As you read this series, Harry's story has been a part of you, his world a part of yours, and, by this point, the story has not only become a part of you, but it gets deep under your skin in a way that you couldn't even imagine. And, if you ask me, this is a trait of meaningful and powerful storytelling.
***NON-SPOILER SECTION***
It took me 5 months but I'm finally done with it! And while it took me a long time to read, that doesn't mean I did not enjoy it. Quite the contrary, I absolutely loved the Half-Blood Prince more than the previous books in the series. If you'd like to see what I thought of the previous book in the series, before reading my - admittedly huge review - of this one, you can find the full review here.
In the time after I had finished the book, when I was thinking about it, I was struggling to find anything wrong with it, anything that bothered me or that I'd like to change, but I couldn't find anything negative, to say or anything I'd like to change about it. This book managed to stay in my mind after it was over and, even more, it managed to leave me with positive impressions only. Perhaps, the only thing that was not great about the Half-Blood Prince would have to be the movie that was inspired by it and which completely butchered the source material.
"The Half-Blood Prince" may be a big book, but it is in no way boring or tiring. It doesn't stall, it doesn't drag out with minor, unimportant details, and it doesn't sway from the subject. Conversely, it hits the subject right to the core, without hesitation and delivers what it promises. The book is thick with plot and dense with story, conflict, and suspense.
The pacing is great and the story's flow is smooth and consistent. The characters and the relationships between them evolve naturally and get more interesting as the story progresses. The writing and storytelling are artistic. The book has a very strong beginning and a very engaging ending that leaves you wanting more, it leaves you thirsty to just go to the next one immediately.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
This book is captivating from its very first moments! The first chapter is incredibly intriguing and it doesn't even include one of the main characters! The only familiar character in the first chapter is Fudge, a guy we don't even like as readers, while the other characters are new and not of major importance. Yet, this chapter not only gets all the new, significant information through successfully, but it does so in an intriguing way. It sucks you in and it manages to have you on the edge of your seat from the first pages.
Then, there's the second chapter which is one of the best things I've read in the whole series in general! It's perfect; full of mystery, darkness, conflict, and suspense. It has so many layers - not all of which can be understood in a first read - so much subtext hidden between the lines, and at the same time, it's artistically written! All that I can say about this chapter is that I read it and then went back to reread it because once was not enough! What's more, is that the more I read it, the more things I understood, and the experience was a bit different each time, even if the text remained the same. The tension had me on the edge and I kept thinking how it would have felt if I hadn't been familiar with the story.
This is actually one of the things that I find magical about this book. There's so much subtext, so many things are implied, yet left unspoken, that the whole context behind each and every scene can change, it can be perceived differently depending on how much you know (or maybe even suspect?) about the story. Every bit of dialogue, every interaction hides a hidden meaning behind what is obvious in a first read. This is probably one of the reasons that make the coming plot twist one of the - in my opinion - best plot twists in fiction. There are other reasons for it as well, but this is a subject for a different post (which I will probably be making after I'm done with the whole series). 😉
One of my favorite things about this book has to be Tom Riddle's backstory and the flashbacks of his life. We finally get to see his background; where he came from, how and why he came to be Voldemort, why he believed what he believed and did what he did. And, to be honest, I felt that most of it made sense. Now, don't get me wrong, killing people doesn't make sense in general, but it makes sense for him, for his character and life. The fact that he became like this, that he ended up to his conclusions about life, death, family, and love (or the lack thereof) makes absolute sense if you look at his past experiences, his identity, his upbringing, and his perception about others, about the world and, most importantly, about himself. None of it is justifiable, but you can see why and how it all came to be and you can understand it. It is part of what makes Voldemort the complete, solid, and compelling villain that he is.
You know what is absolutely disappointing? The fact that none of this rich and compelling backstory is featured in the movie! Okay, almost none of it - there's that one memory with Slughorn that was done halfway decently... But where is everything else? The "Half-Blood Prince" is basically about Voldemort and the Gaunts and Voldemort is in one memory, while the Gaunt family isn't even mentioned! His backstory is the whole point and the core of how they hope to defeat him and this is how much attention it got? In exchange for what? Cringy, angsty teenage romance?! Just... No!
