Harry's Adventures Continue in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Written: Jul 17 '05 (Updated Jul 15 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Harry's attitude is much better. Interesting developments.
Cons: Some characters missing. Not much about some things.
The Bottom Line: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling is a very good addition to the series and worth reading.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Pr... |
Ever since finishing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I’ve been ready to read the sixth book in the Harry Potter series. I’ve gotten more anxious as the release date got closer and some small details, like the title and the cover, were released. I reserved a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince back in January and happily set out on Saturday to pick up my copy.
Since Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the newest book in an on going series, I will mention some things that could be spoilers for the first five books if they haven’t been read yet. These books really need to be read in order to fully appreciate them and keep track of everything that is going on. Several things will make little or no sense if the books are read out of order. People should not start this series with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Harry Potter is obviously the main character of the series. His parents were killed when he was a year old and he was raised by his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. They treated Harry horribly while dotting on their own son Dudley. When he turned eleven, Harry learned that he was actually a wizard. His parents, James and Lily, had been murdered by a powerful dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. Harry had somehow survived the attack and had a scar on his forehead. Harry went off to study at Hogwarts, a school for young witches and wizards. He made friends during his first year at school, Ron and Hermione, and even had an enemy in Draco Malfoy. Harry was forced to face Lord Voldemort by the end of the school year. In the following years, Harry faced Lord Voldemort more than once.
Minor Plot Discussion - Skip this section if you don’t want to know anything about the plot.
Voldemort and his followers were gaining strength and even the muggle government was aware of things. Wizards and witches were disappearing. After what turned out to be a difficult fifth year at Hogwarts for Harry, he was glad to be able to leave the Dursley’s house after only a few weeks and spend the rest of the summer with Ron and his family. Professor Dumbledore actually took Harry to the Weasley’s. The two made a stop on the way and Dumbledore took time to discuss something with Harry before leaving him at the Weasley’s. Molly Weasley was worrying about everyone all the time. Once back at Hogwarts, they had new schedules based on the results of the exams they had taken at the end of their fifth year. Once again they had a new teacher that caused some interesting developments.
Harry was named the new captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team and he had to deal with picking a team. Several girls in the school had developed crushes on Harry and one even tried to use a love potion on him. Harry did develop romantic feelings for someone and he wasn’t sure what to do about them. Ron and Hermione also struggled to deal with similar feelings. Draco Malfoy wasn’t around as much and Harry was determined to figure out what he was up to. Harry discovered something that mentioned a half blood prince that was helpful to him in one of his classes. Sixth year students were able to learn how to apparate, though some would have to wait to take the test. Harry was able to spend some time with Dumbledore and he learned things that should end up helping him in his fight against Voldemort.
End of Plot Discussion
Harry Potter and the Half Blood-Prince picked up shortly after the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. For the first time, it was shown that one member of the muggle government knew about the magical world. I thought that was an interesting way to start the book. That first chapter did recount a few events that happened in the previous five books. Harry only spent a few weeks with the Dursleys, and only a fraction of that time was covered in the book. I don’t like the Dursleys so I wasn’t bothered by the fact that they were barely in this book. The last few books have taken longer for Harry and his friends to return to Hogwarts because more events from the summer were shared. At times that did make the books drag a bit. It still took a while for them to return to school in this book but that part didn’t drag. Many things that happened during the school year were skipped over. The book was still long at 652 pages and many things going on, but I didn’t feel like it was too long. There were a few things that I felt could have used some more attention and I wouldn’t have minded if the book had been longer.
For each of the Harry Potter books, the item mentioned in the title has been very important to the overall plot of the book. It did seem like Rowling didn’t handle that as well in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The prince was mentioned but really didn’t receive much attention. Harry was intrigued by the prince and tried to figure out who the prince had been. Harry didn’t put much effort into it though. He was more focused on trailing Draco whenever possible. Harry learned about the prince after he discovered a former possession of the prince. Harry kept the item even though he had no clue who the prince was. That didn’t seem to be the smartest thing for Harry to do considering some things that happened in earlier books. I started wonder who the prince would be after I heard what the title of the book would be. Before reading the book I did have some ideas about who the prince would be. I wasn’t right. The identity of the prince was revealed during the book. It did seem to finally settle one thing, but one or two other minor things do have me still wondering a few things related to that character. I had thought that the prince would be more important to the book overall than that character ended up being.
Magic once again played an important part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Harry and his friends did learn new spells and were able to start learning how to apparate. Only the first of the lessons on apparation was described. I have always enjoyed books and movies that dealt with magic. I would have enjoyed it if there had been some more new spells included since I find those things so fascinating. I was a bit disappointed that there was more shared from the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Being able to fight the dark arts has become more important because of the situation with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. There was also a new teacher for the class so I think it would have been interesting to see more of that character in action. Other magical things that were first introduced in earlier books, like the invisibility cloak and traveling through the floo network, were back. People that are offended by magical things or just don’t like to read about those things should stay away from this book and all the Harry Potter books.
