Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is enormous fun to read, if you’re old enough. If you’re ten years old and have just devoured the first Harry Potter book, do what everyone else around the world did and wait a year in between books—and movies, too. This is not a children’s book, but instead a young adult book, and it’s not appropriate for children to read. There’s violence, torture, death, and many emotions younger readers aren’t equipped to handle. I didn’t read it until a couple of months before the corresponding movie was released—it was a tradition in my household for my dad to read the books aloud before going to the movie theaters—and even I was a bit unsettled by the adult themes. After all, you’ll always associate Harry and his friends as ten-year-olds, so you won’t want bad things happen to them.
Sometimes I’ve criticized J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world when she introduces new events, objects, and spells, with the complaint that they don’t make sense or seem like filler in an already gigantic book. In this sixth volume, I have no complaints. There are tons of new information taught to the readers, and the new pathways the heroes take are interesting, complex, and mostly make sense in the grand scheme of things. New characters are introduced, like the interesting and realistic teacher who picks favorites among his students and hold secrets from the past.
The first chapter in this sixth novel ranks among my favorite in the entire series, and I knew without a doubt when reading it that it would be cut from the film adaptation. It’s a filler chapter, the required recap that occurs in all books that are in a series, but the way J.K. Rowling filled her readers in on the past five books was very clever and funny. The book starts in the office of England’s Prime Minister, and he has a meeting with the Minister of Magic. It’s a very funny scene, with the Minister of Magic explaining that there’s another segment of the population who uses magic, and the Prime Minister struggles to understand and believe. Through the course of the chapter, the former explains all the major events in the past five books to a very astonished Prime Minister. Of course, this would all take far too long to portray in the movie version, so I knew to treasure it on the page.
In addition to the new characters and plot points, there is also quite a bit of character development into the existing characters readers have invested their time getting to know. Ron gets a girlfriend and doesn’t treat her very nicely, talking about her behind her back and complaining. Draco experiences peer pressure and fears his transition into adulthood. Harry and Professor Dumbledore share a unique bonding experience. This book is definitely heavy and won’t put you in a good mood after you finish, but if you’ve become emotional involved with this series, you’ll be able to appreciate a good portion of this book.
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 2009's film adaptation here!
More Harry Potter book reviews here on Hot Toasty Rag!
Sometimes I’ve criticized J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world when she introduces new events, objects, and spells, with the complaint that they don’t make sense or seem like filler in an already gigantic book. In this sixth volume, I have no complaints. There are tons of new information taught to the readers, and the new pathways the heroes take are interesting, complex, and mostly make sense in the grand scheme of things. New characters are introduced, like the interesting and realistic teacher who picks favorites among his students and hold secrets from the past.
The first chapter in this sixth novel ranks among my favorite in the entire series, and I knew without a doubt when reading it that it would be cut from the film adaptation. It’s a filler chapter, the required recap that occurs in all books that are in a series, but the way J.K. Rowling filled her readers in on the past five books was very clever and funny. The book starts in the office of England’s Prime Minister, and he has a meeting with the Minister of Magic. It’s a very funny scene, with the Minister of Magic explaining that there’s another segment of the population who uses magic, and the Prime Minister struggles to understand and believe. Through the course of the chapter, the former explains all the major events in the past five books to a very astonished Prime Minister. Of course, this would all take far too long to portray in the movie version, so I knew to treasure it on the page.
In addition to the new characters and plot points, there is also quite a bit of character development into the existing characters readers have invested their time getting to know. Ron gets a girlfriend and doesn’t treat her very nicely, talking about her behind her back and complaining. Draco experiences peer pressure and fears his transition into adulthood. Harry and Professor Dumbledore share a unique bonding experience. This book is definitely heavy and won’t put you in a good mood after you finish, but if you’ve become emotional involved with this series, you’ll be able to appreciate a good portion of this book.
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 2009's film adaptation here!
More Harry Potter book reviews here on Hot Toasty Rag!