| Title: | Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince | |
| Author: | J. K. Rowling | |
| Rating: |  |
Finished this in essentially three sittings. Could have been two, or one, but I am old enough now that all nighters to read books are rare, and there was a commitment in the middle of the next day. I wasn't tracking hours.
The first thing I will say is that I found myself laughing aloud at appropriate parts of this book. Even the "snogging" bits weren't over done in my opinion. I'd read enough reviews to have heard complaints about the narrative structure being slow in the first half, but I didn't think that was the case.
I agree with Bea that Snape has to redeem himself in the end. Frankly, I am still trying to figure out some way that Dumbledore might not "really" be dead. Somehow I doubt that is the case, but I'm sure it would make a lot of HP fans happier. There are going to be many dollars spent on therapy around the world as a result of that loss.
I know people who say Rowling fills her books with subtle clues to things and that if you read very closely you can figure at least some things out in advance. Perhaps Bea's right about the locket and who RAB is, but I'm not certain. There might have been some discussion about the younger Black brother being OK in an earlier book... I honestly don't remember that much detail, which is why if Rowling does fill her books with clues about things, I miss them.
In any event, I really enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to the last installment. She's managed to write 6 good or very good books so far, so I'd think the odds of book 7 being at least good are pretty high. Too bad it's so far out.
