I'm pretty sure the universe only exists so the Harry Potter series could be written.

JUST WHEN YOU THINK THE PAIN CANT GET ANY WORSE

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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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.

⭐5 stars⭐

n  "Do you remember me telling you we are practicing non-verbal spells, Potter?"

"Yes," said Harry stiffly.

"Yes, sir."

"There's no need to call me "sir" Professor."n

I will never not laugh at this.

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.

If snape hadn’t killed Dumbledore I would have killed him myself

(A) 86% | Extraordinary
Notes: A relationshippy respite, it’s Sturm und Drang defogging: all lovesick woe, observing foes, and problematic snogging.

*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:

Progress updates:

06/24/2020 - 3%

(1) The Muggle Prime Minister would have been John Major.
- No wonder he lost the 1997 election in a landslide.
- Likely fictional, though, as Major wasn't elected to power, and his predecessor wasn't male.
(2) Fudge: "Is a man alive if he can't be killed? I don't really understand it, and Dumbledore won't explain properly."
- Well, horcruxes are forbidden knowledge.

06/25/2020 - 6%

(1) "A threadbare sofa, an old armchair, and a rickety table stood grouped together in a pool of dim light cast by a candle-filled lamp."
- How vampire-chic.
- Snape's house could use a woman's touch.
(2) "In her fury [Bellatrix] looked slightly mad."
- I guess she's always in her "fury" then.
(3) I never hear of wizard divorces... perhaps they make unbreakable vows?

06/26/2020 - 9%

(1) "Rufus Scrimgeour ... has succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic. The appointment has largely been greeted with enthusiasm."
- Appointment? By who? There doesn't appear to be any wizarding monarch or anything.
(2) J.K. Rowling does love giving animal descriptions to antagonists: Scrimgeour is "lionlike," Petunia has a "horsey face," Vernon has "piggy eyes," etc.

06/27/2020 - 13%

(1) We're introduced to the idea of inferi, which are essentially zombies. The lack of a full-blown zombie chase is one of the series' big missed opportunities.
(2) "The wandlight sparkled on [Slughorn's] shiny pate, his prominent eyes, his enormous, silver, walruslike mustache ..."
- Again with the animal descriptors.
(3) Gwenog Jones must be the Welshest name ever.

06/28/2020 - 17%

Harry and Ginny be like, "I shouldn't have been so happy about that hug."

(1) Two weeks since last book and Hermione's already at the Burrow when Harry arrives? Poor Hermione's parents.
(2) "Hermione flashed a warning look at Ron, and Ron changed tack at top speed."
- Already giving each other married couple signals.
(3) Hermione: "I know I failed everything!"

06/29/2020 - 20%

(1) Fred to Ginny: "Moving through boyfriends a bit fast, aren't you?"
- Well, one per year's not so fast. Though, compared to the other Weasleys, I suppose.
(2) '"Our Decoy Detonators are just walking off the shelves, look," said Fred, pointing at a number of weird-looking black hooter-type objects.'
- I presume "hooter" means something different in British English.

06/30/2020 - 23%

(1) '"She has let 'erself go, zat Tonks," Fleur mused.'
- Sounds like Fleur's finally cottoned onto Molly and Ginny's cunning plan to get Bill to dump her for Tonks.
(2) In the books, Luna's Spectrespecs are a kind of snake oil novelty. In the film they actually work! Film Luna is treated as more of an eccentric than the books, where she's sort of a lovable gullible.

07/01/2020 - 26%

Ginny be like: "Get a room you two."

(1) It's a mark of Ron and Hermione's closeness that she's comfortable enough to hit him repeatedly with a book, and he's comfortable enough to let her.
(2) Nearly Headless Nick: "I would rather die than betray [Harry's] trust."
Ron: "That's not saying much, seeing as you're already dead."
- Ron again with the common sense.

07/02/2020 - 29%

Finally! Book-accurate bushy hair!

