Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

Title : Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince
Author : J.K. Rowling

To begin with....WoOooOWw!Ayu..What a long review you've got there, so full of disappointment! haha..and Farah, alaaa..tak best la canni if u tak review sama..

Anyway...I'd been postponing to write a review for this book for more than 2 weeks now. The main reason is because i dun have much spare time to write about it, and i dun want to rush into it as i feared i might be doing it injustice. But well, since i got some spare time at the moment, i might as well write AT LEAST part of it..and steal times tomorrow and the day after..until i'm satisfied with it.

Well, now...I believe that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the MOST anticipated fantasy novel of the year. The 5th book which is Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire left a deep impact on the readers with the death of Harry's godfather-Sirius Black-that most of us couldn't wait to get our hands on the 6th book in the series. I mean like, the thickening plot in Book 5 made us want to find out how Harry would face his days ahead without his godfather-at least that's how it was to me.

Thus, the day of the released of HPHBP was one of the most memorable one for me. Never before did i imagined that i'd be waking up at 5++ am just so i could grab a copy of my fave book before anyone else did. Ha ha!

Okie Ayu, I admit. The obsessioon didn't start until just a couple of months before the book was due to release. And even then, i didn't write much about it though i did managed to annoy both of my twin brothers and Amin for constantly reciting to them every single news i heard bout the HPHBP book, be it from the net or the newspapers. Once, I even called up Ayu in my excitement to asked her to tune in to TV3, coz there was a short segment in the news reporting on the HPHBP book as a phenomenon for the whole world. And i was glad for all these news as it was able to lessen my longing for the book during those longest period of my life.

As mentioned earlier, on d day itself I woke up at almost 6 am; and somehow here managed to be the first among friends to get my hands on the book (triumphant smile here ;-))). But sadly i wasn't the first to finish reading it, Ayu beat me to it. And even more frustating, SHE SPOILT IT FOR ME! I can't believe u told me bout Dumbledore's death before i get to the part itself Ayu. U just wait until the 7th book, i'll be the spoiler then! ;-p But anyway, to get my revenge..i spoilt it for Soraya as she was in U.S at the time, and we got the book one day ahead of them. So that was able to cool me down a tiny lil' bit ..he he he... (nasty, crooked grin here).

Okie okie, moving on the book itself. I've heard and read that many voiced out that the book is such a DISAPPOINTMENT to them! They sort of feel like, after all the waiting and anticipations..THIS is what we get???

Well, frankly speaking..I do admit that Jo Rowling had done better in some of the preceding books, but still - after much gloomy and dark episodes in the previous ones, it made a NICE change to read of a more jolly and optimistic side of their life.

Conceivably, there may be a lil too much of the lovey dovey scenes to our liking, but hey! they're in the middle of their teens aiite, and it would seem abnormal if none of them start to discover the mushy-mushy thingy we called LOVE. NORMAL TEENAGERS DO, don't they??And i believed that even wizards and witches are blessed with the blissful feeling o~ love, aren't they? Another thing that we musn't forget is that LOVE had played a central role in the stories, even from the start of the series (in Book 1). It was protrayed as the element of ancient magic that saved Harry from being killed by the darkest wizard there ever was. Hence, the stress on the LOVE aspects...

Now, let's talk about the good plots in the book first. I found that the first chapter- "The Other Minister" was a good start as it tells us on the seriousness of the situation they're facing. And it shows that Voldermort's evil doings did not only affected the wizarding community but the Muggle world as well-though most of them did not realized it. And it made a good transition from the previous book to this one.

As my reading progressed, I found myself more and more enthralled by the plots. Being as sentimental as i am (he he i can see Ayu sticking out her tongue at me ;-p ) i can't help but be touched by the fact that Dumbledore's taking Harry into his confidence and total care. He seemed to put more trust in Harry's judgement and abilities. And knowing how reckless Harry can be at times, it's quite satisfying to see him placing total faith and confidence in Harry.

