Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6)

by J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)

4.46 of 5 stars 4.46 · rating details · 895,954 ratings · 13,977 reviews

The war against Voldemort is not going well; even the 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 with all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate—and lose...more

Paperback, 652 pages

Published September 16th 2005 by Scholastic Paperbacks (first published July 16th 2005)

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Jul 15, 2007 Aloysius rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Popular Fantasy Geeks

I was first introduced to Harry Potter in a Children’s Lit class in college. I had resisted this popular phenomenon until I was forced to pick it up for a grade, and Book 1 was short enough that I could read it in the course of 2 hours. I have to admit I wasn’t impressed to any extent, nor did I dislike the experience, but I was critical on grounds of its being derivative, even if reading the first led to reading the second. After all, if I was bored and looking for something light, I could do w...more I was first introduced to Harry Potter in a Children’s Lit class in college. I had resisted this popular phenomenon until I was forced to pick it up for a grade, and Book 1 was short enough that I could read it in the course of 2 hours. I have to admit I wasn’t impressed to any extent, nor did I dislike the experience, but I was critical on grounds of its being derivative, even if reading the first led to reading the second. After all, if I was bored and looking for something light, I could do worse than a fantasy about a child wizard who fights evil with his friends. But it was really the third book, with its increasing darkness, that took me in and made me a fan.

With a movie coming out for Order of Phoenix and Deathly Hallows on the horizon, I decided I would reread Half-Blood Prince. I figured it would take four sittings, of course, with its 600 pages, but time does fly when reading this one, and I’ve come to the conclusion that this is my favorite so far. What I wouldn’t have been willing to admit in college that I’m perfectly comfortable saying now is that J.K. Rowling is a fantastic storyteller; she writes with great clarity, wit, and humor; and she’s created a cast of loveable characters with whom most people, due to the common experience of growing up, can relate closely.

That said, the reason for my preference for the 6th book is that it’s the most emotionally rich in the series. Here we get the backstory of Voldemort (*spoiler alert*) through a series of flashbacks (coming in HP by way of magically extracted memories), and in this way, we come to understand the villain’s similarities and differences with our hero. After all, the villain has to have reasons for committing heinous acts, and until now, we don’t know what these are.

Voldemort is from a once-powerful wizard family reduced to poverty that lives in a dilapidated hovel on the edge of a small town, wary of outsiders, and their main point of pride is their pure blood, the lineage having cross-bred for generations so as not to pollute the line. Voldemort’s mother lives with her father and brother and yearns for the love of a nonmagical man (“muggle” in this world) and when her father and brother are arrested, she uses the opportunity to bewitch her beloved and run off. She ends up pregnant, the man deserts her, and she dies while giving birth to her half-wizard, half-muggle son, thus making him an orphan (like Harry).

(Faulkner anyone?)

But whereas Harry comes to Hogwarts and befriends Ron and Hermione creating unity and strength through positive emotions, Voldemort, when growing in the orphanage shuns other children, torturing them at times (without the awareness of adults) and stealing their possessions. What fuels him is his hatred of his beginnings, his mother’s weakness at having died like a common person despite being a witch, and the “muggle” blood inherited from his father. Over the course of his time at Hogwarts, Voldemort, charming as only evil can be, learns to win over people as a means to an end and disguise his insidious purposes, but he never befriends anyone. He moves, through his hatred, further away from many of the emotions that drive Harry, namely the desire to protect the people he loves and avenge his parents’ death.

With Dumbledore’s help in exploring Voldemort’s past, Harry begins to understand that he’s come to be where he is through the choices he’s made, that his greatest strengths are an alliance with his friends, and that this might hold the key to destroying his enemy, a fact that’s made all the more poignant when Dumbledore, in an all-out assault on Hogwarts by Voldemort’s Death Eaters, is killed at the end. The stakes are higher than before, the action and pace increase as the conclusion draws near, and things are looking darker than ever, which is the setup that any fan wants when the end is looming and it leaves us with the question: How will our hero prevail?(less)

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Feb 01, 2008 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, harry-potter

Since pretty much everyone I know has read these books, I figure reviewing them is pretty pointless. But with the new book coming out in a couple of days, I have to go through them beginning to end. To make the reviews more entertaining, I will be doing them in a variety of unexpected formats. For this review, I will be writing as a power ballad.

(Intro: Piano and strings)

You were always by my side
You will always be my guide
But the road I'm on
Goes on and on
And I've left you beHIIIIIND!

(Big crunch...more

69 likes · like · see review

Jan 17, 2008 Nightfalltwen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one

Shelves: children-9-12

Well I decided to come back and actually put in a review for this book since all I'd done is give it a star and go on my merry little way.

Hated this book. Flat out, this book was the worst of the whole seven-book series.

I bought HBP the day it was released and I was very excited to read something new in the series. To my shock, I couldn't believe how bad the story was. Something happened to JKR's editor. I think perhaps foul play was involved because apparently the editor was completely absent....more

27 likes · like · see review

Aug 16, 2007 Keely rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, fantasy, novel, reviewed, contemporary-fantasy, uk-and-ireland

After the loss of the (admittedly: occasionally interminable) dark psychological tone of the last book, this one falls into a very recognizable 'plot coupon' pattern, which should be familiar to anyone who played D&D or watched Dragonball (we were all 11 once, right?). Of course, constructing the finale around such a simple and direct concept for the ending of the conflict is easy for the author. However, it is formulaic and predictable for the reader, and robs us of actually seeing a physic...more After the loss of the (admittedly: occasionally interminable) dark psychological tone of the last book, this one falls into a very recognizable 'plot coupon' pattern, which should be familiar to anyone who played D&D or watched Dragonball (we were all 11 once, right?). Of course, constructing the finale around such a simple and direct concept for the ending of the conflict is easy for the author. However, it is formulaic and predictable for the reader, and robs us of actually seeing a physical and intellectual struggle between foes. Of course, this does not mean that they do not strive against one another, but by providing the separation of such a plot device, relocates the entire point-of-conflict to an arbitrary, external point. Thermal exhaust port, indeed.

