Half Blood Prince Review
I'm gonna put this behind a cut, so beware of rampaging spoilers!!!!!
right, so . . .first, I'll link to some other reviews, most of which I agree with, so why write what they've already written?
first, Amit Varma's predictions for book 7. I completely agree.
Ravenfrog has an excellent review, to which my responce is:
I agree with most of what she's written, here. For all that the Weasleys are supposed to be the "good guys," Ron's a selfish, prideful prat, the twins are a bit on the cruel side (though the more serious side of their business is, while not surprising, at least a relief to see), and the girls seem to have self-esteem issues.
The Harry/ Ginny thing did seem a bit forced-- yes there was a bit of pre-planning: the scent of the potion on the first day of class, for instance. But it didn't seem, I don't know, *real*. Especially considering his addmitted obsession with Malfoy-Boi. I mean, really, JK, who'd he more passionate about? Obviously Mister Blond, blue-eyed and tight assed [I was chortelling every time Hermione or Ron would talk about his "obsession" Ha! Damn Straight. or not. . .). As cute as Remmie/Tonks is, I don't get it. It seemed, again, like JK was reacting to fan-fiction (note, we finally know for a fact that Blaise is a boy!), pairing Remmie up with someone, please God, before Sevvie took matters into his own hands. I seem agree with pinkcrusader that as far as the "romantic stuff" goes, Rowling should leave it to the fan-writers.
Dumbledore . . .well, both my dad, my brother and I called this one. In fact, I was more upset by the death of Sirius and the apparent betrayal by Snape. But I'm still pissed that Harry was still kept in the dark about some things. Yeah, the Riddle/pensieve stuff was reasonable, teaching him how to piece things together, the like, but the whole thing of trusting Snape and Draco? Yeah, of course he's gonna run of and make his unstable 16 year old conclusions but the sad thing is this: 1) Either everything was carefully planned out and Harry was completely out of the loop or 2) Harry's wild conclusions were all absolutely correct and no one bothered to listen or believe him. If option 1 is correct (Which I actually hope, considering), then that's not really fair to Harry, is it? Did they "want his reaction to be believable"? Jesus effing Christ, he could have been told something more. And if it's option #2, well, that pretty much means that despite his cannon-fodder friends, he's on his own, can't trust anyone, can't rely on anyone to help. . . Either way, though, people like Dumbledore should have known better. It seems the only adult with a bit of understanding about teenagers was Sirius.Too bad, that.
Ravenfrog says: Harry was certainly more obsessed with Malfoy than with Voldemort this book, that's for sure. (And also more obsessed with him than Ginny, or even quidditch.) Which is a bit scary since I know that JKR is intending to write Harry straight, and apparently thinks that a straight boy would leave his girl crush and his team to investigate his rival, if given a chance. Well, maybe on her planet.
Gee, again, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. Sure he thinks Draco's up to something, but puh-leeese! I could excuse a little hesitation, but being so torn up about immediately following and having everyone notice his absence, or going to his crush and team, gee, hmm . . . this is a 16 year old boy, raging testosterone. . .and he wants to follow a boy? mhmm, yeah. ok, JK, whatever you say . . .
I've always wanted to see Draco redeemed. Although it hasn't happened yet, I can see the set up for the "Changing of Allegiance". As soon as Moaning Myrtle spoke of the "Sensitive, lonely boy" I knew it was Drakkie. *sigh!* And yeah, Harry could have been less of an ass there. Might have taken the opportunity to become a friend to someone in need. . .gained a poweful ally. ..
Snape. . .this better have been planned out. Because Snape, for all his issues, has always been one of the more intelligent, and strangely enough, honest characters. A real person. Also because, like so many others, I would be very, very, very, let down if it really did end up that Slytherins were all evil, all evil were Slytherins, and all the really good people were Gryffindors. And again, as Ravenfrog notes: I'm kind of hoping that JKR won't always associate ambitiousness and planning with 'All that is evil and nasty', unless she really thinks that brave enough to risk your life for no perceptible gain is the highest and best character trait going; which, you never know. *grin*
You can see a lot of "post 9/11" influence in this book: the pamplets that the Ministry sends out reminded me of our precious "Rainbow of terror", and the reality that terrorism, by definition, targets civilians and the "uninvolved". And she made a great representation of the siege mentality that many people get after an extended period of attacks. And the whole political situation was, though very much in charicatures, still accurate enough for my rather picky-on-occasion tastes.
I also found that my reading was a bit influenced by my own writing. Even aside from the Harry/Draco thing, one of the first mentions of Firenze had me saying "Yeah, but he's a member of Harry's Coven, so--oh wait, yeah. . .".
All in all, I really enjoyed the reading. I think I really like it, but so much now depends on Book 7. If Rowling pulls this of with panache, flair, nuance, and really good plotting, then Book 6 will be the awesome build up, and will be my second favorite after Book 3. But, if she goes the lame route, then Book 6 turns into the Beginning of the Great Dissappointment, and
I shall curse her to the end of my days. And continue writing what she should have written. Overall, it either really good or really bad. And only time will tell.
I'm going to try to work in what I can into my writing, though obviously, in a rather AU sense, but there's good stuff to work with. Voldy will remain a Gryffindor, though, and Snape a pure blood, simply because the Sorting Hat bloody well said so. In book 5, remember? the whole, Slytherin only takes pure-bloods thingy? Granted, Voldie's ancestory may have been a reasonable override, but still, I'm sticking to what I wrote. Simply for the delicious juxtaposition.
I may have more to say later, but that's it for now.
^_^