reviews
Dec 17, 2009
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
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4 comments
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(63 people liked it)
Aug 04, 2011
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 ed More...
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 ed More...
20 comments
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(18 people liked it)
Feb 01, 2008
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 More...
(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 More...
15 comments
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(45 people liked it)
Feb 27, 2009
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 More...
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 More...
47 comments
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(17 people liked it)
Oct 30, 2007
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
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3 comments
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(32 people liked it)
Oct 22, 2007
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 Rowli More...
* 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 Rowli More...
Dec 16, 2009
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 More...
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 More...
2 comments
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(17 people liked it)
Dec 21, 2010
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5 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Jun 09, 2008
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 l More...
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 l More...
0 comments
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(11 people liked it)
Aug 25, 2011
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 a
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2 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Jul 10, 2007
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 ligh More...
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 ligh More...
3 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
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 th More...
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 th More...
0 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Dec 09, 2008
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
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Jul 27, 2007
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 a More...
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 a More...
3 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Oct 03, 2008
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
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0 comments
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(8 people liked it)
Jun 28, 2010
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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2 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Feb 14, 2011
***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 Har More...
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 Har More...
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 30, 2009
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
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4 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Oct 10, 2007
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 More...
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 More...
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(2 people liked it)
Sep 11, 2007
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 actuall More...
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 actuall More...
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(4 people liked it)
Jan 04, 2011
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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2 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
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 w More...
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 w More...
Dec 16, 2009
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 More...
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 More...
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(2 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
I wanted to like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Really, I did. After the huge disappointment of The Order of the Phoenix, I was ready to have fun again. But the same problems that plagued the fifth book are here in the sixth; this novel is more of a chore to get through than anything else, and long passages go by in which absolutely no action takes place. In fact, the whole book is inactivity; the plot consists of - get this - Harry learning about Voldemort's past. This is nothing
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(3 people liked it)
Jul 03, 2011
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 More...
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 More...
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(4 people liked it)
Feb 06, 2012
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.
My joint fave (with Azkaban) HP book.
21 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Dec 05, 2010
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 04, 2012
FAIR WARNING!
My review is comprised of Quotes from the book and POSSIBLE commentary by me. If you do not want any spoilers and quotes please do not read past the spoiler warning picture. Enjoy, Stay safe, Have fun! Thanks DG.
Fudge fixed the Prime Minister with a rather stern look. “Of course they were,” he said. “Surely you’ve realized what’s going on?” “I . . ” hesitated the Prime Minister. It was precisely this sort of behavior that made him dislike Fudge’s visits More...
My review is comprised of Quotes from the book and POSSIBLE commentary by me. If you do not want any spoilers and quotes please do not read past the spoiler warning picture. Enjoy, Stay safe, Have fun! Thanks DG.
Fudge fixed the Prime Minister with a rather stern look. “Of course they were,” he said. “Surely you’ve realized what’s going on?” “I . . ” hesitated the Prime Minister. It was precisely this sort of behavior that made him dislike Fudge’s visits More...
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 17, 2011
Okay! Six down, one more to go. My feelings about Half-Blood Prince are a little complicated. I always felt like it was a 'place-holder,' although I hate to refer to any of these books as such. But aside from what happens at the very end (SPOILERS! Wait, who am I kidding, everyone knows what happened, right?), the rest of the book is and has always been a bit of a blur to me. So it was really nice to reread this one, to remind myself of what happens here.
It was especially nice rereadin More...
It was especially nice rereadin More...
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 28, 2011
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