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I remember mentioning some time ago that I had finished reading "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince".
Here's my quick spoiler-free review:
I liked the book. I finished it in about 4 days as I was traveling and spent a lot of time in airports. I didn't love it, and #4 is still my favorite.
I think my biggest gripe about the book is that it's pretty anticlimactic. Sure, a lot of stuff happens and there is one big thing at the end, but all in all, I felt like I was reading a prequel to "THE LAST BIG HARRY POTTER BOOK". It all seemed like things that are getting us ready for the events of the final book.
But I enjoyed it. It's great to see the characters mature and act like teenagers, though there were some moments that made me feel a little weird - this is definitely not a book your 8 year old should be reading! It works well in the Potter universe, and anyone who is a fan of the books will love this one.
I can't wait until the last book. I have a feeling, based on all the little hints in #6, that we're going to be blown away!
With all that said (which was nothing really), I'd love to start a discussion in the comments to talk about the book. There's a lot of questions and things we can talk about, and I don't want it out here if people don't want the surprises spoiled for them. I'll pose a couple questions in the first comment - feel free to talk about it or add your own questions/comments/reviews within the comments!
Posted by Yano at August 24, 2005 01:45 PM1) Do you think Snape is with Voldemort? Or is he just doing a really good job of acting like it?
2) Any bets on who is going to die in the next book?
3) Is Dumbledore really dead?
4) Has Draco turned a new leaf? He didn't really have a big part in the book this time around, and he's definitely going to get in trouble for not succeeding in his mission
5) Do you think Harry and Ginny are going to last? I liked him with Cho.
6) Are Hermione and Ron ever going to hook up?
7) Do you think there's something that ties Voldemort and Harry together?
8) I think that having Snape as the Half Blood Prince was surprising (yet not, when you think about it) but when they reveal it, it's almost like a sidenote "Hey Harry, by the way, I'm the half blood prince, dumbass!"
9) It seems that R.A.B. is Sirius Black's brother, Rubeus. Do you think he'll play a part in book 7?
Um, that's all I can think of right now.
Posted by: Yano on August 24, 2005 01:58 PM1. i think he's doing a swell job acting like it. if you think about it, dumbledore asked harry to do whatever he asks, even if it's something difficult to do. in theory, he could've asked the same thing to snape. besides! who REALLY wants to think that dumbledore can be wrong???
2. voldemort better die.
3. it'd be too funny if dumbledore has a gandalf moment. they could be like brothers. OH WAIT! dumbledore IS gandalf!!!!
4. i think draco is gonna have a change of heart. but he'll still be nasty. maybe he'll have a reverse anakin moment and his mom'll die, and he'll go to the good.
5. cho was a priss. i think ginny and harry go GREAT together. you just want an asian to be prominent in the story. hahahaha
6. they're gonna hook up. if not, they're both gonna explode from the hormones.
7. i think the only thing that ties them together is their halfblood-ness.
8. yeah that was so anticlimatic. snape has a hissy fit at harry...'how dare you use my spells you lil biatch!'
9. i think i missed that part. he'll prolly play a big part then...was he a bad guy? whoops.
10. what the hell did dobby and that other lil guy do? they give like one report, and that's it?
11. i wonder what harry is gonna do with sirius's house? it's all his...AND the money. so is he gonna be harry potter black? harry black potter? black harry potter? hahahahahaha man is he rich. just call him diddy. ;)
12. so is that new potions teacher staying on? then the dark arts position is open again. of course. who'da thought.
13. are we gonna see the school again? harry said he's not going back! and is mcgonagal gonna take over?
how exciting! i wish it wouldn't end! is she already writing the book? poor lady.
I really hated that Ron professed his love for Harry and "played" with Harry's wand. :\
Posted by: Rod on August 24, 2005 10:22 PM1. I don't think Snape is THE BASTARD but he certainly is a bastard; he's definitely not a good guy. I think he might have had an unbreakable vow with Dumbledore, and then told DD about his unbreakable vow with Narcissa (or whatever Draco's mother's name is). In order to save Draco from "turning to the darkside" (as it were), DD had Snape do the deed.
2. It better be Voldemort. I would be seriously disappointed if Evil won. I also think that Harry himself will die as well.
3. Yes, DD is DEAD. There are theories out there that the Avada K-something (whatever the death spell is) doesn't blow people off their feet and that Fawkes' cries are a clue that DD was off somewhere being healed while everyone was at "the funeral" but I don't buy it. JKR said that when she killed people, they stayed dead. I think it would cheapen the story to have DD really be alive.