For more on such plot-specific concepts, please enjoy this article: http://www.ansible.co.uk/Ansible/plot....

This book was mainly built to set up the finale, and feels in many ways to be less of a complete story than a 'second in a trilogy', without a real point and ending of its own, and reliant on the final chapter to decide its importance.

This is also the book with the greatest adherence to actually surprising the audience with a main character death. At least, it would be, if it weren't unfortunately easy to match the emotional directives given to the characters by the author and recognize that what the author wants us to think shows us precisely what will happen. Misdirection is an art, but it should not have to be a martial one.

Long story short, I unfortunately guessed the 'twist' and spent the greater part of this book watching the author try to throw red herrings in my path. A bit disappointing, but still a fairly interesting and exciting tale. The historical and character exploration provide some of the strongest elements in any of her books. It does not quite reach the heights in tone, emotion, or motivation of the last book, but she never does reach that height again.

My Fantasy Book Suggestions (less)

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Feb 27, 2009 Manny rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: children

OK. I'm prepared to admit I've read it. As someone once said about Jeffrey Archer novels, it's rather like a packet of stale chips. You keep taking them out and eating them, hoping that the ones at the bottom are little better. But they're not. After a while, you notice that the bag is empty, and you feel rather disgusted with yourself.

She claims the whole story was planned from the beginning. Yeah, right. Though, to be fair, she's in good company; Proust said something similar about A La Recher...more

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Oct 30, 2007 John Brooks rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people with souls

The crown jewel of the Harry Potter series, "Half-Blood Prince" is one of the finest novels I've read in my lifetime. Having allowed us to watch Harry evolve and mature for so many years, Rowling finally lifts the veil, so to speak, humanizing the larger than life characters of not just Dumbledore and Snape, but significantly and achingly, Tom Riddle. This is love letter to one of the hardest things we all experience: the moment that your idols become your peers, your parents become your friends...more

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Oct 22, 2007 Carmen Maloy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

What stands out in book 6:

* The introduction of the Horcrux.
* Molly Weasley asking Arthur Weasley about his "dearest ambition." Rowling has always been great at revealing little intriguing bits about her characters at a time, and Arthur’s answer "to find out how airplanes stay up" reminds us about his obsession with Muggles.
* Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore, and more time spent with the fascinating and dangerous pensieve, arguably one of Rowling’s most ingenious inventions.
* Fred and Ge...more What stands out in book 6:

* The introduction of the Horcrux.
* Molly Weasley asking Arthur Weasley about his "dearest ambition." Rowling has always been great at revealing little intriguing bits about her characters at a time, and Arthur’s answer "to find out how airplanes stay up" reminds us about his obsession with Muggles.
* Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore, and more time spent with the fascinating and dangerous pensieve, arguably one of Rowling’s most ingenious inventions.
* Fred and George Weasley’s Joke Shop, and the slogan: "Why Are You Worrying About You-Know-Who? You Should Be Worrying About U-NO-POO--the Constipation Sensation That's Gripping the Nation!"
* Luna's Quidditch commentary. Rowling created scores of Luna Lovegood fans with hilarious and bizarre commentary from the most unlikely Quidditch commentator.
* The effects of Felix Felicis.
* We get a fascinating view of the history of Tom Riddle.
* The major question of the book: Whose side is Snape really on?

Amazon Review:
The long-awaited, eagerly anticipated, arguably over-hyped Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has arrived, and the question on the minds of kids, adults, fans, and skeptics alike is, "Is it worth the hype?" The answer, luckily, is simple: yep. A magnificent spectacle more than worth the price of admission, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will blow you away. However, given that so much has gone into protecting the secrets of the book (including armored trucks and injunctions), don't expect any spoilers in this review. It's much more fun not knowing what's coming--and in the case of Rowling's delicious sixth book, you don't want to know. Just sit tight, despite the earth-shattering revelations that will have your head in your hands as you hope the words will rearrange themselves into a different story. But take one warning to heart: do not open Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince until you have first found a secluded spot, safe from curious eyes, where you can tuck in for a good long read. Because once you start, you won't stop until you reach the very last page.
A darker book than any in the series thus far with a level of sophistication belying its genre, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince moves the series into murkier waters and marks the arrival of Rowling onto the adult literary scene. While she has long been praised for her cleverness and wit, the strength of Book 6 lies in her subtle development of key characters, as well as her carefully nuanced depiction of a community at war. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, no one and nothing is safe, including preconceived notions of good and evil and of right and wrong. With each book in her increasingly remarkable series, fans have nervously watched J.K. Rowling raise the stakes; gone are the simple delights of butterbeer and enchanted candy, and days when the worst ailment could be cured by a bite of chocolate. A series that began as a colorful lark full of magic and discovery has become a dark and deadly war zone. But this should not come as a shock to loyal readers. Rowling readied fans with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by killing off popular characters and engaging the young students in battle. Still, there is an unexpected bleakness from the start of Book 6 that casts a mean shadow over Quidditch games, silly flirtations, and mountains of homework. Ready or not, the tremendous ending of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will leave stunned fans wondering what great and terrible events await in Book 7 if this sinister darkness is meant to light the way.
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Jun 13, 2007 Sammy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-the-best

Okay, how am I really supposed to review this book? The thing is, I'm obsessed with Harry Potter, no way around it. I've been obsessed, and more than likely will always be obsessed. So I can't really step back and give a biased review on this book... but I will give a review nonetheless.

This book did not let me down. Just like Order of the Phoenix I read it within 24 hours. Every single chapter, sentence, word, grabbed at me! By this point in the series I'm seriously invested in the characters a...more

21 likes · like · see review

Jul 03, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya-fantasy

Again...wonderful, amazing book.

