Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet...

As in all wars, life goes on. The Weasley twins expand their business. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate -- and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

Ladies and Gentlemen-- I think I have a new favorite. With the exception of HP5, these books just keep getting better and better.

I think it's funny that shy, little Ginny Weasley is suddenly a hot commodity at Hogwarts. And she also suddenly has a fire to match her hair. I've always been a fan of her though. I am pleased at the turn of events in a particular relationship status of hers. I just want to say... FINALLY. Am I the only one who felt that way? (P.S. I'm pretty sure I just love the entire Weasley family.)

I thought this was the most complex book of the series so far. I enjoyed reading about Harry's lessons with Dumbledore and learning more about Tom Riddle (aka Lord Voldemort)'s history. There were so many important things in the book that they seemed to have simply left out of the movie.

I actually remember going to see The Half Blood Prince movie with my husband when it was in theaters. I kept leaning over to him and asking if he had any clue what was going on. :) Last night when we were talking about it, he even confessed that he didn't even remember going to the movie. The things I remembered thinking were this-- I don't get it. Is Snape good or bad then? Why is the Half Blood Prince called that? There were many more questions I had that I can't talk about without revealing too much. The book just seemed to make so much more sense to me than the movie and it answered all of my questions.

Again, I have the thought though, Why have I not read these before now??

On a different note, today is the final day of the Potter-Thon hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination. I can't believe I actually read 6 of the 7 books. I wanted to get through all of them, but once I dove into them and got sucked into the complex, thought-provoking story, I am surprised I read as many as I did! I know some of you are dying for a review of something other than Harry Potter, but I wanted to say thank you for sticking it out with me this month. I have tons of great books to review in the coming weeks, but don't be surprised to see the final Harry Potter review sooner, rather than later.

Happy Reading!