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

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) by J.K. Rowling (based on 3596 customer reviews)

(Paperback)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks

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Most useful review as voted by customers:
911 out of 1129 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/16/05

Battled rain and cold weather to get hold of it :)

I'm one of those who couldn't wait until the morning to get hold of this book. I literally battled rain and cold weather with my sister to get our copies at 12.15 am, July 16, in a local bookstore in Argentina. According to my dad, I'm slightly nuts for doing that :)

In my opinion, though, this book was well-worth the extra effort. After picking it up, I returned to my house and started to read it. I just finished it, and I can sincerely say that it is simply outstandingly good. Yes, the other books were awesome too, specially the 4th and the 5th, but I think that Harry's world is becoming more defined with each book, and that makes for a thoroughly engaging reading experience.

What is new in this book?. Well, after having to come to face with the fact that Lord Voldemort is alive, the wizard community is in an uproar, and quite frightened. Cornelius Fudge has been sacked as Minister of Magic, and an Auror has been named in that position. Harry, Ron and Hermione get their O.W.Ls (Ordinary Wizardry Levels), and have to decide what courses to take for their N.E.W.Ts (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests), something that will define their future careers. Plots abound, and danger is omnipresent throughout the book. There is a new teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts, and also an eccentric new Potions' teacher. Of course, there is much more, including a death that I bet will make you cry, and that hurts Harry enormously. I won't tell you who dies, only that the event involves the Half-Blood Prince, and that I think it was a sacrifice rather than a murder.

But what's the point of telling you all this if you can read the book, and enjoy it as much as I did?. Suffice it to say that this is a worthy addition to the Harry Potter series. There is adventure, some romance, and many more elements that add up to make the kind of book that you simply must read. And now, after staying up all night in order to read this book, I really need to catch up on my sleep. If you haven't guessed my opinion on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" yet, I'll say that I highly recommend it. Run to get your copy, if you don't already have one, and share the magic :)

Belen Alcat

242 out of 335 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 8/4/05

Rowling in verse

Rowlings' sixth book exceeds her book five
Though another main character doesn't survive
She ties the loose ends with a stroke of her pen
Answering the previous who's, why's and when

Romance is in bloom behind Hogwarts' thick doors
Spreading like fire or wild mushroom spores
`Twixt the O.W.L.S. and the N.E.W.T.S. there is love in the air
The girls are on fire, so wizards beware

The darkest so far in terms of the plot
You're guessing someone's a Death Eater, or not
When Voldemort's mark appears in the sky
Those who can see it know trouble is nigh

The Dark Lord has split up his black, evil soul
It takes seven foul parts now to make him a whole
So now the big battle at last has begun
Destroy them, all seven, and he will be done.

The titular Prince is involved in a killing
The ending is action-packed, thrilling and chilling
We're down on our knees and praying to heaven
That J.K. will sit down and write number seven.

Amanda Richards, August 3, 2005

161 out of 189 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/17/05

Heartbreaking and fabulous

What an incredible book!

I don't know where to begin. Let's begin at the beginning, shall we? "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens with an amusing scene with the "Other Minister," who is actually the Prime Minister of England, being visited by the new Minister of Magic. I just pictured Tony Blair the entire time, especially when he was lamenting over an impending phone call from that "wretched" man who was the president of a powerful yet unnamed country...J.K. Rowling certainly has a sense of humor!

Let's get back to the main story. Lord Voldemort's followers are gaining power, and people everywhere (wizards and Muggles alike) are in danger. In order to help Harry learn as much as possible about the history of the Dark Lord, Professor Dumbledore enlists in the help of his pensieve to take Harry back in time to the days when Tom Riddle was just a young man. Harry eventually embarks on a journey to help his professor find four missing Horcruxes, which are magical objects in which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has extracted parts of his soul in order to secure immortality.