My wife however (and she was 60 at the time)never got over this book and was hesitant to read the last book. I can't go on without a spoiler other than to say we get another tragedy and it really jarred her. So again I can only say these are amazing books! The very quality makes them so real to many readers. Same advice...read the book and decide if your child is old enough. But be assured the quality is here.

I do recommend these books and believe that "you" will...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Sandra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 2013-reads

Please excuse me while I cry myself to sleep :'(
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Okay so even after that ending this is still my favorite of the series by far. Before it had been The Prisoner of Askaban, but I loved this one so much!

I only have a few dislikes (apart from the ending obviously), and they are mainly how some characters irritated me.
1. Could Hermione & Ron not shown a bit more trust & support in his suspicions about Draco & Snape & about the room of requirement?...more Please excuse me while I cry myself to sleep :'(
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Okay so even after that ending this is still my favorite of the series by far. Before it had been The Prisoner of Askaban, but I loved this one so much!

I only have a few dislikes (apart from the ending obviously), and they are mainly how some characters irritated me.
1. Could Hermione & Ron not shown a bit more trust & support in his suspicions about Draco & Snape & about the room of requirement?
2. Ron & Lavender were not a cute couple! I'm glad "Won-Won" came to his senses.
3. Well reading from Harry's perspective I can't help but still loath Snape & Draco.

I ~~liked~~ no I loved everything else about this book! A few that stood out to me:
1. Harry & Ginny, their romance is done so much better in the book than in the movies. I love them so adorable!
2. Of course Ron & Hermione! Even though they are still kind of denying their feelings in this book you could still see the truth. Best couple ever<3
3. Dumbledore. There was so much Dumbledore in this book! I love his witty, yet wise attitude & how he just happens to know the answers to his questions before they are even answered. He is just such a great man.
4. I loved the scene where Harry takes Felix Felicis to get the memory from Slughorn, so hilarious!
"You've got a good feeling about burying a giant spider?" asked Ron, looking stunned.
"Yeah," said Harry, pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his bag. "I feel like it's the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?" "No," said Ron and Hermione together, both looking positively alarmed now.
5. Even though it was creepy, it was so interesting to learn about Voldemort's childhood and his time at Hogwarts.
6. Hogwarts, the magic, everything else! J.K. Rowling really does write in a way to make you feel like you're at Hogwarts with Harry!

I'm going to give my heart a break, from the crying & heartbreak and wait a little bit before I read Deathly Hallows. (haha tell me why that last sentence reminded me of Demi Lovato) (less)

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Jun 28, 2010 jzhunagev rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Potter Fans, who else?!

Recommended to jzhunagev by: the "Voice"

Shelves: action, adventure, award-winning-best-seller, dark-chest-of-wonders, fantasy, fiction-contemporary, from-book-to-film, young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Dark Times Ahead
(A Book Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling)

**Read at your own risk**

All is not going pretty well in the wizarding world.

As dark forces gather, no one and no place is safe. Wizards and witches are being kidnapped, attacked at every turn and some murdered in cold blood. The obituary pages of the Daily Prophet are browsed with as much frequency as the headlines. Nasty turns of events are also felt by the Muggle government as Lord Voldemort and his coho...more

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Nov 28, 2009 Jess Michaelangelo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: series, fiction, young-adult, fantasy, own

Even though I already knew what was going to happen, no thanks to a friend who spoiled it for me, that didn't stop the tears from flowing as I read the end of this book. J.K. Rowling continued to take the series down a deeper and much darker road with this book. This particular book seems to focus quite a bit on emotions--fear, love, hatred, grief. As a reader, this book was the most gripping out of all of them. Within the first chapter or two, I was already ready to start throwing punches left...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jun 08, 2008 Rebecca added it

Shelves: made-into-movies, books-i-own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I don't really know what I think of the beginning, since the first two (clearly important) scenes are done outside Harry's frame of reference. The whole point of the books has been that we're in limited 3rd person POV - we find things out when Harry does. That's been the clearly established rule for 5 books, I don't understand why we're changing it in the 6th. Obviously the point of being an author is that you make the rules, but once you've made your own rules you're supposed to abide by them u...more I don't really know what I think of the beginning, since the first two (clearly important) scenes are done outside Harry's frame of reference. The whole point of the books has been that we're in limited 3rd person POV - we find things out when Harry does. That's been the clearly established rule for 5 books, I don't understand why we're changing it in the 6th. Obviously the point of being an author is that you make the rules, but once you've made your own rules you're supposed to abide by them until you've also created an exception. That can be done more easily with substantive rules - you can have vampires wander around in direct sunlight eating garlic for all I care, if you say why you're doing it. But a style rule that's been clearly established isn't supposed to be broken, unless you need information that CAN'T be conveyed any other way, and I don't see why she couldn't have conveyed the information in those scenes later in the book in the usual way. Okay, yes, it's clearly important that we know about the Unbreakable Vow, but Harry found out about it anyway, so I'm not sure why we had to know about it when we did. The point could have been to introduce Narcissa and use Bellatrix again, but I'm not sure why we care. Or I guess it could have been that we suspect Snape, which would definitely be fun and games, but I'm suspicious of that clearly planted suspicion. My best guess is that we need to know not only THAT Snape made the Unbreakable Vow, but WHAT he vowed to do, and that must have been the most convenient way to do it.

Also, I would like to veto love triangles. I know, I know - we have a bunch of 16 year olds of the two genders in constant close quarters, it would be more shocking if we DIDN'T have triangles. But it's woeful to have to read it for a million billion pages. And Ron really can be a spectacular McAsshat when he wants to. (Lavender? Really? I have nothing against her, but really?) Although I worry about where she's going with Ron and Hermione - they FIGHT. A LOT. And I don't think that would change that much, no matter what happens...it hasn't been the "bickering of unspoken passion" all this time. I think Ron started the snarking of move around Year 4, but Hermione has been thoroughly...Hermione until this year. Also, I kind of like her with Viktor Krum, because it was FUNNY. Although I am surprisingly myself by being a supporter of Harry-Ginny. I heart Ginny and I think she would work well with him. I mean, if it goes bad it will go VERY VERY BAD, as Harry himself as pointed out, but maybe it won't go bad. Maybe there will be ONE THING in this ENTIRE SERIES that doesn't end up going bad.

