Why don't you two just grow up???? (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling)

Name: sandemp

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
Date:	19/07/05 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: | Compelling read | Reasonable story progression | Strongest in series

Disadvantages: Little action | A little too much dependence on reading previous books

Ok, I gave into media pressure and bought this book, well I’ve read the five previous books in the series, so I couldn’t really not read this one could I? Normally, I wait for my favourite books to appear in paperback format, as they’re normally so much cheaper, and I’m sitting here wondering why I gave in to all the hype and actually bought this book less than a week after it went on sale. I guess it was because I really wanted to know if it was a good (or bad) as the reviews suggested, and anyway it’s nice to have hardback books, they last so much longer (even if they do take up more room on the bookshelf). Now the question is, what do I think about the book? Well I’ve read it twice, so I should be able to give you at least a little insight….

For those of you that have been living under a stone for the last few years, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince is the sixth in a series of books chronicling the adventures of schoolboy wizard Harry, his friends, their school lives and their battles with the dark wizard Voldemort. Each book has focussed on one school year (and one major battle) and as such we’ve watched many of the characters grow from fresh-faced eleven year old first years into the slightly more mature sixteen years olds that they’ve become at the beginning of the book.

This story picks up several weeks after the previous book’s (The Order Of The Phoenix) dramatic conclusion and Harry is coping remarkably well with the aftermath of that adventure. As the “boy who lived” he is still as famous as ever, not least due to the fact that he survived a murderous attack by Voldemort as a baby. This unsuccessful attack had led to Voldemort being stripped of his powers, and for a long time much of the wizard community wanted to believe he was dead……

After the events of the previous book, Harry seems to have grown up a little and in many ways behaves like a typical sixteen year old boy, who has raging hormones and girls to deal with. His best friends Ron and Hermione seem to spend half the book not talking to each other (again) and I must admit this did annoy me a bit, in fact I felt like telling them to grow up. I’d love to be able to say that the characters were furthered developed in this book, but I’m afraid I really didn’t think they were.

As far as the actual storyline goes, it was fairly disappointing, to say that the action was slow would be like saying the north pole is a bit chilly. In fact by the time I got half way through the book I was starting wonder if anything was ever going to happen and was thinking about giving up. It’s a good job the actual writing style is so compelling, otherwise I might never have got to the “good” bits.

It would be difficult for me to give very much detail about the plot without either giving the endings of the previous books away or indeed ruining this book for you. But my impression was that rather than being packed with adventure after adventure, this book seems to be focussed on setting the scene for the final book in the series. Through a series of events and personal lessons we learn a lot more about Voldemort’s school years, his path into the dark arts and that not all the characters are as clear-cut as we had previously thought. Unfortunately due to someone having slipped and told me about the ending, I can’t say I was entirely surprised, but it was very well written and it did leave me gagging to read the final instalment, so that I could find out what happens next. Shame I’ve got to wait another two years before I can actually do that.

Now you may think that at 607 pages this is a rather long book, but I’d have to disagree. There may be a lot of pages, but the print is rather large and I finished the book in about six hours (all told), although I will admit I am a prolific and fast reader, so it would probably take the majority of people somewhat longer to complete. Age wise, I would say this particular chapter is more suited to those who have hit their teens, at the very least. That’s not to say that there’s anything that is not suitable for younger children, swear words (and gestures) are only hinted at, and the closest the book gets to sex is a bit of snogging (and even that is in a light-hearted way). In fact the only reason I’m suggesting the older age group, is that the book requires a little more thinking about the plot and events than the previous ones have.

Let’s be honest, this is no Lord of The Rings, it’s not going to be hailed as an adult classic in years to come, but I do think it will be remembered in the same way as such children’s classics as Enid Blyton’s school books. And indeed that is how I personally view the books, a school series, with a magical twist. However, by including both strong male and female characters, Rowling has increased her reader base, as both boys and girl’s will enjoy these books, and the addition of fantasy has also drawn those of us that are a little older into her web. Something I always look for in a book, is the re-readability factor, I don’t appreciate spending my hard earned dosh on a book that I can only read once. As I’ve already said, I have read the book twice in the last two days, but to be honest I didn’t actually gain that much from the second read and think I may need to leave it at least a few months before trying to read it again.

Ultimately this is a very well-written book, that once you’ve started, compels you to continue reading. It is, however, probably not the best place to start your excursions into Harry’s world, there is just a little too much assumption that you have read the previous books. But if you have read the other books, then I’m amazed you even need to read this review, as I’m sure you already have (or are planning to have) this book in your collection. So if you’re wavering on making this purchase, and already own (or have read) the previous books then go and buy this, the strongest of the series, now.

---Other Info---

Available in two versions (only difference is the dustcover)

ISBN: 0747581088 (Children’s)/ 074758110X (Adult’s)
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Hardcover 607 pages

Price : £8.99 from Amazon (although I’ve seen it as cheap as £7.99 at Asda) or join the queue and borrow it from your library for free

Summary: Best Potter book so far....