Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince – review

I had been promising to write up a short review of the latest Harry Potter, but I didn’t want to do it straight after reading the book.
Why?

A good book should be treated like a fine wine. It should be able to age gently. Maybe it’s a crazy parallel to draw, but I don’t think I could have done the book any justice if I had thrown down my thoughts and impressions after staying up half the night to finish it.
If you are expecting this installment to be a departure from Rowling’s previous outings then, in some ways, you will probably be disappointed, whereas in others you will be delighted.
When we first met Harry Potter he was starting secondary school. Granted, he wasn’t starting in just any secondary school. He was lucky enough to be going to the magical Hogwarts.
In the first books we saw Harry develop from being a nervous moggle-born apprentice to what he is now – a young man (or something very akin to it).
In the Prince Harry is 16, so you can imagine that his hormones are positively exploding.
As some other people who have read it commented – expect a lot of kissing. Yes! There is kissing in this book. And why not?
As I was reading this Harry Potter I was struck by a number of things. Although some people may like to cast it aside as being a child’s book, it most definitely isn’t. It is a racy read. There’s love, sex (after a fashion), violence, suspense and DEATH. Please excuse the capitalisation, but so many people have been harping on about death in this book.
I’m not going to reveal who dies. If you don’t know already, then read the book and find out. Being told that someone is going to die in it doesn’t spoil the story.
So what can I tell you about it that won’t ruin it for you?
Harry, as I already mentioned, has grown up quite a bit. He’s still a big quidditch fan, but it’s not centre-stage this time round.
At the end of the last book Voldermont had returned, so it comes as no surprise that he plays an important role this time round (hasn’t he always?)
All the other favourites are there as well as a number of new characters.
What can I say? I wanted to savour it over a couple of days, but found that I could not put it down. I simply had to know what was going to happen and became totally engrossed in it. When I finished it I felt like crying, but not because the books was sad, but because I knew I would have to leave that magical world to return to this one.
Recommendation – Get out there and beg, borrow, or simply buy a copy of it now.

Or you could even get yourself a box set of the five previous ones:

I know I’m tempted to 🙂