....Or she could be the one who dies at the end of book 7 WAH VETO.

One disadvantage of being a Johnny (jill?) come lately is that I knew that Dumbledore died, just like I knew that Sirius died, but I managed to block that out with the supreme conviction of someone who believes that the bad ending will have worked itself out by the time she gets there. Unfortunately, it did not, and I am deprived of Dumbledore as I was deprived of Sirius, and yea verily I cried. I cried harder for Sirius than for Dumbledore, though I'm not sure why - probably because why Dumbledore's death wasn't a shock, how it happened was, and I was too busy screaming "WHAT THE F!" at the book to really be emotionally wracked. I had to go back and read it twice just to make sure I really understood what had just happened, because it seemed like there was just no way.

So the end.....W. T. EEEEEEFFFFFFFF. I mean, what WAS that? Was it an Imperious Curse? Was it the consequences of the Unbreakable Vow? Or have Ron and Harry been right all this time? And it's so utterly bizarre because earlier in the book I'd been thinking about how even though Snape doesn't always like it, in the end he does usually seem to do what's right, like when he made Lupin the serum or when he tried to teach Harry Occlumency-whatever, even though he doesn't like it, and that was what had me convinced that Dumbledore was right in trusting him. And I'd thought that maybe if Harry just sucked it up and apologized to Snape and actually tried being polite it might help - like if he'd had sorry for his accidental disemboweling of Malfoy. I mean, yes, Malfoy was trying to use the Cruciatus on him, but I'd been thinking if Harry just manned up and said to Snape, "Professor, I'm sorry I did that," without making excuses, that might make a different. But then after all of that it turns out that HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS HOWARD CHRIST ON A POGO STICK SNAPE BETRAYED THE POTTERS???? and I seriously rethought that idea.

And then...and then after ALL of that, has he really been still working for Voldemort this ENTIRE TIME? I mean, I'd wondered if everyone circling you for all those years going Dumbledore trusts you but we don't and we just want to make that VERY VERY CLEAR could eventually crack you, and then--wha--wha--what?

And Dumbledore DIED FOR A FAKE HORCRUX AND WHO THE FUDGE IS R.A.B.??

My brain has just waved a tiny white flag and crawled into the corner to cry. Dear J.K. Rowling: please cease and desist phunking with my heart.
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Sep 11, 2007 lamarcus brown rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all ages

ok, I admit it. I'm a grown many (debatable) and I like Harry potter. However, I was like any other 'Mr. Macho' in the beginning thinking Harry potter Books are for children and maybe women.

It started off innocently enough, my wife and daughter were reading the books, they really enjoyed them so I bought the first movie for my daughter when it came out... then the second, third, and fourth movies. And I enjoyed them, but I still hadn't plunged to the humiliating level of actually reading the bo...more

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Jun 09, 2008 Ty rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have three words for you: oh - holy - hell. I had braced myself but I wasn't really expecting the bottom to drop out from under us until the 7th book. Arghhhhh.

There's more of the same here ie. heartbreak and betrayal but this may just be the most terrifying and complex of the series. In fact, there is so much plot advancement that it makes me want to crawl into a ball (while I wish for simpler times when Harry was just an orphan who finds out he's a wizard and there was still lots of fun to b...more

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Jul 10, 2007 Katherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasyscifi

So I feel I must publicly expound my Severus Snape theory before the last Harry Potter book comes out. I know, it's a total guilty pleasure, but damnit, I love that ragtag bunch of misfit wizards. So prepare to be awed by my genius analysis of the eternal question: Is Severus Snape evil?

Well, in one word - Completely. Quiet down, quiet down, quit your uproaring and just hear me out. In the world that Rowling created for Harry Potter almost every character is either goodness and light or darknes...more So I feel I must publicly expound my Severus Snape theory before the last Harry Potter book comes out. I know, it's a total guilty pleasure, but damnit, I love that ragtag bunch of misfit wizards. So prepare to be awed by my genius analysis of the eternal question: Is Severus Snape evil?

Well, in one word - Completely. Quiet down, quiet down, quit your uproaring and just hear me out. In the world that Rowling created for Harry Potter almost every character is either goodness and light or darkness and doom. Sure they have conflicts and sometimes shit ain't easy, but their motivations are always clean cut. Snape is the one mystery. He seems evil, but he protects Harry, sort of. Dumbledore trusts him, but he makes pacts with the Malfoys. What's a muggle to think? Well, I'll tell you what to think. Snape is only looking out for #1. He's got designs on blossoming from the picked on nerdy potions kid to the unquestioned dark overlord or everything.

Oh, spoiler alert: If you haven't read the 6th book, I'm totally about to blow the ending for you.

You might be saying, 'Well then why does Dumbledore trust him? Dumbledore's super smart and would know if he was evil.' Well it's because when Dumbledore asks him, "No, seriously Snape, are you done with Voldemort?" Snape can say, "Of course, guy," and be telling the truth. He's done with that shit and he's got his eyes on the prize for himself. Even under the control of the Veritaserum he can honestly say he's not working for old Voldy. So thus he gains Dumbledore's trust in that he's no longer a Death Eater. Booyakasha! (And how genius was it for Snape to arrange a plan with Dumbledore to kill him (Dumbledore) at the end of the 6th book!? We all know that shit was preordained, what with all the "Snape, you just gotta do it," jive by big D. So everyone's led to think that even though Snape now seems like a bad guy he really isn't. Oh you poor, feeble-minded saps.)