(1) Snape: "We are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter."
Harry: "Yes."
Snape: "Yes, sir."
Harry: "There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor."
- New levels of reckless sass.
(2) Harry smells something flowery in the love potion. Just 10 pages later, Harry smells something flowery and turns to see Ginny.
- Not exactly subtle.

07/03/2020 - 33%

(1) The House of Gaunt has a very Craster's Keep vibe to it.
(2) Merope seems right out of a Jane Austen novel.
(3) Dumbledore: "The Gaunts [were] noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins."
- Not so different than European royals, then... and a fair bit better than Egyptians.

07/04/2020 - 36%

(1) Ron gets attention from Lavender, Hermione gives him the cold shoulder. Hermione congratulates Ron, Lavender walks off grumpy. Meanwhile, Ron's totally oblivious.
(2) Harry: "But wasn't that dishonest, Hermione? I mean, you're a prefect, aren't you?"
- Hermione gets a taste of her own medicine here, seeing as she says this to Ron all the time, albeit less polite.

07/05/2020 - 39%

Callback/Mirroring: You've got something on your face.

(1) Harry: "The Prince had proved a much more effective teacher than Snape so far."
- Oh the irony.
(2) Hermione: "Ron, what are you staring at?"
Ron: "Nothing."
Hermione: "I expect 'nothing's' in the back getting more firewhisky."
- Ron crushing on Madam Rosmerta and Hermione being jealous never gets old.

07/06/2020 - 42%

(1) Wonder if Caractacus Burke was named after the Briton chieftain or the dad from Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang?
(2) Orphanage matron: "He was to be named Tom, for his father, and Marvolo, for her father — yes, I know, funny name, isn't it? We wondered whether she came from a circus."
- Hmm... The Great Marvolo!
(3) Young Voldemort owning a harmonica is just plain funny.

07/07/2020 - 44%

(1) Harry: "What if Ron and Hermione started going out together, then split up? Could their friendship survive it?"
- Depends how much they enjoy bickering... it's kind of their thing.
(2) "What if they didn't split up? What if ... it became excruciatingly embarrassing to be in their presence, so that he was shut out for good?"
- Classic third-wheel talk right there.

07/08/2020 - 46%

(1) Harry: "Ginny, don't call Ron a prat, you're not the Captain of this team."
Ginny: "Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat."
- Can't fault the logic.
(2) Ginny teases Ron for "never snogg[ing] anyone in his life." She also tells Ron "Hermione snogged Viktor Krum." Enraged and shamed, Ron snogs stalkerish Lavender Brown. Ergo, Ginny's to blame for that mess.

07/09/2020 - 48%

Ron makes Hermione cry on stairs a lot.

(1) Ron: "She can't complain ... She snogged Krum. So she's found out someone wants to snog me too ... I haven't done anything wrong."
- Ron's not wrong, but misses the point.
(2) Hermione: "He's at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he likes ... I really couldn't care less."
- She sure talks about it a lot for not caring.

07/10/2020 - 49%

(1) '"Are you going out with [Cormac], then?" asked Parvati, wide-eyed.
"Oh — yes — didn't you know?" said Hermione, with a most un-Hermione-ish giggle.'
- I doubt there's even a Hermione-ish giggle. Mostly she blushes.
(2) Harry: "Serves you right for coming with [Cormac]."
Hermione: "I thought he'd annoy Ron most."
- I expect no less from a jealousy-fueled romance.

07/11/2020 - 51%

(1) "Harry ... was still trying not to think about Ginny any more than he could help, despite the fact that she kept cropping up in his dreams in ways that made him devoutly thankful that Ron could not perform Legilimency."
- Hopefully those dreams aren't Voldemort's doing.
(2) "Harry was left to ponder in silence the depths to which girls would sink to get revenge."

07/12/2020 - 53%

Harry and Ginny be like: Not cool bro!

(1) Kreacher gifts Harry a box of maggots. Not useful, but it's the thought that counts.
(2) '"Harry, you've got a maggot in your hair,' said Ginny cheerfully, leaning across the table to pick it out; Harry felt goose bumps erupt up his neck that had nothing to do with the maggot.'
- Most romantic maggot scene in fiction?

