Book Review – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN)

Title: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Author: J.K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Goodreads Rating: 4.57

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Source: Hardcover

Synopsis:

It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry Potter is waiting nervously in his bedroom at the Dursleys’ house in Privet Drive for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. One of the last times he saw the Headmaster was in a fierce one-to-one duel with Lord Voldemort, and Harry can’t quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually appear at the Dursleys’ of all places. Why is the Professor coming to visit him now? What is it that cannot wait until Harry returns to Hogwarts in a few weeks’ time? Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts has already got off to an unusual start, as the worlds of Muggle and magic start to intertwine…

My Review:

Out of all the books this is perhaps the one I knew the content of the least. I have only seen the film once and if the last couple of films were anything to go by then a lot of the book content would of been left out. I had hoped that whilst I was reading it my memory would be jogged a little but surprisingly even at 400 pages in only a small part seemed to come to my memory.

I enjoyed the history element and learning about Voldemort’s past. Whilst I still don’t feel any empathy towards him I do feel like I understand him a little better and how he possibly came to be so evil. The Horcruxes were very interesting, the idea of splitting ones soul is very clever and I look forward to learning more about them in the next book.

There were a lot of interesting relationships in the book which I felt gave the story a slight lighthearted feel to it. It was great to see the students being students at some points and learning about growing up instead of facing the impending battle. Ron and Lavender made a very unusual couple but nevertheless they were quite entertaining.

The relationship between Harry and Dumbledore was the best to read. There were subtle moments that I had missed in the film that really brought home just how important Dumbledore was to Harry (and vice versa). Understandably the ending was very sad and whilst I had been expecting it the devastation was still there.

This was a very enjoyable read but I still think the The Order of the Phoenix holds the favourite spot at the moment. I can’t believe the next book is the last in the series, I’m not sure I’m ready for it to end.

This book marked my first one in my two readathons that I am completing this month. I have crossed off the Pumpkin Spiced Latte prompt in the Coffee readathon, this is an extra prompt so I need to get my main seven crossed off quickly. I have also crossed off the Luau – A Book Featuring Fire prompt for the Dare to Dreamathon. Fingers crossed I can continue at this speed for September.