There are many additional developments in this novel, too. The sixth-year students all receive the results of their O.W.L.S. over the summer, and they become more focused on the intensive classes that will prepare them for their N.E.W.T. exams the following year. Harry comes across a mysterious potions textbook that is marked as the property of the Half-Blood Prince. The book contains a bunch of shortcuts that make potion-making a breeze for Harry, but the identity of its previous owner remains a mystery, and Harry eventually gets more than he bargained for when one of the Prince's spells goes awry.

Hogwarts students receive a new Potions instructor when Professor Snape takes over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher...a move that has Harry and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, absolutely befuddled. Draco Malfoy, Harry's nemesis, has been acting very strange all year. Harry believes that Draco has joined legions with the Death Eaters and is planning some sort of attack on the school, but there's no real evidence to support that theory, and Harry has a hard time getting anyone to believe him. There is also romance in the air at Hogwarts...love potions become very popular, and new couples are formed, some of which are better pairings than others. Harry finally chooses the girl that he was meant to be with from day one, but Ron makes an arse out of himself for the majority of the book, which is painful but also quite humorous (I know he'll set things right in Book Seven!).

The novel becomes darker and more somber as it progresses. There are many more deaths in "Half-Blood Prince" than any of the previous Potter novels...and that's saying a lot! Someone is bewitching objects and launching attacks on Hogwarts students...one of the most popular characters becomes gravely ill as a result of drinking a poisoned beverage. When Dumbledore and Harry set off on their climactic quest at the end of the book, the horrors they encounter are too gruesome to put in words. Young readers will ultimately be disturbed by what they read. (I'm a 25-year-old reader, and I'll probably be having nightmares for weeks! Seriously, when it comes time for "Order of the Phoenix" and "Half-Blood Prince" to be made into movies, I don't see how Warner Brothers will manage to avoid "R" ratings.)

Ultimately, the end of this novel is the most tragic and heartbreaking of any book in the series so far. It was also the most shocking. Personally, I had a feeling that I knew which character was going to die...it made sense to me that Harry would need to go into Book Seven as utterly alone as possible, and Rowling set it up so that's exactly what will happen. However, I was absolutely stunned when the final death took place, and that's all because of the second chapter of the book, when Snape meets with Bellatrix and Narcissa and pledges an Unbreakable Vow. Now, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Snape. (I think it's partially because I adore Alan Rickman, but I see now that my logic was incredibly stupid...this is a book, not a movie!) I always thought that there was something very important about Snape that readers were not privy to, and that the information would somehow redeem him. I also thought that since Dumbledore was such a great wizard, he was right in placing so much trust in Snape. I always thought that Snape really was a loyal member of the Order, and that he was putting himself at great risk by maintaining ties with the Death Eaters.

When Snape pledged the Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa, I had a feeling that he had majorly done himself in, and that he would be totally screwed over in the end, especially since it is revealed later in the book that people who break Unbreakable Vows die. Well...I don't want to spoil things by saying more than I already have, but things did not work out exactly as I had thought. Regardless of what I have ever thought about Snape, I never expected that he would behave the way he did at the end of the book. I was absolutely stunned. BUT...it will be interesting to see what happens in Book Seven. The reason Dumbledore finally gives for trusting Snape is incredibly flimsy...perhaps there's something more to it than meets the eye...maybe Snape actually proved himself to be the most loyal member of the Order by carrying out Dumbledore's orders at the end! I have no idea how that theory will play out, but it's just an idea...with J.K. Rowling, anything is possible. We will see!

The end of the book is unbelievably sad and depressing. It made me cry even though I saw the whole thing coming. I don't think I've been that sad since the spider died at the end of "Charlotte's Web".

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is amazing. It is mature and moving and is by far the best book in the series so far. There are a lot of open-ended questions that are leading up to Book Seven...will Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts for their final year? Will there even be a Hogwarts to go back to? How on earth will Harry manage the impossible task that lies ahead of him? One thing's for certain...I can't wait to find out!

