described. Language follows suit with ample use of "s--t," though "f--k" is rare. Main character Nathan is given to angry outbursts and surrounded by violence, but he never enjoys killing and shows loyalty to his friends.