Ok, so now you're going to ask why would Snape ever protect Harry? He hates Harry's dad and he's got no love for the boy either, so why has he saved him in the past? BECAUSE Harry's the only one who can destroy Voldemort and quite possibly vice versa. So what's Snape gonna do? He's gonna pit the two of them against one another and let them destroy each other. Then the way will be clear for Snape to rule unopposed. Ha! Goddamn I'm a genius! (less)

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Aug 09, 2007 Liza H rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: done

I admit this is a re-read, as I have of course read this book before, when it first came out in 2005. I haven't read it since, however, and the way my brain retains information (ie: it doesn't) it was almost like reading it for the first time. Which is why I'm counting it here.

I'm one of the many who have been following Harry in his adventures with much interest and glee, and this book held as much magic for me as all of the previous ones. I'm especially thrilled with how much these books have...more

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Dec 09, 2008 Fred D rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: fantasy

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!! The Half-Blood Prince was easily the best book in the series up to this point. It kept me riveted. This book is right up there among the best fantasy I've ever read. Rowling has finally earned a place in my mind among the best fantasy writers. I know, I came to that realization kind-of late, but this was the first book of hers that really blew me away. It was fascinating to see the scope of the story expand and long-time mysteries be illuminated. In any great fictional...more WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!! The Half-Blood Prince was easily the best book in the series up to this point. It kept me riveted. This book is right up there among the best fantasy I've ever read. Rowling has finally earned a place in my mind among the best fantasy writers. I know, I came to that realization kind-of late, but this was the first book of hers that really blew me away. It was fascinating to see the scope of the story expand and long-time mysteries be illuminated. In any great fictional story, the scope of the story expands as the story arc progresses. That was definitely the case with this book. The scope of the story expanded, and your knowledge of what's going on greatly increased. Everything that happened up to this point is seen in a larger context.

Now that the Ministry is convinced that Voldemort is back, the real war against Voldemort has begun. People are dying every day. Has Snape betrayed the Order of the Phoenix? The book gets off to a suspenseful start. Then Dumbledore decides to give Harry private lessons, and each lesson is fascinating as they use the pensieve to explore memories of different people to try to figure out Voldemort's origins, motives, and plans. Dumbledore gives Harry an assignment to collect a memory from Professor Slughorn, one of the new teachers on the staff, that holds the key to understanding Voldemort's plans. Harry obtains the memory, and from that point forward I could not put the book down. Each chapter from that point on was riveting. Each one contained incredible, amazing events that expanded the scope of the story arc and expanded your understanding of what was happening. The chapter on on 'horcruxes' in particular blew me away. Finally we know how Voldemort achieved immortality! Now it was clear what had to be done to defeat him! It changed everything. That chapter defined the course of the rest of the series. Later, Dumbledore took Harry on a mission to destroy one of the horcruxes, and the account of that excursion was brilliant. I was totally riveted. It was so descriptive, so suspenseful. Upon their return to Hogwarts, they discovered that the school had been infiltrated by Death Eaters, and a full-blown battle erupted. Again, it was so suspenseful, I could not put the book down.

Somehow I knew that Dumbledore had to die. Harry had been under Dumbledore's tutelage and protection throughout the whole series. I could see why Dumbledore dying was necessary for Potter's further growth and development. It sets things up so that Potter will have to face Voldemort one last time in the last book, alone. It had to be that way. One thing worries me though. Is Harry ready? After all, he hasn't completed his education and training. Harry was no match for Snape in their duel at the end of Half-Blood Prince. He still has a lot to learn. How can he ever track down and destroy 4 horcruxes, and then destroy Voldemort, all by himself? This is by-far the largest task he's ever had to face, and seems too much for him. Well, we'll just have to see, shall we?

P.S.: Am I the only one that has a reasonable guess as to who R.A.B. stands for? Without having read Deathly Hollows yet or knowing anything about how things actually turn out, I think I have it figured out. Think about it: Who in the entire series do we know with a last name that begins with a B? Well of course, there's the Black family. Now there are lots of Blacks, but who among the Blacks has a first name beginning with an R, who opposed Voldemort? Of course! Sirius's brother Regulus! Who else could it possibly be? Regulus stole the horcrux, and soon after Voldemort killed him. It all makes sense. Why hasn't anybody else figured it out? Remember, this is just a theory. I haven't read Deathly Hallows and I know nothing about how things actually turn out. I'll have to read on and see if I'm right.(less)

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Jul 27, 2007 Jake rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first time I read it at camp, I was bored and taken aback by what I saw as worthless and superfluous backstory. I openly mocked the counselors and campers who cried as a result of the famous murder.

I reread it this past week in anticipation of the final chapter and am embarassed to say that I came close to spilling tears on the Metro as I finished it. This book is better than I remembered, and the history IS significant. It sets up the seventh perfectly and escalates the war and plot in ways...more

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Oct 03, 2008 Mckinsey rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyon and everyone who loves magical and mystery books

Shelves: book-club

I love this book so much! This book kept me wanting more, I am so excited about the movie coming out! This book was a roller coaster of emotion there is sad, happy, love, and anger. This is a very myterious, sneaky book i fell in love with it. This book reminds me of all of my friends in a wierd way, and even some of my family members. I love that finally you find out more about Voldemort and his history other than him just being the cruel, evil bad guy but this book took that a lot farther and...more

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Oct 20, 2008 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, hocus-pocus

I've loved Snape from the beginning, but even I had a bit of a shock when he did what he did. But then I took in the 'pleading,' the 'Severus...please...' and just knew/hoped/prayed that there was so much more to it all than first met the eye. Snape's such a tortured badboy with issues, and whilst everyone else mourned the other fella, all my concern was for my dear Snape, how he was, how turmoiled he must be, poor love!

My joint fave (with Azkaban) HP book.