07/13/2020 - 56%

(1) "Abstinence" is the new common room password. Sneaky, having students recite it repeatedly.
(2) Harry: "Hermione, can't you [make up with Ron]?"
Hermione: "No, I can't... So don't even ask."
- Can't or won't?
(3) "The contents proved difficult to empty into the Pensieve, as though they had congealed slightly; did memories go bad?"
- Eh, only the regrettable ones.

07/14/2020 - 58%

(1) Hermione: "Oh, well, if Won-Won thinks that, you'd better do it ... After all, when has Won-Won's judgment ever been faulty?"
- It's contagious! Now Hermione's saying "Won-Won." Sarcasm, yes, but "Won-Won" regardless.
(2) "Friends they might be, but if Ron started calling Lavender 'Lav-Lav,' [Harry] would have to put his foot down."
- The buck stops at "Lav-Lav"!

07/15/2020 - 60%

Poor Lavender :(

(1) Hermione: "Golpalott's Third Law states that the antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components."
- That makes no sense! How can something be equal to more than a sum? It would just be greater than it!
(2) The gif never happens in the book, but it's my favorite scene :)

07/16/2020 - 62%

(1) "[Harry] was now being dogged wherever he went by Cormac McLaggen and Lavender Brown. He could not decide which of them was more annoying."
- I vote Lavender.
(2) "Harry's imagination zoomed into overdrive ... Ginny, weeping over his lifeless form, confessed her feelings of deep attraction to him while Ron gave them his blessing."
- Pretty passive ambition there.

07/17/2020 - 64%

(1) Lavender: "Is Hermione Granger still visiting [Ron]?"
Harry: "Yeah, I think so. Well, they're friends, aren't they?"
Lavender: "Friends, don't make me laugh ... She didn't talk to him for weeks after he started going out with me! But I suppose she wants to make up with him now he's all interesting."
- Now we know what Lavender looks for in a partner. Interesting.

07/18/2020 - 68%

(1) Lavender to Ron: "Why didn't you tell me you were getting out today? And why was she with you?"
- I suppose a condition of being Lavender's boyfriend is having to cut loose all your female friends.
(2) Voldemort: "You are omniscient as ever, Dumbledore."
Dumbledore: "Oh no, merely friendly with the local barmen."
- That's some stealthy foreshadowing there.

07/19/2020 - 71%

(1) Ron: "I love you, Hermione."
Hermione: "Don't let Lavender hear you saying that."
Ron: "I won't ... Or maybe I will ... then she'll ditch me."
- Essentially, that's what happened in the film.
(2) The Imperius Curse = Temporary insanity defense.
(3) Harry supposes Tonks was in love with Sirius, which no one thinks is weird. Wizard views on incest are oddly casual.

07/20/2020 - 73%

(1) Ron: "Quick, hide me!"
Hermione: "It isn't Lavender!"
- If it were Lavender, I think hiding behind Hermione would make things much worse.
(2) Harry hesitates to use his vial of Felix Felicis, having saved it to break up Ginny and Dean. Luckily, that happened as a side effect of his Slughorn mission. So, bonus points.
- Incidentally, Harry's low-key a homewrecker.

07/21/2020 - 75%

(1) '"What were you doing up there with her?" shrieked Lavender Brown, staring right through Harry at Ron and Hermione emerging together from the boys' dormitories.'
- Lavender's suspicions confirmed!
- Lucky all around... except Lavender.
(2) Slughorn: "Had a house-elf taste every bottle after what happened to your poor friend Rupert."
- I see what she did there :)

07/22/2020 - 78%

(1) '"You have [uncommon skill and power]," said Dumbledore firmly. "You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can —"
"I know!" said Harry impatiently. "I can love!" It was only with difficulty that he stopped himself adding, "Big deal!".'
- I had the same reaction as Harry to the ending of "The Fifth Element." "Really? Love is the greatest power there is?"

