Yet Another Harry Potter Book Review

Written by: Lady Night

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Just saying the name of this book almost makes one believe in magic. The name Harry Potter alone is magic to many young children, and to those who are children at heart, around the world. With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth volume in a proposed seven-book saga, this Muggle world was filled again with the magic that only J. K. Rowling can weave. Truly, with the vast amount of books that literally flew around the world to land not only in bookstores worldwide but also directly to eagerly awaiting readers' homes, one could say magic had to be involved.

But in reality, we have to admit and give thanks to a rather well orchestrated postal system that was able to give everyone this small bundle of magic so quickly and efficiently…to most people at any rate (but that’s another article). This article is to be a review of the above-mentioned book, and so it shall be. But I seriously felt that thanks should go out to all those who worked so hard to get the books delivered to their various destinations. With that being said, I shall continue with the review.

Basically, I thought it was a good book - not so much a great book, but a good one. I thought that the first chapter was rather weak and didn’t have a lot to do with the rest of the book. Although people will argue that it ‘reminded’ people of what has been going on in the past five books, I say that we have all read those books at least three times by now waiting for THIS book…we know what has been going on. I really don’t want to spoil the book for those of you who have not been able to read it for some reason that only you know. So, I’m going to stick to what my clients like to call vagueness.

The book didn’t bring in but a handful of new characters; and, more to the point, it managed to mention more than a handful that, sad to say, are no longer living in the Harry Potter world. There is a wizard war going on…what would you expect? And, yes there is a major character among this handful who had a tragic death, but to me, it left many questions unanswered and frankly left me feeling skeptical about the whole thing rather than tearful. Again, this is my belief on the matter - some see it differently. If your're one of them, write your own review - PI could always use another article or two.

Another thing I found disappointing was the lack of a good Quidditch match in this book, like the ones in the past books - and that’s surprising, considering Harry’s new position on the team. One might say it’s due to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named being back and all, but school goes on as it normally does with all the Quidditch matches and such-and-such and whatnot in the past five books. Quidditch tended to highlight the books with a bit of fast-paced action. This time though, it took more of a backburner. To what, you might ask?…Well, mostly snogging…don’t know what snogging is? Ask someone who’s British - they can tell you. Or else, read the book, and you’ll figure it out really quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, Harry does some great fighting in the book. He and his ever-faithful friends fight for what is right, save what bit of the day they can, and manage to have a bit of fun as usual. We do get a few twists and turns, but they are not as sharp as in past books. As a case in point, it had been hard for me in the past to figure out where Mrs. Rowling was going in her stories. After a few chapters of Harry talking about the Half-Blood Prince though, I figured out who the Half-Blood Prince is. I don’t know if I should take this as Mrs. Rowling losing her mojo a bit, or if I have become a wee bit smarter. I would hope I became smarter, because the thought of J. K. Rowling losing her special brand of book magic isn’t a very nice thought at all.

All in all, the book does its job in leading us all up to the ever-looming and most waited-for book in all of history: Harry Potter number seven. In finishing the sixth book, I was left with a sense that more good things are to happen to Harry along with more bad things, but that through it all, he will have his friends. Again, it’s a good book, worth the read. And, if you haven’t ever read the series before, I highly recommend starting from book one, or you may be lost. I’ll re-read the book eventually and most anything I reread tends to be books that, like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, give you something to think about. With that being said, I’ll finish my article with a suggestion from a friend.

I like pie, bye bye.

~Lady Night