Book Review: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6), by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6), by J.K. Rowling
★★★★★ and ♥

Synopsis: 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.
In A Sentence: My least favorite of the Harry Potter books, but still amazing

My Thoughts: This book is such a whirlwind of….everything! Out of the seven books, I like this one the least, but that doesn’t mean this book isn’t awesome, no siree.
Rowling did a great job depicting the life of a 16-year-old, I think. Their love lives, their attitudes, their opinions on what’s important, it was all in this novel, which is probably why this was my least favorite installment in the series (I’m not all that interested in teenage love stories, although some of these love stories were rather sweet).
While there was a decent amount of action in this novel, I think what makes this book so good was the psychology behind it. There’s the psychology of a teenager, there’s the psychology behind good people and villains, there’s even psychology surrounding Voldemort and his past, which I found interesting (I kept asking my psychologist husband “Is Voldemort a sociopath or a psychopath?”)
Finally, there was that one part that, when I first read this, I couldn’t forgive Rowling for doing (if you’ve read this book, you know what I mean: that scene in the tower). In the final book, this part was satisfactorily explained, but I still hate the fact that the event happened! It was traumatic to read the first time around. Nowadays, I understand why it had to happen, but it still makes me very sad.
Overall, I loved the story, but I can’t say it was ever my favorite. It’s the transitory story between Harry Potter the Kid, and Harry Potter the Man, and, like all middle stories, leaves you unsatisfied and ready for the final epic conclusion!


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