Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince: Book Review

I'm almost done! Just one book left, and I'm already half way finished... well almost. I want to have read the whole series by July, when the last movie comes out. I'd say I've done pretty well for starting in November, and having to deal with courses almost everyday as well. The sixth book was up there on the list of my favorites out of the whole series, but I can't help but wish Dumbledore didn't die. I was quite sad when it happened, and I had seen the movie when I first found out, so once I read the book I knew it was coming. I just didn't want it to happen. I think it was definitely essential for Harry's journey, but it still saddened me.

Synopsis according to Barnes & Noble:

The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet...

As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate -- and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

My Review: 

I love the detail that J.K Rowling divulges into when she writes; the movies totally exclude all her wondrous details, and especially the details that are needed in order to figure out who is who, and how Harry Potter is going to solve the dilemma. 

I absolutely love the beginning, and how Dumbledore begins to show Harry all that he needs to know in order to conquer and kill Voldemort. I just feel as if Harry should've paid more attention to each word Dumbledore said, and should've asked more questions before he couldn't anymore. He's left with a lot of unanswered questions that I feel Dumbledore could've known. 

I loved the fact that Rowling tied in Draco's initiation as a Death Eater, quite perfectly into the book. I just knew Harry's concerns about Draco were quite right, and I wish he could've gotten into the Room of Requirement, before they brought in the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. 

I also love the Weasley twins and how helpful their inventive jokes were to Harry, as well as Hermione and Ron. 

What I didn't like from the book was the fact that it took Ron and Hermione a WHOLE book, and several significant others, in order for them to find out that they liked each other, and the feelings were reciprocated. Even though Harry knew that they liked each other all along. The relationship between Ginny and Harry also took quite some time, but I guess that's all relationships with teenagers. 

Harry made it another whole year. As readers though, we hope he can say the same next year... but it all comes down to the prophecy... one must die, and one must live. 

My Rating: 5 Stars