feels. that's all i can say.

A este punto J.K. Rowling desbarata con fundamentos a quien sea que se haya atrevido a encasillar a la saga bajo el rótulo de infantil. Este libro no podría distar más de la fantasiosa y casi ingenua obra que nos permitió acercarnos por primera vez al mundo mágico. El misterio del principe es una novela oscura, profunda, que posee casi más elementos turbulentos y psicológicos que fantasiosos.

Dumbledore, reconociendo la madurez de Harry y lo inminente que resulta el enfrentamiento que vaticina aquella profecía que une su destino al de Voldemort, empieza a desvelarle -y desvelarnos- verdades que nos desarman por su agudeza. El pasado de Voldemort. Los horrocruxes. La misión que le aguarda a Harry.

En medio de estas revelaciones, también, nos topamos con el incesante misterio que le quita el sueño a nuestro protagonista acerca de las acciones de Draco. La autora decide proporcionarle más relevancia al adjudicarle una misión y darnos una vaga visión de su tormento. Pero no es el único personaje que nos inquieta. El principe mestizo, quien ayuda a Harry a destacar en pociones, también cobra un giro auténticamente mordaz al ser identificado como Snape y al resultar éste un mortifágo cortando, o al menos eso nos hacen creer, con el rol de doble agente.

El desenlace es perturbador. La muerte alcanza a un personaje sin el que la saga nos parecía inconcebible y sus consecuencias redefinen tanto el rumbo como la fuerza de las motivaciones de nuestro protagonista. La novela, que supo contener matices más ligeros aventurando a los personajes en la búsqueda del amor y la exploración de inquietudes típicas de la adolescencia, acaba imponiéndoles el peso de una misión que excede a su edad pero que coincide con la madurez que han alcanzado tras tantas insólitas batallas.

A un paso del final, la saga nunca resultó más compleja o fascinante.

These books are breaking me. I admit it. I'm addicted to a children's book series. So sue me.
This book isn't as action packed as the other books in the series. It tells more of the back story and it's when I saw Harry truly grow up. My heart is completely broken over this little story.
The only fault I could give this book is that it doesn't have as much of my boyfriends George and Fred as the other books. So I'll just add them here.
n  n

Really people if you are one of those and yes I was one..that had only seen the movies. Run don't walk and get these books.

Well I decided to come back and actually put in a review for this book since all I'd done is give it a star and go on my merry little way.

Hated this book. Flat out, this book was the worst of the whole seven-book series.

I bought HBP the day it was released and I was very excited to read something new in the series. To my shock, I couldn't believe how bad the story was. Something happened to JKR's editor. I think perhaps foul play was involved because apparently the editor was completely absent. Someone forgot to tell Jo that her book kinda (no actually "really really") sucked.

I'm not speaking from a shipping aspect because in the grand scheme of things I don't care who ends up with who. But it was the writing that made baby Jesus cry. The complete and utter abysmal writing. The rate of revelation in this book was appalling. The plot basically sucked and the use of flashback was overdone. The ENTIRE book was a "tell" and not a "show". Cardinal rule of writing. SHOW DON'T TELL.

JKR should have gotten some writing lessons before she wrote this one. Someone should have told her on the rough draft read-through that this was bad. Someone should have forced her to stay away from schmoopy romance because GAG.

What a complete stinker.

***************

02/22/12 - four-ish years later and although I still dislike this book, my opinion has mellowed. It's an amazing series, but this is my least favourite. I'm not editing the review as my opinion four years ago is still just as valid.

carry on

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
4 out of 5 stars to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the 6th book in the Young Adult Fantasy series written in 2005 by J.K. Rowling. Although I could go on and on about this book, there are so many other reviews and reviewers who are likely to have a better one simply because they wrote it write after reading the book or watching the movie. I read it close to ten years ago, saw the movie at least 5 years ago, and though I would love to re-read them... my TBR pile is way too high. That said... it's a fantastic series full of wild imagination, great beauty and intricate sentiment. In this book, Harry must connect with the past and his dark side, trying to figure out who this half-blood prince is... and when he finds out, everything is different. The book is about relationships... discovering things about yourself and others that you didn't know. And when someone Harry absolutely adores is murdered right in front of him, and it's connected with the half-blood prince, it sends Harry on a downward spiral, out of control, but necessary for him to find the inner strength to fight Lord Voldemort. I can't even begin to write a review for this book... let's just go get some coffee or a drink and talk about it. It requires us having an animated conversation... right?

n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

i dont want to talk to anyone
dont even look at me
i was expecting it and i still cried for like 30 minutes

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

“I am a wizard, not a baboon or a transphobe.”
- Not JKR

Mermaids UK

The Trevor Project

Black Visions Collective because Black trans lives matter.

