kayliec735's review against another edition
5.0
It was so fun to read this again! I was supposed to do a Harry Potter movie marathon this summer with my friend (we did a Marvel movie marathon that went well last year), but it went hilariously wrong, we got through barely 2 of them before running out of time and giving up (it was still fun though).
I’m actually decently upset because I had this whole draft of things to say about this book and then it got deleted because I restarted my computer. Actually it wasn’t things to say about the book, it was about my experience with the book, and not even that it was just background to my experience with the book. But what else is new. None of my reviews are reviews.
Ok it’s okay I’m sure I can recreate it.
So we had this movie marathon but it didn’t work out, and it got to about a week before I had to leave for college, and I just accepted that this marathon wasn’t going to finish but I still wanted to finish what we started, I was already like into it. So I decided to watch the rest of the movies before leaving on the TV because the movies were no longer streaming on anything so I had to use our DVDs, without wasting any moments to hang out with family or friends, since I was leaving so soon. I actually ended up getting up to the penultimate movie, the first Deathly Hallows one (though I slept through parts of it and Order of the Phoenix). After watching the sixth one though, I wanted to go back and read my favorite parts of this book, so I did. The initial plan was just to skip around to certain parts I liked, but it ended up being me just reading it straight. I didn’t finish it during my time at home, so Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was the ONE BOOK I brought to my second year of college with me. I read it every once in a while, and then not at all, and then often, most of the time right before bed and falling asleep while reading. I finally finished it over the weekend of Halloween (“Halloweekend” according to the college folk) when I got sick on the Saturday, then woke up on Sunday with congestion and a sore throat, which, in addition to not having midterms the following week to study for, allowed me to sit down on the tiny white rug we have in our room and read it. (My bed was taken by my clothes drying since I had washed them but not dried them).
Actually, never mind, I don’t have much to say about this book or even the experience of reading it. I was talking to my friend after finishing it because I wanted something else to read and I knew he had a full bookshelf in his apartment. He turned out to have pretty much only children’s books similar to Harry Potter but I wasn’t interested, which launched into a conversation about how whether these children’s books are actually good and can be enjoyed if read at a later age for the first time, or if they’re only good at this age because they are nostalgic. I will never be unbiased about Harry Potter. I adore it and it gives me so much joy. I can’t express to you how FUN it was to read this book. I haven’t read or reread a book that was necessarily enjoyable in the same way, usually they’re interesting or eye-opening, but they’re not always enjoyable. And even if they are, it’s not quite the same as being immersed into this perfect beautiful wonderful magical world of Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest and Potions class and Harry and Ron and Hermione and friendship and Quidditch ugh it’s so lovely.
I remember when I read this series all the way through at once, this book stood out. Some of the fun comes from their being teenagers and experiencing high school kind of drama, the fun parts of being young juxtaposed with the horrors those students had to face at the time. You get to see them experience those kinds of things, which isn’t quite the same in any of the other books.
I don’t know what else to say. I told my roommate I’m working on an assignment right now. We’re having this little dinner party that should be fun, I’m all dressed up as a joke but it’s fun.
I’m actually decently upset because I had this whole draft of things to say about this book and then it got deleted because I restarted my computer. Actually it wasn’t things to say about the book, it was about my experience with the book, and not even that it was just background to my experience with the book. But what else is new. None of my reviews are reviews.
Ok it’s okay I’m sure I can recreate it.
So we had this movie marathon but it didn’t work out, and it got to about a week before I had to leave for college, and I just accepted that this marathon wasn’t going to finish but I still wanted to finish what we started, I was already like into it. So I decided to watch the rest of the movies before leaving on the TV because the movies were no longer streaming on anything so I had to use our DVDs, without wasting any moments to hang out with family or friends, since I was leaving so soon. I actually ended up getting up to the penultimate movie, the first Deathly Hallows one (though I slept through parts of it and Order of the Phoenix). After watching the sixth one though, I wanted to go back and read my favorite parts of this book, so I did. The initial plan was just to skip around to certain parts I liked, but it ended up being me just reading it straight. I didn’t finish it during my time at home, so Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was the ONE BOOK I brought to my second year of college with me. I read it every once in a while, and then not at all, and then often, most of the time right before bed and falling asleep while reading. I finally finished it over the weekend of Halloween (“Halloweekend” according to the college folk) when I got sick on the Saturday, then woke up on Sunday with congestion and a sore throat, which, in addition to not having midterms the following week to study for, allowed me to sit down on the tiny white rug we have in our room and read it. (My bed was taken by my clothes drying since I had washed them but not dried them).
Actually, never mind, I don’t have much to say about this book or even the experience of reading it. I was talking to my friend after finishing it because I wanted something else to read and I knew he had a full bookshelf in his apartment. He turned out to have pretty much only children’s books similar to Harry Potter but I wasn’t interested, which launched into a conversation about how whether these children’s books are actually good and can be enjoyed if read at a later age for the first time, or if they’re only good at this age because they are nostalgic. I will never be unbiased about Harry Potter. I adore it and it gives me so much joy. I can’t express to you how FUN it was to read this book. I haven’t read or reread a book that was necessarily enjoyable in the same way, usually they’re interesting or eye-opening, but they’re not always enjoyable. And even if they are, it’s not quite the same as being immersed into this perfect beautiful wonderful magical world of Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest and Potions class and Harry and Ron and Hermione and friendship and Quidditch ugh it’s so lovely.
I remember when I read this series all the way through at once, this book stood out. Some of the fun comes from their being teenagers and experiencing high school kind of drama, the fun parts of being young juxtaposed with the horrors those students had to face at the time. You get to see them experience those kinds of things, which isn’t quite the same in any of the other books.
I don’t know what else to say. I told my roommate I’m working on an assignment right now. We’re having this little dinner party that should be fun, I’m all dressed up as a joke but it’s fun.
iambooktrovert's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
bexrex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
vcchen6's review against another edition
4.5
Re-read this! It made me feel like a kid again (an increasingly rare feeling to come across)
alexblackreads's review against another edition
5.0
At this point what is there to even say? It's Harry Potter. Jim Dale is a really engaging narrator and I'm looking forward to finishing off this reread soon.
***
I found it surprising how little happens for most of the book but still how engaging I found it. It was one that I never wanted to put down and I flew through the long sections of teenage drama and angst. There's definitely less magic and action than most of the other books in the series, but so much character development and buildup for the final showdown. Although, I still found the climax very exciting, I think as an adult there's a lot of telling about what happened and we don't exactly get to see most of it. Of the three later books, this is probably my least favorite, but I still adored it.
***
I found it surprising how little happens for most of the book but still how engaging I found it. It was one that I never wanted to put down and I flew through the long sections of teenage drama and angst. There's definitely less magic and action than most of the other books in the series, but so much character development and buildup for the final showdown. Although, I still found the climax very exciting, I think as an adult there's a lot of telling about what happened and we don't exactly get to see most of it. Of the three later books, this is probably my least favorite, but I still adored it.
amine2780's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A well written continuation of the story preparing for the final book.
222veronika222's review against another edition
3.75
Najmenej obľúbený film aj kniha taketo vysoke hodnotenie davam len za to ze nemôžem hateovat harryho pottera
ittybittyninja12's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mahjabeen_alam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5