4. Draco won't be bad, but he won't be good. He'll be like Snape. Pissed off at a lot of people and nasty but he'll begrudingly respect some of them for saving his neck.
5. I like Harry and Ginny together because I think Harry needs someone who knows what he's been going through and he and Ginny have shared experiences. Cho was nice but a bit too girly and a little clueless.
6. I think they'll eventually hook up but there needs to be more people in the way first.
7. There's a theory that Harry is a Voldemort Horcrux due to the tranfer of power when he tried to kill him. I don't know if that's one I believe though.
8. I really wish there had been a few more clues about the identity of the HBP throughout the book. It was almost like JKR named the book, wrote it and went, "Oops. I forgot to tell everyone who the HBP is."
9. I thought Sirius' brother was dead, hence why Harry inherited the Black estate and whatnot. I guess we'll find out more about him in flashback.
Overall, I liked this book and all its exposition. With the last book coming in a couple years, JKR really needed something to tie up loose ends and set up the next book. However, this book was definitely smaller than previous books. I'm wondering how hefty the last book will be.
"Regulus" Black is most likely dead... he was the Death Eater that left them and didn't survive for very long. That being said, the horcrux that he stole is somewhere (or already destroyed makin Harry's job in Book 7 easier). Oh man, HOW are they going to answer everything in Book 7? It better be a long book!
Harry and Ginny are cool. They'll get it on again soon... besides, DD made Harry understand how it's his Love that will defeat Voldemort. There ya go!
Lots of talk in the past couple books about Lily this, Lily that. There's something about Lily Potter that we'll learn more about finally in Book 7.
As far as Snape/Dumbledore theories...read this site! :)
dumbledoreisnotdead.com
1) I think DD sent Snape a telpathic msg telling him about Harry and that DD and Snape had some previously worked out plan just in case a situation like that came into play. Like, at all costs you have to save Harry, including if you have to kill me.
2) I really think that Voldemort and Harry die. Voldemort has Ron/Hermione at close to death and to save them Harry goes balls out kills Voldemort but in the process kills himself.
3)Yes. But he'll show up ala Obi Wan or something. Or in the mind sieve thingy.
4) I think JKR wants to have some redemption moment for Draco. But I think that would be too formulaic. I hope he stays bad and gets what he deserves. A big ass kicking or gets killed.
5) I don't think Harry and Ginny will last. Well, partly cuz I think Harry is gonna die. Hopefully he gets some before he dies tho.
6) I think they will hook up and get married and name their first kid Harry or Harrina in Harry's memory.
7) I'm really believing in the Harry is a horcrux theory more and more.
8) I agree. HBP was almost an afterthought. Part of my dissapointment in the book. Which btw, I thought was by far the worst of the whole series.
9) I think he plays a part but only post-humously. If you read OOTP, some of the stuff that they are cleaning out could have been some of the Horcruxes.
10) I didn't like how after all this time, still NO ONE believes Harry and his theories. That's the part that really made me feel like she's just writing from a formula. And I'm with you yano and feeling like it's a prequel to the last book. Which is dissapointing in so many ways. All the books have been leading up to this all out war and we had to read about alot of the same stuff again, just slightly different. I had hoped that after OOTF, they would have gotten more into the War more, but it seems like it was just an afterthought, with a few adventures at the end of the book. Sirius's death was hardly touched on. Overall, just more of the same. Even the ending didn't redeem the book for me.
/shrug
Posted by: Rod on August 25, 2005 06:39 PMI think Dumble-Diddy-Dore is really Snape's older brother..Kuya Dumble in the house.
Forget Harry, I think Ginny and Cho-Da-Ho should hook it up, it would make a much more interesting Book 7 if you ask me. hehe
Talking about hook-ups, I think JKR is gonna make Hermi-Nay-Nay-ione hook up with Draco. Then they will have brother-sister twins and name them Luke and Leia Fleur DeathEater-Walker.
Next year, I predict the Quid-bitch cup will go to House Huffle Puff Daddy after Harry becomes a free agent and gets drafted over.
And finally, speaking of Harry...I honestly don't know what will happen to him. I don't know why, but I suddenly had this revelation that Voldemort is really Harry's father, and as a result, Harry becomes V-Man's new apprentice. Then Harry proceeds to go to Hogwarts and Avadra-Kedavras all the first years. And as a finale, he changes his name to Harth VoldeVader and kills Ron using his Sectum curse.
Hmmm....we shall see...we shall see...