Harry and his friends are getting older and dealing with more adult situations. Harry had been involved briefly with a girl in the last book, but that didn’t work out. He did realize that he had romantic feelings for someone else in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Harry learned that two people he knew were engaged. Some other of Harry’s classmates became involved in some romances. There were a few romantic situations included in the book, but they weren’t too descriptive. Characters were described kissing but that is as far as anything like that went. Parents shouldn’t have to worry about the romance aspect of the book. Harry and his friends were described cursing several times, though actual curse words were not used. A few characters used some kind of rude hand gesture. The exact gesture wasn’t described. I didn’t think those things were offensive. I thought they were realistic since teenagers do those things. Parents may feel differently.
From the beginning, the books in the Harry Potter series have contained some dark elements. Harry’s parents had been murdered by a dark wizard that continued to try to kill him. Each book has gotten darker. Harry and his friends had to deal with dangerous situations from their first year at Hogwarts. The situations have only gotten more dangerous with each passing book. Harry and his friends have had to deal with some very bad developments in the last few books. There were a few lighter and happier moments in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which was nice after everything that happened in the last book. It was nice to see Harry having fun with quidditch again. Things didn’t remain happy though. I really didn’t expect them too. There were some more serious and mature things for Harry and his friends to deal with. The book could be too dark for younger readers. Parents should read the book first if they have concerns.
POSSIBLE SPOILER - This next paragraph could be a possible spoiler for anyone who hasn’t heard anything that J.K. Rowling has said about this book. Skip this part if you don’t want know anything related to what she said.
Months before this book was released, I read an article online in which J.K. Rowling talked briefly about something that would happen in this book. She wasn’t specific, but she did say someone else was going to die. That alone upset me some and made me a bit apprehensive about reading the book because I was upset by the death in the last book. The death in this book was much worse. It wasn’t gory or graphic, but it had much more impact. The death itself was described when it happened, but it didn’t really hit me until a little later in the book because of everything that was going on at the time. When it did sink in, it was devastating and had me in tears. It isn’t new for me to get emotional when reading or watching a movie. I honestly don’t think I have ever cried more from a book. I’m getting teary again now just thinking about it. Parents should be aware of this because it could be very hard on children. I was not happy at all with this part of the book, but I did still enjoy the book overall. I’m just not sure I will be able to read it again because of this.
END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER
One of the things that really bothered me about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was Harry’s attitude. After having acted very mature for his age throughout everything he dealt within the previous book, he turned into a whiney brat that annoyed me for most of the book. Thankfully his attitude was much better in this book. He stopped having fits and feeling sorry for himself. He had a lot to deal with and did get upset a few times, but he handled it better. Harry is maturing and turning into a strong young man. I liked him again. Ron and Hermione were also showing signs of maturing. They, especially Hermione, didn’t receive as much attention as Harry. Hermione was still dedicated to her studies and a bit bossy at times. She and Ron spent most of the book trying to deal with changing feelings and did act a bit irrational at times. It wasn’t so bad that it got annoying to me though. Ginny, Ron’s young sister was also shown to be growing up.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the main characters again. There really wasn’t a lot of development for them in this book since they have already been so established in the previous books. Rowling has created many characters that I really like and a few I’m not too fond of over the course of this series. Since there are so many characters now, some of them were barely mentioned in this book. That did disappoint me. I really like Lupin and Mad Eye and both of them were barely mentioned. Lupin was around for one chapter and his absence was explained. Fred and George had left Hogwarts to start up their own joke shop. The shop was featured in one chapter and then Fred and George were briefly mentioned a few more times. I missed them. Hagrid didn’t get many scenes either. Dumbledore shared several scenes in this book with Harry which I did enjoy. Most of the staff of Hogwarts didn’t get the chance to do much. Neville became more important in the fifth book. I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t have a bigger part in this book, though he was around for a very important event. Several characters ended up with barely anything to do. There were two new characters introduced. One of them was featured in more of the book than the other, so that character ended up being more developed.
Even though I was unhappy with one event, I still enjoyed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It is a must read book for fans of the Harry Potter books. It does answer several questions and raises some new ones for the last book. I will pick up the seventh book as soon as I can even though I’ll be sad for the series to end.
Harry Potter Books
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ~ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ~ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ~ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ~ The Tales of Beedle the Bard ~
Harry Potter Movies
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ~ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ~ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ~ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 ~ Harry Potter and the Deahtly Hallows Part 2 ~ Discovering the Real World of Harry Potter ~
Other Harry Potter Related Reviews
Scene It? Harry Potter 2nd Edition (Trivia Game) ~
Recommended:
Yes
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