2024: Goodreads had lost some of my read dates of this book but that’s ok. I’ve read it too many times to count. This time around, I claimed I would get through Order of the Phoenix, which is extremely hard for me. I made it through page 250 and stopped. I asked a few friends and one poignantly noted that in many ways Umbrage is worse than Voldemort, and that made all the sense in the world. I am a teacher. I would not be in the profession if I did not thoroughly enjoy being around teenagers. Umbrage told lies and had Harry tattoo her words into his arm with his own blood. Right before this infamous detention, I stopped. I know sadly what occurs at the end and just could not bring myself to read it. So on to the Half Blood Prince, what I call the calm before the storm book.

This time around I gleaned much from an adult perspective, including the Chosen One moniker. Until Harry, Star Wars was my preferred good vs evil saga, and the original movies still hold rank in my heart. The Chosen One who can bring balance to the force, and here Harry is supposed to bring peace to the wizard of community, a tall order for a sixteen year old. Dumbledore believes in him, which makes the ending that much harder to take it. I think as a middle aged adult it’s harder for me to digest all the deaths in these books. I am fortunate (knock on wood) to have my parents in good health, but not all of my friends do at this stage. No need to be exposed to more death- I am not a young adult who needs a jolt of death to know what the real world is, I’ve been living in the real world for more than half of my life at this point. So Harry, Dumbledore’s Army, and the Order of the Phoenix march on in what is truly a book of gathering information, teenaged pangs of love, and a gathering storm of war. As usual, I finished in a day and a half, a necessity following the abhorrence that is Dolores Umbrage in book 5.


2020: School is out for the summer! The last day of school is usually a bittersweet occasion as I look back and see my kids growing up right before my eyes. With the year winding down on top of everything else in the world right now, I found myself overwhelmed and at a loss for what to read next. Then I remembered that in Retro Chapter Chicks we are reading Harry Potter this year, each at our own pace. For better or for worse, Harry and his magical world has been a part of my reading for my entire adult life. When I find myself entering a reading rut or when life gets busy, Harry has been there to offer an escape. An escape into magic is exactly what I needed even with the series growing darker as it nears its completion. Yet, Harry’s problems are not my own, so I return to Hogwarts to get away from the grim realities of life.

Harry Potter has turned sixteen and about to enter the sixth year of his magical education. After battling Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic, the Ministry believes Dumbledore once again and order has been restored in the magical world, at least on the surface. Harry is now “the chosen one,” the one destined to defeat Voldemort once and for all, and the magical world has put its faith in Harry that he can carry the day. That is quite a burden to handle for a sixteen year old who is left without a family once again, his beloved g-dfather Sirius falling in the battle at the ministry. Harry is still in school as well, beginning advanced magical study in his quest to become an auror and having been named Quidditch captain to boot. Dumbledore has told Harry to rely on his two closest friends to get through the task at hand, yet even that is a tall order with teenaged hormones raging at Hogwarts. Defeating Voldemort is as paramount as ever, so Dumbledore takes it upon himself to further Harry’s education and give him the tools to win the battle once and for all.

I have always viewed the Half Blood Prince as the call before the storm. Fred and George’s joke shop is standing room only as all wizards look to get a few laughs to escape the grim realities of their own life. Before stepping foot in the joke shop, Harry assists Dumbledore in persuading Professor Horace Slughorn to come out of retirement to teach potions. Slughorn has the ability to transfigure into a sofa and has a penchant for candied pineapple and mulled mead, which he collects from his prized former pupils, known as The Slug Club. One of these students was none other than Harry’s mother Lily Evans, the best potioneer that Slughorn has taught. Harry is primed to be the star attraction of Slughorn’s new Slug Club; despite once being head of Slytherin house and a favorite professor of many current death eaters, Slughorn begrudgingly agrees to return to Hogwarts. His presence lightens the mood in the castle immensely, as Rowling focuses on his lessons at the expense of most others, even though other subjects are equally important. Slughorn introduces his students to love potions, legal brewing of the poly juice potion, and the golden Felix Felicis, a potion that will give the drinker good luck for an entire day. With Slughorn teaching potions instead of Snape, Harry excels in the subject for the first time in his life, propelling him toward his career as an auror.

