Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince question

I believe the romance in the novel was balanced nicely with other plot elements, such as the introduction of the horcruxes and various developments in the story. The family history of Voldemort plays a rather large part in this installment. Harry really delves into those aspects of the Dark Lord through the memories Dumbledore shows him and it all sets up the final confrontation with Voldemort in "Deathly Hallows". So, do teenage hormones and romance play a part in "Half-Blood Prince"? Sure. However, J.K. Rowling only includes those aspects because the book happens to include characters that are adolescents, and teenagers can't help but act on those inklings of romance. Those feelings are brand new, and Harry is experiencing longing for Ron's sister, Ginny, as he is seeing her in a different light for the first time.

Of course there is romance--they are teenagers. I have a 17-year-old son and he has had three love interests in the last 9 months! This is something Harry and his friends would be involved in even if they do have all the magical evil stuff to deal with. Without it, the kid's would seem less real.

Yes i love it because i ship Harry Ginny and Ron Hermione. Harry potter is a book about love and its completely fine that there is one about romance. THIS BOOK WAS MY FAVORITE IN THE SERIES.

Poor Lavender Brown. Her only crime was loving Ron.

I have mixed feelings on the romance part. I feel that JKR put Harry with Ginny just so they would both be paired off in the end for the happy ending. I never really bought the sudden infatuation Harry got for Ginny after being just a friend all this time. However, I liked that, for once, we were reminded that even though these are super-wizarding kids who are out to save the world, they are still teenagers, with raging hormones, mood swings etc. It's easy to forget in fantasy like this one that the heroes are still human.

It didn't take away from the novel. It added a bit of comedy to book, but that's all. Although, I gotta say, I didn't care much about Harry and Ginny's relationship. Ron and Hermione's fighting was the only part in regards to the romance that I cared about.

Well I must admit the love plot is very confusing Harry likes Cho and Ginny but Cho likes Cedric too so to be honest the only one that wasn't confusing was Ron & Hermoine. It was like white against black.

I thought it was stupid because I know they are getting older but that is not what Harry Potter is about.

I think it was a good balance because there's still a lot of action with the introduction of horcruxes. Yes I have noticed that J.K. Rowling is like Just Kidding Rowling. Everytime my bro says JK I say Rowling afterwards. In the end, I tought the romance kind of balanced things out and brought a bit more reality to the fact that they are just teenagers.

Maybe she was trying to show that there was more to her characters than bravery and courage? Or maybe she was foreshadowing Snape's love of Lily.

Really, romance isn't a set topic for these books, never has been. Only when things start getting really serious towards the end of the series is when all the secret romances start showing up. It had to show up sooner or later, but the element of romance has been there through all the books, it just was never as strong because its not a focus.

I remember getting to the very last chapters of the Half Blood Prince and thinking "so we really are going to have to wait until the very end for Ron and Hermione to get together". I wouldn't say that Romance is the "main plot" but I would say it is a very significant theme, especially in character development. Fifteen is too young for an epic romance, and leaving the romance to the last book is too late for the epic finale, so it seems fitting to casually add a bit of romance in the plot. But I think that the book is actually incredibly dark over fluffy, and the horcruxes is the main theme. Romance serves a good contrasting purpose in that sense. It's kind of Snape's big debut in the series as well, as given in the title. However, you could say that Snape's very importance and purpose in the series is completely based on love and attraction to Lily, so in a way the book IS about romance... Interesting question! I never found Harry and Ginny's romance very moving... in fact I thought it was quite boring and stale in comparison to JK's inventiveness with other characters!

I normally dislike romance in books...but it was in ok amount here so it did not bother me (well,if we do not count Tonks being pushy etc.).

I think that it was definitely the way to go. It was like the light before the dark, if you get what i mean. This may be slightly biased as I am an avid romance reader, but I genuinely believe it was a good way to go. I personally adore Harry Potter and I thought that his growing love for Ginny was meant to be. Every time I read book #2 I think that that was the starting point. For everything. Romance was a way to keep it light hearted and way to show readers that Harry Potter was growing up.

Though there is romance involved in quite a major way in the book, I don't think it's really the main plot.

Romance really? I don't think it's the main plot of the book, a device yes, but not the whole story-line. I think romance is a natural element to any story, especially when teenagers are involved. Love is a major theme that runs throughout the series. And romance and awkwardness has played some role in all of the books (not always obvious). I think the "love" or romance (as you put it) element is just more intense in this book because all the action is more intense-- The Half-Blood Prince is the beginning of the end.

that is why it's my favorite... shallow but true

THey are teenagers for Pete's sake, they are acting like teenagers. It brings a touch of reality and comic relief.

I thought it had the most romance than in all the other books. Two love triangles which I thought were pretty good. Hermione, Ron, and Lavendar, and Harry, Ginny, Dean. I think it put a nice twist in the books.

I loved it! They we're most of my favorite parts! I LOVE YOU J.K. ROWLING! Hey, did you notice that the initials J.K. Rowling looks like Just Kidding Rowling? That's something Rita Skeeter would say.....

I think that, as Ade, said, it is a nice balance between romance and Voldemort's past, and a nice bit of action at the end. And I think it's my favorite book for that reason. It is very different from the others, and a lot deeper as far as feelings go.
As for Cho's part on Harry's life, I think it's fine that he took notice of her at first an not of the girl that would later become his wife, because it's something that happens, I mean it's real. Most people have a lot of relationships before finding "the one" and some relationships, specially first ones, are really short and somehow meaningless. And I think Ginny was involved enough, I mean she's not a main character, but she had her fair share of action in the Chamber of Secrets and Order of the Phoenix, and her love for Harry was mentioned several times.

I'm sorry not Farrah, Patricia

Just like Farrah said earlier, It's reality and it is very suitable for the book.

Ginny has always been there, and I think she has always had feelings for Harry, but Harry never did anything because Ron is his best mate, she was in a different year, and the timing just never matched up--until HBP. Harry's love interests didn't need to end with Cho. Why would he only have one love interest?

Ginny started out as a friend (and the sister of his best friend) so he didn't see her as a love interest, whereas Harry was attracted to (or lusted after) Cho.

I agree with Sil and Ade, I liked that aspect of the book, and I don't think it was really overdone

I agree that it is balanced well. It's part of their character development and allowing them to grow up.