J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review

Overall Rating

The fact that we finally get the canon on book 6 and all the couples!!!
All the tense romance! (though that is also a bad point:P), and trying to figure out the usual "who could this be?" and "who could have done this?"

*in a very small voice*... gushy romance, though I do love it really, it just surprised me the way it was done. The lack of a REAL STRONG mystery story involved in it. Oh, and the unexpected twists at the very end which made me cry. A lot.

***WARNING*** THERE ARE TOO MANY ***SPOILERS*** IN THIS REVIEW TO COUNT, BUT I JUST LOVE DETAILS. If you have read the book though, proceed. (And I suppose you have, if you're reading these reviews).

I completely agree with squonk (other HBP reviewer). Both on his/her opinions on the books (except for the fact that I WOULDN'T recommend you NOT to buy it; it wasn't BAD, even if it didn't actually fit my huge expectations) and his/her ranking of which book she/he thinks is the best.

Though I've waited for all the restrained romance of the Harry Potter series to finally blossom, and while HBP does, it lacks the (for me) thrilling and exciting storyline with all the interlinked mysteries that are finally solved (I especially love that tiny, little insignificant details or characters have so much to say for the pieces of the puzzle to form a clear picture of the mystery solved), mostly by luck or accident (though of course also some brains, good guesses and quick thinking). I know there's the suspicion of Malfoy being a death eater and Harry wondering what he's up to, as well as the identity of the Half-Blood Prince, and how that poison found its way to Slughorn's wine bottle, not to mention Dumbledore's lessons with Harry, but I can't help but still miss the nightly wanderings and heart-stopping experiences and mysteries that I love in the other books of the series. Even worse (and I hate to admit this!), the romantic scenes I LOVED! But... to me, some scenes, especially the Harry and Ginny finally becoming a couple one), seemed almost like fan fiction. Now I know it sounds ludicrous, and I was almost dreading admitting this to my friend, but when I did, she agreed and said she thought the whole BOOK seemed fan fictiony. Now, I wouldn't go as far as that, and it might just be that me and my friend have had an overload of HP fan fiction over the years, but I'm sorry to say that's my opinion. I do love all romance in general, but J.K Rowling usually has this way of making anything like that either just perfect or humours or... wrong (when it's supposed to be, mind; Draco and Pansy...eew), but this just didn't seem authentic enough. To my defence I'll conclude with that apparently fan fiction overload = bad judgement? I dunno. At the very least it probably clouds your judgement and/or makes you expect something completely different than what actually happens in canon.

There's also the fact that being such a successful writer as J.K.R is, it must be extremely difficult to live up to the exceeding expectations of fans worldwide, while living on a deadline (and though it's a loose one, fans to expect it to take less than four years; not that I'm saying that any of her books ever did, though book 7 will definitely be a challenge to perfect, I think) while juggling family life, making up another extreme mystery after another, with all these little things interlinked must be extremely difficult in the long run. And I suppose J. K. R wanted (like me) to actually DO something about all the tense love-attraction in the air of the previous books, which is brilliant, but different I suppose. Which is why I suppose some fans prefer the other books.

Members' Comments onNemi's Review

• stevewebb on 3rd Jul 2006

  It's just a book dude. chill out. I think you need to get a hobby. Or a girlfriend!!!!!!!!!!!