A review by friendshipbravery
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

5.0

I really have to give this book a 5/5 stars too (I'm writing this review after Deathly Hallows because I could not stop reading once I had the finale in my hand) and the one thing that really stuck out to me is the parallels between Harry, Snape, and Voldemort, as well as Draco's character. I feel like I see more regret in the movies than in the books on Draco. In this book, there are very distinct moments of vulnerability, but moments of cruelty and fright. At the end, when Dumbledore talks to Draco and convinces to lower his wand a fraction, I found the script in the movie a lot more moving. (I haven't watched the movie for reference again, but I will tonight). And I wish we got more of Snape as a DADA teacher! There are only about two references of him as a teacher and Harry seems to conveniently forget that Snape achieved his dream of being a DADA teacher and narrate his classes. However, these are all minor complaints. I love the arguments between Harry and Dumbledore concerning Snape because in the next book, we can see that Snape has those same arguments with Dumbledore about Harry (the parallelism, again), the theme of the story really changes when they go get the Horcrux and fail to find the real one; and Dumbledore's death was incredibly tragic, I was on the verge of tears multiple times. This book really captures the essence of a "cold war" vibe and portrays that gravity as well as loss so accurately. I could feel it through the book, through every word. Props to Rowling, yet again, for this masterpiece, and cheers to the Half-Blood Prince.