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Aug 13, 2012 Malxox ♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, best-of-the-best

THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!!! Oooooh!!! <3

Honestly I ended up watching all the movies before reading the books (ashamed :( ) but because if that I have been absolutly dying to read the Half Blood Prince. It's my favorite HP movie, ergo my favorite book! I'm a bit of an odd one I guess, liking the 6th book over the 7th, but I can't help it :)

Draco's in this book more. It seems to be about him and his struggles as well as Harry. I love that because it shows that he has things...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Micheline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: favorites, multiple-reads, hero-worship, magic-witches-wizards, classics, vampires-werewolves, fantasy, young-adult

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, the 6th out of a series of seven books. This is the book I had been waiting for since I first read Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone. The long awaited book where Harry's and Dumbledore's relationship finally comes to the forefront. This was my first re-read since the HBP movie came out...I remember being so disappointing in the film for taking a more 'romantic comedy' approach and leaving out so many important details. But this re-read has activ...more Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, the 6th out of a series of seven books. This is the book I had been waiting for since I first read Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone. The long awaited book where Harry's and Dumbledore's relationship finally comes to the forefront. This was my first re-read since the HBP movie came out...I remember being so disappointing in the film for taking a more 'romantic comedy' approach and leaving out so many important details. But this re-read has actively restored my faith in HBP as only the second best Harry Potter book out there. I'll try and summarize generally before going into plot details but it's hard for me not to go into spoilers right away: there is so much to discuss!

So HBP starts off fresh on the heels of OotP. Everyone in the wizarding community knows that Voldemort is back now. The Ministry for Magic has gotten rid of Fudge and taken an stronger stance against the dark forces that loom ever closer. Having now lost his godfather as well, Harry must come to grips with his loss, as well as the contents of the ominous prophecy regarding himself and Lord Voldemort. (view spoiler) The writing in HBP is above reproach, it just flows effortlessly and the book reads in the same way. We are getting into the thick of the real plot now. The truth about Harry's destiny...and Voldemort's. And I loved learning every little detail of it right along with Harry. The scenes in Dumbledore's office with the pensive are among the most riveting in the whole series.

I did however find it a bit frustrating that Ron & Hermione are so reluctant to believe Harry's thoughts on Draco. (view spoiler) I feel like at this point, they've known each other long enough and been through enough together to know that Harry's hunches are usually dead on. The guy has amazing instinct, period.

Another highlight in HBP for me is Ginny and the evolution of her character and consequentially her relationship with Harry. Can I just say how much I love Ginny?! She's fierce, brave, an incredibly skilled witch. She is also the least intimidated by Harry. He can be raging or sad to a point where Ron and Hermione would hesitate to approach him...but Ginny never hesitates...she can always get through to him. (view spoiler)

And finally:Horcruxes! Loved learning about them, how they came to be...every single pensive giving a clue for one or more of them. The concept is brilliant, hats off to Rowling for coming up with the whole idea. (view spoiler) And yes the ending is beyond sad and I tear up a few times during the final chapters. But it's fitting, it's what needed to happen and it sets the stage perfectly for 'Deathly Hallows'. (less)

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Jun 01, 2013 Kcatty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hp-rowling, i-has-it, reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Okay, so picture this: after Sirius gets hit by Bellatrix's curse in the Ministry, he uses an old hand single to tell Lupin that he can be saved. He falls into the curtain but clings to the side. Lupin tells Harry he's gone because he thinks he is, but then realizes what Sirius meant by the hand sign. When everyone else has gone, he saves Sirius with some fancy spell work, but he's still weak, so Sirius side-along disapparates to where Lupin has been staying. Lupin fixes him up as best as he can...more Okay, so picture this: after Sirius gets hit by Bellatrix's curse in the Ministry, he uses an old hand single to tell Lupin that he can be saved. He falls into the curtain but clings to the side. Lupin tells Harry he's gone because he thinks he is, but then realizes what Sirius meant by the hand sign. When everyone else has gone, he saves Sirius with some fancy spell work, but he's still weak, so Sirius side-along disapparates to where Lupin has been staying. Lupin fixes him up as best as he can quickly and apparates back to the Ministry. When everything's over, Lupin goes back to his house and fully heals Sirius.
But Sirius still has to stay in hiding because Voldemort and the Death Eaters think he's dead, and therefore would not be expecting him in any plans (sabotage, mainly); he can't tell the Order either because of Snape, whom he suspects is Voldemort's, not Dumbledore's, man.
So when he's back up to full strength, he sabotages and haunts Death Eaters until he hears about Malfoy's attempted curse and Harry's countercurse. So he is an extra, unofficial guard at Hogwarts (having used the passageway from the Shrieking Shack onto the grounds) until he sees the Dark Mark, when he enters the castle and joins the fighting. He fights alongside the Order without them knowing who he is, but when the fighting stops he immediately heads to the infirmary, where he knows everyone'll be.
He remains in the shadows until Harry comes in, then reveals himself, and he and Lupin explain how he's still alive. In the 7th book he has to go into hiding but is there at the Battle for Hogwarts.
Wouldn't that be a much better ending for Sirius? I mean, you still get Harry's character development in this book, but Sirius gets to live. And it wouldn't be totally un-Rowling for her to do so - hidden plots and actions and everything. And since my favorite character (besides Harry, Ron & Hermione, of course) is Sirius, then, well, this is much better in my eyes.
But, well, it didn't happen this way (unfortunately). And this book is, in short, the repercussions of the scene that happened instead of my hypothetical one ↑.
And, instead of writing a review, I leave you with this. An idea of what might have been, if Rowling wasn't such a damn heartbreaking writer. (less)

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Dec 26, 2010 Joyzi rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: harry potter fans

Recommended to Joyzi by: my friends at school

Shelves: children-s, fiction, fantasy, own, 5-stars-or-more, watched-it, books-to-movies, reviewed, read-more-than-once, political-intrigue, banned, book-series, author-brit

***SPOILER ALERT***

This book was really amazing it even made me cry. Even if I know a lot of spoilers which my friend have told me about Snape being the Half Blood Prince, Snape killed Dumbledore, Ginny and Harry being together, about the horcrux was a fake, my friend actually told me the summary of this book.