Admittedly, there are some points declared by the critics which i have to agree on. It does seem that their lessons and Quidditch are being given less focus in this book. Though i could do without the Quidditch thingy-i have not much interest in sport u see-i do miss the lessons very much especially Care of the Magical Creatures! Yes yes! i know they hate the subject, but u gotta admit that lotsa things happened during these lessons. I mean like they were introduced to Buckbeak during one of these lessons weren't they?And among the most interesting thing-Malfoy being attacked by the hippogrif- happened during the lesson too (hehe..am i bad to think of it as an interesting "event"? ;-p). What's more, thanx to Hagrid for introducing them to Thestrals, they were able to ride it to the Ministry of Magic in the 5th book. And i'm more disappointed that their Defence against Dark Art lesson weren't as remarkable as before, but it was interesting to finally found out why no one seened to be able to hold the post for longer than a year- Voldemort's doing of coz! GrrRrr....

Another thing missing in this book is the dark atmosphere itself. It was only pictured in the earlier chapters. After that, becoz of the lack of exposure to these mayhem and destructions done by Voldemort and his followers, we tend to forget that there were facing one of the darkest time ever!

Other than that, the plots are as delicious as the butter-pecan ice cream from Baskin Robbins! YuMmie!!!(hehehe...that's sooo like comparing an orange to an apple eh??isk isk)

One of the unique thing that u can find in this book is the fact that; though Professor Snape played a big role in this book, MOST OF US didn't realize it until we come to the end of the book where he KILLED Dumbledore. On the other hand, looking at the cover of the book (mine is the UK Adult version; showing the Advance Potion textbook) i did had this vague idea that the Advanced Potion book will somehow be connected to Snape in some ways, though i never imagined that he was the Half Blood Prince. And I did have this impression that Snape will be a vital character this time. I mean, just think...when we say the word Potion..the name of Severus Snape will come to mind aiite??So......it was not a complete shock, only that we didn't put 2 and 2 together while being absorbed in the book...But in a way, Rowling somehow succeed in keeping the suspense and thrills until the end of the plots.

About Dumbledore's death, well some might think that it wasn't tragic enough but for me...the idea of Dumbledore being dead was appalling enough that we don't need a tragic way of him dying to make it more....real...and....ummm...catastrophic...*sob sob*

And just like Ayu said in her review, I didn't really have the feeling of "cepat la kluar next book, i can't wait" coz i was a bit disillusioned with the ending. But now that i've finished reading it for the 2nd time (i'm sure most of u've read it more than twice now) ... there's a lil bit of excitement building up here, and lotsa curiosity wanting to be satisfied :

1) Is Snape really "a servant who'll never return" to the Dark Lord??
2) What were they (Snape n Dumbledore) arguing about when Hagrid overheard them near the forest??
3) Dumbledore saying to Snape.."But u promised" and Snape replying something like "Maybe u took it for granted..maybe i just don't wanna do it anymore? Was Dumbledore's death planned by himself so as to get Snape to be Voldemort's most trusted man???
4) Like Ayu said, there must be more to Aunt Petunia than the cold-hearted, horsey-faced woman she was conceived to be...does she has deeper connection with the wizarding world than we know??
5) Surely Dumbledore trusted Snape due to better reason than Snape's repentance for giving out the info that led to the Potter's death, ain't it??????
6) AND MOST PUZZLING OF ALL, WHO'S R.A.B who destroyed the Horcrux???? I've racked my brain for hours but still can't figure it out!!!

To sum it up, there are things that i'd love Rowling to add to this book but i wouldn't even dream of her cutting off any of the sections or chapters as i love it just the way it was written, though I wouldn't mind if she add some more pages...(What??MORE??!!I can see Daphne's mouth hanging open in horror!!!hahaha)

As for the rating, i'd give this book 4 1/4 out of 5.. Sorry guys!Can't help it...even after all the critics, i find myself still loving it! ;-)

O'oh! I've run out of parchment here! Better stop now, till the next book then....Pip Pip!!