A review by lovelymisanthrope
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.5
I was soooooooooo excited to dive back into Hogwarts and continue to read about the fight against Lord Voldemort. The audiobooks for this entire series are impeccably crafted, and I never want to finish this series.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" picks up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione back at Hogwarts for their sixth year. They may be older, wiser, and more prepared than ever to take on Voldemort, but they are still just a group of kids, trying to figure out their place in the world. Dumbledore is very absent at Hogwarts in this book, but he is very present in the story. Dumbledore is trying to prepare Harry to face Voldemort by showing him more about Voldemort's elusive past.
I really enjoyed seeing the gang pursue their crushes more, and finally be honest about who they really want to be with. It has been really fun knowing who ends up with who and trying to see the breadcrumbs left throughout the stories. It was also very enlightening to learn more about Voldemort and better understand his path to darkness. Voldemort was a misunderstood boy who learned of hate before he ever had love. Despite Dumbledore's best efforts and good influence, Voldemort succumbed to his dark, murderous thoughts and is endlessly pursuing taking over the wizarding world in his image. This is the first book we start to see cracks in Dumbledore. I feel like up until now Dumbledore has been held on a pedestal and idolized by most wizards, but we are finally seeing that Dumbledore is only human and he does make mistakes. It was really devastating having Harry try to grapple with the loss of Sirius. Sirius might be what I consider the most heartbreaking death in the series.
I do not want to leave Hogwarts, but I am so excited to see the conclusion of such an epic series!
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" picks up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione back at Hogwarts for their sixth year. They may be older, wiser, and more prepared than ever to take on Voldemort, but they are still just a group of kids, trying to figure out their place in the world. Dumbledore is very absent at Hogwarts in this book, but he is very present in the story. Dumbledore is trying to prepare Harry to face Voldemort by showing him more about Voldemort's elusive past.
Spoiler
Spoiler
I do not want to leave Hogwarts, but I am so excited to see the conclusion of such an epic series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Classism