I think even if I know a lot of what was going to happen I still find it painful to read it especially the part when Dumbledore was killed and Hagrid was talking to Harry and Hagrid doesn'...more

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Aug 16, 2010 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, addictive, fantasy, anglophilia, bildungsroman, young-adult

In the summer of 2003, the Arizona Diamondbacks went on a crazy intense winning streak, due mostly to the fact that they had something like eleven to thirteen rookies playing at any given time, all of whom were unknown quantities (and thus harder to beat). They were calling them the "Baby Backs" (future Cy Young winner Brandon Webb among them). As of June 30, 2003, the team had won eleven consecutive games, one away from beating their record. My sister, Melissa, likes baseball in an unnatural ob...more In the summer of 2003, the Arizona Diamondbacks went on a crazy intense winning streak, due mostly to the fact that they had something like eleven to thirteen rookies playing at any given time, all of whom were unknown quantities (and thus harder to beat). They were calling them the "Baby Backs" (future Cy Young winner Brandon Webb among them). As of June 30, 2003, the team had won eleven consecutive games, one away from beating their record. My sister, Melissa, likes baseball in an unnatural obsessive fashion (much the way I like TV) and got us tickets to the game. Naturally this concerned me due to the midnight release part of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I was supposed to be attending that night.

(Bear with me, this story does eventually relate to Half-Blood Prince.)

So it's like the bottom of the 8th inning and we're losing and I'm really worried at this point that we're going to be late so I make my entire family get up and leave. My sister put up a little bit of a fight, but as we were losing by at least three runs, she eventually shut up and we left. But as we were walking back to the car, the stadium EXPLODED. And kept exploding. Fireworks went off (not a euphemism). And my sister turned to me and knifed my bowels into ribbons with just the power of her angry eyes. I tried to explain to her that you don't fuck around with Harry Potter, but not five minutes later when we'd reached the car and turned on the radio and she learned that we'd won that 12th consecutive game and that we'd been there and left, I really thought she might murder me. She hadn't read Harry Potter yet, you see. She didn't understand.

Fast forward two years. She was right there with me at the midnight release of Half-Blood Prince, dressed as Draco Malfoy. We raced home together and read the book late into the night, waking up early to finish. I finished first and she was mad when I started crying and she had to wait to find out why. And of course, later in the shower, when I remembered what happened and started crying AGAIN (is there anything more pathetic than crying in the shower over a dead fictional character?), after I got out she couldn't resist making fun of me. Apparently I'd been crying so loud that she'd heard the sobs through the walls and over the sound of the running water. But FUCK, man! That shit is sad! Served her right ten minutes later when it was her turn to cry.

But anyway, the point is that none of you should be in doubt: Harry Potter is way more important than baseball. And football. And soccer. And Hockey. And that is a lesson everybody should learn.(less)

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Oct 10, 2007 Lil_pixie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: havereadandloveit

J.K. Rowling kembali dengan novel keenamnya yang berjudul Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Novel ini seakan menjadi novel penghubung ke novel terakhir dari serial Harry Potter ini.

Harry melewatkan sebagian besar liburan musim panasnya di rumah sahabatnya, Ron Weasley, di mana Hermione juga turut berkunjung. Hari-hari yang dijalaninya cukup menyenangkan, meskipun beberapa pertanyaan berputar di sekitarnya. Beberapa teka-teki disajikan sejak awal novel ini. Hal ini membuat rasa penasaran pe...more J.K. Rowling kembali dengan novel keenamnya yang berjudul Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Novel ini seakan menjadi novel penghubung ke novel terakhir dari serial Harry Potter ini.

Harry melewatkan sebagian besar liburan musim panasnya di rumah sahabatnya, Ron Weasley, di mana Hermione juga turut berkunjung. Hari-hari yang dijalaninya cukup menyenangkan, meskipun beberapa pertanyaan berputar di sekitarnya. Beberapa teka-teki disajikan sejak awal novel ini. Hal ini membuat rasa penasaran pembaca untuk terus membalik halaman-halaman selanjutnya.

Saat ia kembali ke Hogwarts, dua kabar menunggunya. Yang pertama adalah Snape tidak mengajar ramuan tahun ini sehingga Harry dapat mengikuti kelas ramuan dengan nilai OWLnya. Tetapi sebagai gantinya, Snape mengajar kelas pertahanan terhadap ilmu hitam, jabatan yang selama ini diimpikannya.

Dalam pelajaran ramuan, Harry menjadi murid kesayangan gurunya. Ia disebut sebagai anak yang memiliki bakat istimewa dan insting yang cukup unik dalam membuat ramuan. Padahal selama ini ia dibantu oleh sebuah buku kepunyaan sang 'Half-Blof Prince'. Siapakah sebenarnya sang 'Half-Blood Prince'?

Dumledore ternyata menyelidiki sebuah rahasia besar Lord Voldemort, rahasia mengapa selama ini ia tidak mati setelah terkena kutukan Avada Kedavra yang memantul padanya. Ia mengajak Harry untuk menguak rahasia Lord Voldemort tersebut. Mereka berdua melakukan perjalanan yang cukup berbahaya, karena Lord Voldemort tidak akan membiarkan rahasianya terbongkar dengan mudah.

Saat mereka kembali ke Hogwarts. Sebuah kejadian yang cukup mengagetkan menyambut mereka. Laskar Dumbledore kembali berhadapan dengan para pelahap maut yang berhasil menembus Hogwarts. Harry diperhadapkan dengan pertanyaan yang selama ini ada di benaknya. Apakah pengkhianatan yang sedang terjadi? ataukah ini salah satu rencana Dumbledore? Apakah selama ini Dumbledore mempercayai orang yang tepat?

Beberapa pertanyaan yang tidak terjawab di buku ini mengantar para pembaca untuk menemukan jawabannyanya di buku selanjutnya, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollow.