121 out of 147 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/17/05

Spoilers Galore; My Review.

Half-Blood Prince is easily one of the better books in the Harry Potter series, though each is a masterpiece. But the 6th installment of a 7-part series is bound to be full of great moments in the story. There remains a great deal unanswered in this book, however, and the 7th will surely need to be no smaller than an average encyclopedia. Somehow as I was reading this book, I felt that I was learning more and at a quicker rate than in Order of the Phoenix, but so many of Harry's problems and questions took so long to reach any sort of answer or resolution that I still ended up not knowing many of the secrets I expected to be revealed in this book. It must be that Rowling, in her grand scheme, is saving much for the last book. One thing seems to be for certain, though, and that is that Rowling will never lose that special touch, that supreme and genuine interest in the story and its characters that makes the writing so engrossing. After completing this book, I was in a state of total shock and to this moment I wish only to read the seventh book.

Half-Blood Prince is dark; I mean far darker than the last. This is the time I have always known was inevitable in the Harry Potter world, at last we are seeing chaos and war and battles break out within the walls of Hogwarts itself. Several of the chapters are particularly well-written, with great suspense and imagery; an example would be the time Harry and Dumbledore spent in the cave. Relationships blossom in this book at last, including Harry suddenly falling in `love' with Ginny Weasley, Ron dating Lavender Brown, Pansy and Draco clearly going out, and some serious hinting at a possible romance between Ron and Hermione when he gets rid of Lavender. Some of the focus on their teenage jealousies and squabbles, and their newfound interest in dating and `snogging,' was a cute touch, but admittedly not what I was exactly looking for. After all, it was more fluff than anything else, and certainly none of it was real love. Then, the useless couple of Tonks and Lupin was introduced in the end; all well and good, I suppose, but again not something that overjoyed me. The end of the book is very sad indeed, yet, I was not crying--I was merely shocked, flabbergasted at the circumstances. A Snapeless, Dumbledoreless Hogwarts that Harry Potter is not intending to return to next year? Yes, you heard right. Harry wants to go off and find all of Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes and face the final battle on his own.

Much of the book is devoted to Harry witnessing important memories in the Pensieve with Dumbledore so that he can gain a greater understanding of his enemy, the Dark Lord. Now, I have long been a fan of Severus Snape. I admit I love him. Most of my reasons for loving Harry Potter center on him. And while much was learned about him in this book, much is still unknown, and what we do now know is shocking. To begin with, we learn the names of his parents, muggle Tobias Snape and witch Eileen Prince (yes, Snape is the Half-Blood Prince.) It is also known that Snape overheard the prophecy regarding Harry & Voldemort and told the Dark Lord about it; however, supposedly he showed enough remorse after Voldemort used the information to kill Harry's parents that Dumbledore forgave and entrusted him. Many are accusing Dumbledore of naivety for this, but I believe that they are only looking at what is plainly on the surface of this book and forgetting many things. I will explain later why, amazing as it may seem, my love for and faith in Snape remain unshaken despite the fact that this book, from its beginning, seems to be saying that he is still on Voldemort's side. I believe it's too simple for Rowling to be writing that he is, after all, evil. To me it seems a set-up. Additionally, I was expecting a surprising reason for Dumbledore to trust Snape, not a simple apology. There must still be more to this than meets the eye.

Before I explain my case about Snape, I'll mention some of the things that remain a mystery after this book. Sev's patronus and greatest fear don't come up (in fact, while Tonks' patronus is revealed, Boggarts don't receive any mention.) Some interesting information is supposedly going to be divulged regarding both Lily and Petunia, but neither of them played much of a role in book 6.

So on to my favorite character, who ends up being the Prince mentioned in the title. When I first finished this book, I was somewhat upset because while I still loved Snape, I was aware that what he'd just done was not steering in the direction of redemption, as I had hoped to see him going. I also knew that, at least until some point in Book 7, almost everyone (in the books and in real life) would turn against Snape and regard him as a treacherous dog. Yet, after composing myself and reviewing what I'd read, I realized that I just cannot accept him as truly evil, or Dumbledore as an old fool.