07/23/2020 - 82%

(1) Flitwick: "A little less talk, a little more action."
- Wasn't that an Elvis song? No, wait, that was "A Little Less Conversation."
(2) Harry's mind: "She's Ron's sister. But she's ditched Dean! She's still Ron's sister. I'm his best mate! That'll make it worse. If I talked to him first — He'd hit you. What if I don't care? He's your best mate!"
- Ron, Ron, Ron.

07/24/2020 - 85%

(1) Ginny: "All Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a hippogriff tattooed across your chest ... I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail ... Much more macho."
- Harry's already kinda got a lightning bolt tattoo, and on his face too! I'd guess that's be even more macho.
(2) "Rage and resentment fought shock and excitement."
- Fight it! Angst was so Book 5.

07/25/2020 - 86%

(1) Perhaps Harry's grown too used to magic. He's fine charging headlong into danger, but a short swim in cold water totally freaks him out. Who is he? Film-Ron?
(2) "Harry had long since learned that bangs and smoke were more often the marks of ineptitude than expertise."
- I wonder if he's referring to Seamus, who's gimmick is he often accidentally blows things up?

07/26/2020 - 87%

(1) How is Harry shocked that blood magic is a thing? Voldemort was revived by his blood!
(2) Dumbldore: "You are underage and unqualified. Voldemort would never have expected a sixteen-year-old to reach this place: I think it unlikely that your powers will register compared to mine."
- So... Harry should be glad the alarm can't detect his negligible amount of magic.

07/27/2020 - 88%

(1) Harry needs blood to open the archway. Luckily, he was already cut whilst fighting Inferi. Even zombies have a silver lining.
(2) '"It's going to be all right, sir," Harry said over and over again ... "Don't worry..."
"I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you."'
- Hits me right in the feels.

*character limit

5 Sterne oder auch ein "O" für "Ohnegleichen"

Ich werde diese Reihe, sowohl die Bücher als auch die Filme, immer lieben! Losgelöst von allem was man von der Autorin halten mag, ist Harry Potter einfach Kindheit. Ein Buch dieser Reihe aufschlagen und von Hogwarts, Winkelgasse, Fuchsbau & Co. lesen ist jedes Mal wie Nach Hause kommen und hinterlässt immer ein warmes Gefühl der Geborgenheit in mir.

Ich finde es immer wieder bewundernswert wie eine ganze Generation zusammen mit Harry, Ron und Hermine aufgewachsen und erwachsen geworden ist. Vermutlich wird es das in diesem Ausmaß nie wieder geben.

Die Geschichte ist einfach so gut durchdacht und jedes Wort am richtigen Platz. Emotionen kommen hier absolut nicht zu kurz, muss hier am Ende immer weinen, egal wie oft ich das Buch lese/den Film schaue. Und egal wie oft ich die Geschichte auch konsumiere: es wird nie langweilig, sodass ich für den Reread dieses Wälzers auch nur knappe 3 Tage gebraucht habe. Man kann das Buch einfach nicht weglegen, da man so in dieser magischen Welt gefangen ist. Always...

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

I have read this book many times, although the penultimate one was years ago. Let's say that this was the first time I've read them in e-book form.

The reading was marvellous. There were things I'd forgotten, e.g. how late Harry and Ginny got together. I'd also forgotten about most of the funeral. I'll say no more, spoilers oblige.

What this book tells me is that sadly the more conservative of readers, grammarians etc will place so many books above Harry Potter #6, none of which is worth mentioning in the same breath as Potter lore.

To me this series is special. Nobody else will undertake waiting for each book to come out and lay our hands on them. The Potter universe will belong to our descendants forever. But it was we who helped create this fervor and unmatched popularity.