Alur cerita yang cukup menegangkan membuat buku ini susah diletakkan setelah membuka halaman pertamanya. Tidak hanya ketegangan yang ditampilkan oleh J.K. Rowling. Kisah pecintaan beberapa tokohnya pun dituliskan dan sukses membuat para pembacanya cukup terhibur dan sedikit rileks setelah mengikuti ketegangan di dalamnya.

Bagi saya, novel ini cukup bagus. Meskipun pada kali pertama saya membacanya, saya kira novel ini tidak sebagus novel-novel sebelumnya. Setelah kali kedua saya membaca novel ini, pandangan saya berubah dan baru dapat menikmati isi novel ini. Nah, selamat membaca untuk Anda sekalian.(less)

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Dec 27, 2008 Osho rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: harry-potter, 2007, 2006

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My review from when this first was published:

This sixth novel simultaneously moves its focus back to the Harry-Ron-Hermione trio and looks outward in a recognition of the impact of the larger wizarding world upon individuals. Although secondary characters continue to play a role, the emotional center is Harry and his close friends, and Harry and his mentor, Dumbledore. While it is refreshing to see Harry and Dumbledore actually interacting in an extended and meaningful way, this narrative choice...more My review from when this first was published:

This sixth novel simultaneously moves its focus back to the Harry-Ron-Hermione trio and looks outward in a recognition of the impact of the larger wizarding world upon individuals. Although secondary characters continue to play a role, the emotional center is Harry and his close friends, and Harry and his mentor, Dumbledore. While it is refreshing to see Harry and Dumbledore actually interacting in an extended and meaningful way, this narrative choice renders characters such as Tonks and Neville, for whom the reader has developed affection, curiously flat.

This distance and drawing-in may well have been a deliberate decision on Rowling's part, however, as it parallels Harry's growing realization that he must increase his attention to his quest, and decrease the number of attachments that could be turned to his disadvantage. Though his final acts of loyalty to Dumbledore's instructions show that he is capable of choosing the right act over emotionally compelling alternatives, his confession to Ginny of the conflict he would feel if he had to choose her death reveals his own recognition that love is his vulnerability as well as his strength.

Although some chapters read more like Harry Potter and the Expository Prose, the reader is given a great deal of explanation and back-story, as promised. Compassion and identification, always important themes in the series, are shown movingly both as Harry's empathy for Tom Riddle's childhood grows, and, significantly, as Dumbledore offers Draco every opportunity to enter into his protection. Harry's report that he did not think Draco would have killed Dumbledore seems to be an important turning point for the series, and we can hope for further complex and sophisticated analyses of human interactions in the last book, saving the series from a reductionist good-versus-evil finale.

It is not clear at times whether details are extraneous or important, which of course is part of why the books function as mysteries as well as coming of age stories. However, it did seem at times that one or two additional lines might answer readers' questions and add to, rather than diminish, the tightness of the plot. For example, Harry learns that members of the Order use their Patronuses to communicate with each other. We learn this, perhaps, so that Rowling can show us the form of Tonks's Patronus. However, this then begs the question of why Harry does not send his Patronus to summon Snape when he and Dumbledore arrive back in Hogsmeade. A brief exchange in which Harry announced this intention and Dumbledore indicated that a Patronus could not get through the extra protections at Hogwarts, for example, would close this hole convincingly. The reader would not then be left wondering why Harry still thinks, like a Muggle, of running up to the castle instead of using the very mechanism identified earlier in the book as the best way he could communicate quickly and effectively with Snape.

The theme of appearances versus substance is strongly reinforced, including numerous titles (such as "prince") that are meaningless, Voldemort's soul (apparently safe in Horcruxes, but unbeknownst to him, destroyed one by one) and Fleur's firm response to Bill's injuries. Parallelism abounds in Half-Blood Prince, such as the triad of Wormtail's silver hand--Dumbledore's wounded hand--and Draco's Hand of Glory. In addition, cups, knives, wands, and coins abound; in conjunction with Trelawney's obsessive (and accurate) card-reading and prediction about the tower (a Tarot symbol), they suggest that the reader willing to now re-read with a dictionary of symbols and guide to card reading and Tarot may be rewarded with additional parallels, confirmations, and insights. (less)

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Aug 17, 2007 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Although not a bad book, I found this to be the weakest book in the series. But that's beside the point isn't it? If you're reading the whole series you can't very well skip this one.

The main stream running through this installment is a sloooow recounting of how Lord Voldemort came to be like his is. To make room for that history lesson, most of the usual crowd (Hagrid, Neville, Luna, McGonagall, Remus, Fred, George, etc) have smaller parts. There is a side plot for Ron dealing with teen age rom...more

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Jul 10, 2007 Seth Hahne rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who had read the other five...

As the release of the seventh book nears, I thought it would be prudent to refresh my memory of the Potter mythos. So I reread Book 6. As I remembered, it was one of the high points of the series—made all the more excellent by the fact that it followed the lackluster fifth book.

Harry has overcome most of the childish petulance that both marked and marred his character in Book 5 and Rowling returns to (and further perfects) the formula for adventure that has made the series so popular with reader...more

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About J.K. Rowling

Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling,her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initia...more Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling,her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.

Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.

Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.

Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.(less)

More about J.K. Rowling...

Books by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)

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Trivia About Harry Potter and ...

326 trivia questions
97 quizzes

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Quotes from Harry Potter and the H...

“Do you remember me telling you we are practicing non-verbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry stiffly.
"Yes, sir."
"There's no need to call me "sir" Professor."
The words had escaped him before he knew what he was saying.” — 8,023 people liked it

“It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” — 4,593 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Goodreads rating: 4.46 (895954 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1.Harry_Potter_and_the_Half_Blood_Prince?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361039191l/1.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1.Harry_Potter_and_the_Half_Blood_Prince?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling[/url]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6)

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