Now, before reading this book, if I had to make a list of impossible things that could never happen...Snape killing the Headmaster and fleeing the school with a bunch of Death Eaters, would have been right at the top of the list. But, I'd have been wrong. I had a very strong feeling that Dumbledore would be the one to die in this book. But I never saw the way it happened coming. In the beginning of the story, Snape came in rather quickly. Once Harry was at school, Snape finally got the Defense Against the Dark Arts post he'd longed for. I was cheering. (Yes, he is no longer Potions Master.) But it turned out not to matter. In the second chapter, Narcissa Malfoy and her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, visit the home of Sev and he makes with Narcissa (possibly out of love) an Unbreakable Vow--that Snape will help her son Draco carry out a task ordered of him by Voldemort, and will complete it himself should Draco prove unable. The task, it seems in the end, was to kill Dumbledore. Draco does prove unable, and Snape carries it out. Yet, it cannot be this simple. Dumbledore may have been aware of the task, and the Vow. From the moment Dumbledore returns from the cave, weakened, having drunk an unknown potion set by Voldemort to guard a Horcrux, he says he needs Severus. He never says what for, never asks to be healed. When Snape arrives Dumbledore calls his name and says 'please' (pleading for his life, as everyone assumes, or something else?) before Snape aims the curse at him that kills him.

This seems twisted, monstrous, unforgivable, no? Exactly: No. Not in my opinion, at least. I do not think it was Snape's choice to kill Dumbledore, but that the Headmaster had at least one reason for telling him that he must do this horrible deed. Of course from Harry's perspective (Harry, who has inherited, as Lupin says, a prejudice against Sev) it was cold-blooded murder and betrayal and he now wants to destroy Snape as much as Voldemort. But this too is far too simple; clearly, as the book ends on this note, there are things Harry does not understand about what has happened.
He has forgotten, for instance, about the argument overheard by Hagrid, between Snape and Dumbledore. This point never was addressed again, yet amidst all the turmoil, who can blame it for being overlooked? Consider it. Dumbledore telling Snape he must do something that Snape does not wish to do. For several reasons I can think of (mainly involving the Death Eaters and the Malfoys), this argument connects directly to the death of Albus. And what of the mysterious order given Snape at the end of "Goblet of Fire," at which he turned pale? Clearly he is being asked to do things most difficult, to make great sacrifices; how can the most enigmatic person turn out to be clear-cut evil?
Read carefully and you'll see that Snape has hatred and revulsion etched into his face when he performs the fatal Avada Kedavra. I see these emotions not as directed at his target, which Harry naturally assumes, but stemming from the act he is about to commit. It never really occurs to Harry that Sev may have been feeling the same things he'd been feeling when he was bound by his promise to force-feed the convulsing Dumbledore, does it? Probably far worse.
Snape acts rather outrageously for the remainder of his time in the story, not shockingly, yet he refuses to allow any harm to come to Harry (clearly Dumbledore would've wanted that). He seems to be in pain and becomes furious at the mere suggestion that he is a coward--because he has just done the most difficult and least cowardly thing ever asked of him. Dumbledore has repeatedly stated that Harry's life is more important than his own, and that Harry understands less than he. And the facts remain that he has in the past done much good despite his suspicious nature, & that not everything he told Bellatrix about staying loyal to Voldemort can be true. My final point has to do with the words Dumbledore cried while drinking the potion in the cave. I don't know why, but I feel these words are important, and that after the escapade Dumbledore may have known the end was near.

Thus I rest my case. Avid Harry Potter readers will want to dive into this one, I'm certain, and those who haven't yet discovered it should do so. Only possible complaints? 1) Too short; 2) Not enough anticipated answers given, yet new questions raised, 3) Disturbing ending leaves you frustrated waiting for the next book.

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