Love plays a large role here, Voldemort overlooking it’s importance and students as well as peripheral characters enjoying varying degrees of romance. Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour are engaged to be married, much to chagrin of all the Weasleys. Ron and Hermoine’s feelings for each change daily; knowing how things end up, it is both comical and frustrating to witness how both of them date other people just to aggravate each other. And knowing how things end up, I still much prefer Hermoine and Crumb and Ron with perhaps someone who has not been introduced yet. From book one it was obvious that Ginny and Harry would end up together, and this story arc is in full effect here. Harry, however, does not have much time to act on his feelings as he is too busy trying to save the world. Ginny notes that that is what she loves about him although additional tender moments would have furthered the storyline. The volatile nature of teenaged love shows that nothing is set in stone, setting the stage for a grand finish later.

In addition to the love and learning, Dumbledore takes Harry on a trip down pensieve memory lane to try to find out as much about Voldemort as possible prior to doing battle. Other than the memories, Voldemort does not make an appearance in the book. He is biding his time, waiting for Dumbledore’s army to make the first move. Rowling would rather treat her readers to teenage life - dating, studying for NEWTs, apparition lessons, quidditch- than the impending fight against evil. Careful readers know that Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, and we meet his mother, uncle, and grandfather here. They indeed place importance on the purity of blood and hold true to Slytherin’s heirlooms; Voldemort himself inherited the penchant to place the upmost importance on trophies linking him to the past. Being raised in an orphanage, he lost the ability to love at a young age and entered Hogwarts a broken person. Although he and Harry both view Hogwarts as their true home after growing up without parents, it is there were their paths diverge, as Dumbledore has reminded Harry that choices are more valued than abilities. Harry with the unlimited propensity to love all creatures is on display here to the point where he even feels sorry for a youthful Lord Voldemort. It is love which carries this book that Voldemort has overlooked in his quest toward wizard world domination. It is the same love that Harry and his friends will undoubtedly use to defeat the dark lord.

Series changing revelations occur as the book draws to an end, both whose repercussions will be felt in the series’ final installment. Harry Potter provided me with an escape once again. Even though I knew what was coming, I could not resist the urge to read the last four hundred pages in one long day of reading. For me nothing replaces the feeling of immersing myself in a book rather than taking the time to savor it. I have my summer reading list planned out in earnest and it includes one last trip to Harry’s magical world. For the few days I spend reading it, Harry will provide me with a respite relief from the world around me, which is the best I can ask of from a book.

5 + stars all time favorite
✨

Why are the realy hard parts always in the end , my fragile heart is broken

alternate title - Voldemort: A History

Seriously though, this is by far one of my favorite books in the Harry Potter series. It's probably #3 out of the seven books.

I enjoyed it so much because it was so info-dumpy. Now, info-dumpy books can be enjoyable if they're written well (this one was). I think the reason I, and many others, wasn't bored with this book is because, in spite of the fact that most of it was backstory, there was still a main plot and a main mystery that each Harry Potter book always features.

I also love that Dumbledore is so up close and personal in this book because as a I reader I look up to Dumbledore and Harry looks up to him to and there is just so much heartwarming looking upping.

There is one thing I want to note. If you've read the book (or if you know anything about Harry Potter) you know what I'm talking about. I am so sad. It hurts to read that scene and it hurts to think about it. much sad.

Overall, this book was very informative and, although some may not enjoy it as much as the others, it is definitely worth a read.

➵ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - ★★★★☆
➵ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - ★★★★★
➵ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - ★★★★☆
➵ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - ★★★★☆
➵ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoneix - ★★★★★
➵ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - ★★★★★
➵ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow - ★★★★★

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I started reading this series over 10 years ago, and for some reason after the fifth book I just stopped. My literary interests were diverse, still are, and I needed to give Harry Potter a short rest. Five years later I've come back to finish the story. This book, number 6, is one of my favorite, probably second to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. A lot going on in this book and some big changes at the end. Of course everyone in the world knows the end of the story by now, even me, although I've still to read the final book. I'll look forward to doing that soon. I know most Harry Potter enthusiasts have reread these books several times--maybe someday I will too.