June 29, 2011

Review : Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Title : Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author : J.K. Rowling
Reading Dates : 19 May - 22 May 2011
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter
The books in the series :
  • The Philosopher's Stone
  • The Chamber of Secrets
  • The Prisoner of Azkaban
  • The Goblet of Fire
  • The Order of the Phoenix
  • The Half-Blood Prince
  • The Deathly Hallows
From goodreads :
The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Hermione 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.


Book Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
While The Half-Blood Prince is probably the slowest among the Harry Potter books in terms of pacing, it is also the one that explains much. About Voldemort and Harry himself. Here, we learn about Voldemort’s past and how he can be killed.

And we also start to see an emerging pattern in Harry’s behaviour, one that to me explains Dumbledore’s reasoning in not telling Harry everything. The way Harry continues to believe he is right despite the incredulity of everyone around him explains why Dumbledore chose to let Harry learn things for himself in due time. It didn’t matter that Harry was proven right this time because he could have been wrong just as well. As in The Order of the Phoenix, whatever the facts given to Harry, he tends to make his own conclusions.

The one thing I have always found surprising about this book though is the beginning of Harry’s and Ginny’s relationship. Its not that I mind them being together. Its just it has never been clear to me why or when he started having those feelings for her. Was it simply a case of her being different from Cho ? It’s almost as if his feelings for her changed overnight.

My conclusions :
  • Would I re-read the book ? Yes.
  • Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Definitely.
  • Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Of course.
  • Who would I recommend this too? Everyone.
  • For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Buy the series.

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5 comments:

  1. I agree to you about Harry's feeling for Ginny. That came out of the blue. I mean, she had feelings for him, but it always seemed like he ignored it until now.

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  2. I don't understand how Harry can fall for Ginny either. This book is one of my favourites in the HP series. I like the little notes that the Half-blood prince scribbled in his Potions textbook.

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  3. Can you believe it is only a few weeks till the final movie comes out?

    Next year I think we all need to start a re-read on Harry's Birthday (July 31rst) :)

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  4. I have these books, well all but one. But I've never read them. I need to read these someday as I've heard they are sooooo amazingly better than the movies. And I want to. :) But just have to make the time to get to them. Thanks for the great review.

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  5. I don't get the Harry Ginny thing either, it doesn't surprise me but I really hoped J.K wouldn't do it. I remember groaning when I read it

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