Issues:

1. Harry doesn’t have to be the greatest wizard of his time but that he peaked in third year with mastering the patronus charm is quite sad. It’s also sad that he doesn’t feel he needs to work at magic. The idea that Harry could have been in Slytherin or Ravenclaw is laughable - he has no drive, and no intellectual curiosity. Draco grasped occulumency in two months in order to guard himself against Snape, an ally. Harry won't do it to protect himself against Voldemort, even though having failed to do so resulted in Sirius' death. Harry doesn't try even when new skills are obviously useful - not with occulmency, not with wordless magic. Harry turns out to be good at a few discrete things - the patronus charm, resisting the imperius curse - but that never extends, kind of like how Ron's chess skills never extend to any type of application in real life.

2. I'm not opposed to Sirius' death but I am opposed to how it means nothing in this book. Harry reassesses nothing. Again, we see Draco taking his responsibilities seriously, Draco questioning authority and learning independence, while Harry continues to prioritize quidditch and his chest monster, and follows whatever Dumbledore says even though he knows Dumbledore is keeping things from him once again. (It also is a little annoying that everyone keeps on saying that one should trust Dumbledore's judgment of Snape; Dumbledore didn't realize that a Death Eater was impersonating one of his close friends for a year). It's a little disgusting that the big reveal with Tonks is that she couldn't care less about Sirius; she's upset that Lupin won't marry her. Not a soul cares about Sirius. Mrs. Weasley doesn't even think to speak of Sirius' death when she sees Harry. Given what happens/doesn't happen with Remus as well (he doesn't form any type of familial bond with Harry, has a totally out of the blue romance plot, reveals himself to be a coward, then dies), I think JKR dislikes the idea of messy, non-blood related, non-nuclear families and finds it easier to dispose of these characters, leaving the core characters to marry into the 'real' family (Weasleys). Sirius had to die, and Remus had to fail to step up, so that Harry would be left with neatly marrying into the Weasleys. I feel confident in this view having seen JKR say that Lupin had to die because she decided to let Arthur Weasley (a total nonentity who has no value other than being part of the Weasleys) live. It's easier to kill off these survivors and imagine them all smiling down on Harry in the afterlife than to imagine that they could ever have a place in society.

3. Harry/Tom Riddle parallels were unceremoniously dumped. Instead of going with what she already had developed, JKR chose to make TMR a born inbred sociopath with a “bestial” expression who at age 11 says things like “I can make them hurt if I want to.” JKR has also said in an interview that TMR couldn’t feel love because he was born of rape. Why develop the parallels / choices vs abilities theme only to abandon it? And though I understand what she was doing with the pureblood-inbred insanity thing, frankly, no one wants to read that degeneration shit. It's not compelling in a villain.

4. Good v bad women. Bellatrix saying she wishes she had children so she could sacrifice them to Voldemort vs Narcissa desperate to save her son; Lily dying to save her son vs Merope dying despite her son. The reconstruction Dumbledore does of Merope’s life based on 80% guesswork could not be more patronizing. Having a scene where two male characters discuss how pathetic a woman was for dying during childbirth is not great.

5. Ginny is unbearable. Instead of giving her a character arc that would follow from the previous books (she did become a whole different character in OOTP but there’s little continuity even from OOTP to HBP), she’s become the school’s punk rock princess, developed entirely to be Harry’s gir- trophy wife to the jock king. She’s a cool girl. She'll fight Hermione, her only depicted friend to defend Harry's honour #standbyyourman. She'll accept Harry dumping her to protect her from Voldemort even though she's written as hating being condescended to and patronized. She's whatever Harry needs, whenever Harry needs her.

6. All the love plots in this book involve women losing their powers or control of themselves because they’re in love. Tonks, Merope, Hermione. Pass. Snape has been an incel for decades without any loss of powers.

7. Ron is written as a misogynist ass and he and Hermione are fundamentally incompatible. They should have realized that and moved on. Really, they come together to parent Harry. Without that, there's not a lot there.

8. Luna becomes Ginny’s pity project. There is a definite shift in Luna’s character from doing her own thing to sad misfit and I think that’s a decidedly negative change. Ginny tells people off for calling Luna names in this book when she was doing the exact same thing a year ago, having at the time known Luna for years.