"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
My Grade: A+
I didn't plow through HBP as quickly as the majority of my friends list did (who gave a rats ass about HP anyway). I finished early Sunday afternoon and now have had about a day to process everything. I'm not sure how much I can say that hasn’t been said (to death) by everyone else and I'm sure many of you are sick of hearing about the damn book already. But, alas this is a reading journal. So... let us begin!
Obviously there will be spoilers beyond this point, so beware.
- Ok, overall feelings after finishing: HOLY SHIT! Wait... we have to wait 2 years for book 7? *cries*
- piasharn, you weren't the only one that didn't mind angry!rah!Harry from book 5, as you can see from my OotP Review back in 2003. But I love how much Harry has matured in this book. How he's thought about his actions and actually listened to adults this time around. Sure, he had his naturally 16-year old snotty moments (after all, he is James Potter's son!), but at least he was witty while having those moments, lol.
- The same complaint as the last couple books... not enough Remus damnit! I adore that character so much. And while the few pages that he graced were really eye-opening and informative, I still wished he was around more. Because I'm a greedy Remus fangirl and as far as I'm concerned there can never be enough of him.
- Remus x Tonks: All my friends who are also into HP know that I adore Remus x Sirius, but I never HONESTLY thought RxS could ever be canon as much as that would have pleased me. [FANGIRL MOMENT] Not that they still couldn't be? Sirius is in the past after all... [/FANGIRL MOMENT] So, this didn't come as a shocking blow or anything. The first thing that popped into my head (especially during the mention of Remus and Tonks holding hands at Dumbledore's funeral) was "oh man, the mondo-obsessive, fanatical RxS shippers are going to go apeshit! Bwahaha!" I'm pretty cool with it though... not ecstatic or WOO! about it, mind you. But Tonks is a great character... made even greater with her obviously great taste in men, hee. With that said, I am and always will be a Remus x Sirius shipper. Those are my boys. But it's nice to see Remus won't be so lonely for the time being. :)
- Harry x Ginny: I saw that coming ages ago and I've always liked the idea of them. Loved how the romance between them gradually happened with the hints about Harry's growing attraction being very obvious early on (his slightly sad reaction when he remembered she didn't really hang out with the trio at school, her flowery scent he smelled from the love potion, etc.). I thought it was lovely and very convincing. And their break-up at the end... I don't think that will be it for them. They'll be together again. I've stated in the past that Ginny is Harry's Lily. So, they'll either live happily ever after... or be totally doomed!
- Ron x Hermione: So, um... are they officially a couple yet? I couldn't quite figure that out.
- Draco. BAH! Never liked the little twerp, still don't... despite looking like he might actually have a conscience. We shall see if that conscience (or is that cowardice?), comes around again when it's time for him to redeem himself. I'm glad Harry noticed this and felt more pity than anger towards him. It shows how much Harry has grown.
- Dumbledore's death was pretty damn powerful. I have to admit I shed a few tears, despite being totally convinced for ages that he was going to die in this book. And considering I didn't cry when Sirius, my 2nd favorite character died, that's pretty amazing. I think as I stated in my OotP review, it's because Sirius's death was so anti-climatic for me, it was just too - one second he's here, the next second he's not! WTF?!
- Where the fuck was Mad-Eye Moody during all this drama? Besides his appearance at the funeral he was M.I.A. the rest of the time as far as I can remember. And for that matter, what the hell has Charlie been up to?
- Voldy as an evil!11-year old was waaaaaay creepy.
- Remus's "furry little problem". HEE!!!!
- I actually didn't figure out who the Half-Blood Prince was. *feels very dense* But found it odd that Harry didn't recognize the handwriting, I'm sure by then he would be pretty familiar with Snape's penmanship.
- How freaky and heartbreaking would it be if one of Voldy's horcrux's was a person? The most logical person would be Ginny (due to Riddle's diary) or Harry himself. ORRRRRR... maybe Harry's eyes? How many bloody times is him having his "mothers eyes" mentioned? Knocking us over the head with that one I say.
- Now, I'm no Snape fan, in fact I loathe the character... but I still find it hard to believe that Dumbledore was completely wrong about him. I have a feeling Snape and him discussed what to do if things got really bad, in order to save Draco's dumb ass. Either way, Snape is totally a goner next book. If he ends up being a "good" guy, Voldy will kill him, and if he was really a baddie... I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Draco will kill him (could be a good way for all the redeeming business he’s in need of).
- I find it amusing how some people feel some of their ships have been "ruined" or whatever. I don't see how anything should change. As far as I'm concerned, NO fanfiction is canon, duh. The only canon is what J.K. Rowling writes and everything else is for your own dreamy dreams and overactive imagination. So, let Remus and Sirius fuck each others brains out (ok, *ponders* YUM). Let Harry get it on with Draco (for the record, ewwwwww) if that floats your boat. For me, all this "shipping" and fandom is just a way of temporarily ignoring the things you don't like about canon and having a little fun with what you would prefer instead. I think some folks may be taking a lot of this stuff too seriously to the point of being downright scary. Lighten up! But don't be in total denial... because despite how many times you want to refuse it, Rowling's work is canon and that is that. And if you can't handle it... why are you even bothering reading her books. Stick with fanfiction.
- I have to mention this article for the amusing quote at the end... "Oh for a timely spell of reality," Roland White wrote in the Sunday Times. "Let’s keep things in perspective. Until Friday, the Harry Potter series had sold about 270 million copies worldwide. Which is considerably less than the one billion shifted by the late, rather unfashionable, Barbara Cartland." My question is how can he compare HP book sales to an author like Barbara Cartland who's published almost 700 books. Ummm, yeah.
- Other predictions for book 7: Hmmmmmmmm. I do not think the trio will die. I think a Weasley or two will though. I'm still iffy about Remus's fate. I don't think him and Tonks hooking up is necessarily a sign of better things for him, but my heart just can't fathom him being killed. I still think it’s likely though. Personally, I’m still surprised Hagrid has lasted this long!
- Everyone seems to think that RAB is Sirius's baby brother Regulas. Interesting and I suppose the obvious thought if we’re considering characters who have already been mentioned in the series at one point or another... does that mean he wasn't a baddie after all? Oh! So much to speculate about! *head explodes*
- Overall, one of the best. Although, I'm gonna be stubborn and say POA is still my favorite. I think for obvious reasons. :)