The teenage romances are present in the book as well and they are given a fair amount of time, but they're not given nearly as much attention compared to Voldemort's story and they're more substantial instead of shallow, superficial filler scenes! In the book, it feels like the most gravity is given to Voldemort's story, to the mystery behind the Half-Blood Prince, to the mystery behind Draco rather than to the romances. In the book, the romantic subplots are exactly this - subplots - they keep happening on the side, as the actual plot progresses, and they're great just like that; side stories, subplots! Whereas in the movie, the romantic sub-plots are being over-utilized at the expense of the actual plot. Why wasn't Voldemort's mother ever mentioned? His father, his fascination with important artifacts, and why he picked them amongst other objects to be his Horcruxes? All these were fascinating to read about, not to mention crucial for the story, so we should have more of these in the movie.
Talking about Voldemort's mother, I kind of felt sorry for her and what she had gone through. This doesn't in any way justify her bewitching his father, what she did was inherently and undoubtedly wrong, but again, even though it is wrong, you can understand her and where she's coming from. For her character, it makes sense that she acts this way because she doesn't know any better. She was infatuated with him and saw nothing wrong with her actions. But she only managed to hurt herself even more with her actions. By the time she understands she has made a mistake and tries to correct it, hoping that Tom Riddle senior will reciprocate her feelings, she finds out that there is no possible positive outcome for her. She doesn't only lose the man she was in love with, but her family as well (which was not much of a family, to begin with, but that's probably beside the point), and she is left abandoned and alone in the world. She has known nothing but abuse and neglect by her family, rejection by her love interest, and is now left alone, penniless, and helpless with a baby in her belly. I can't help but feel deeply sorry for her tragic life and her even more tragic fate!
On the other end, I felt absolutely appalled and infuriated by the rest of the Gaunt family! Rowling knows her characters well and does a great job portraying them not only descriptively, but also in a way that evokes strong feelings. Morphin and Marvolo both disgusted me and I was glad that they met the ending they deserved! In the hands of their descendant! Again, you can see why Voldemort despises the lot of them and how he struggled to "climb" above them. Anyway, getting on...
I love that we finally get a glimpse of who Snape was and how he was as a student through his forgotten book. Of course, this glimpse we get to see of him will leave a different impression on the reader depending on how familiar they are with the story. I, for example, had watched the movies before reading the books and I had been spoiled for a great deal of the story. So when I was reading the book - knowing the outcome beforehand - I could read between the lines, see all the different layers, and spot the "crumbs" that had been sprinkled along the way, which I would not have been able to detect if I had no idea about the truth. I kept imagining what I would have thought and how I would have felt if it was my first contact with the story. My reactions, thoughts, and impressions of the characters would have been entirely different. The whole book would have been an entirely different experience.
Anyway, it's great to finally know that Snape was a good student, kind of a prodigy as it seems. He was creative enough to figure out all these things about potions and create his own spells from such a young age, and at the same time, he was malicious enough to create such an evil spell. You can see how dedicated he was and how much he loved magic. It was also very interesting for me to see him teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for the first time. The scene of his first lesson was mysterious and captivating to me; we finally get to see his fascination with the subject, his affinity for the Dark Arts, and why he would actually be a great teacher for it.
Snape is actually one of my favorite characters, if not my most favorite character, in the Harry Potter universe. He is immensely interesting, layered, multi-dimensional, and generally fascinating to read about. He's by no means a great person, he has flaws and problems and has made big mistakes. I can see all of his different sides clearly, I'm not idealizing him and I'm not blind to his dubious nature. In fact, this dubious nature and his grey morality are some of the things I love more about him and about fictional characters in general. I enjoy reading about him and his life, even in the moments when he makes me hate him. He's one of those characters in fiction that I wish I could have written myself. His role in this book is big and important, not to mention ambiguous and controversial - more so than ever before - and this makes him even more fascinating to me.
I like Draco's sub-plot in this book; it is dark, mysterious, and thrilling and it was refreshing to see Harry finally be right about something 😂 . What I like more about it is how you see Draco gradually change throughout the story and everything he goes through - all of which culminates in this book. The change may not be big, or obvious yet, but I believe this is the starting point for a different life for him.
Draco realizes that he's been lied to his whole life. He thought that he was supposed to be this death eater and make his father proud, but he realizes this is actually not true. This isn't what he was meant to be at all, he's not made for it. He doesn't want it, he's scared for his and his family's lives and, by the middle of the story and toward the end, he becomes increasingly more hesitant, he only does it because his life depends on it. He slowly comes to the realization that he's not actually meant to be a death eater, that there is something else inside of him. By the time we get to the scene where he's crying in the bathroom, you get from hating Draco and feeling infuriated by his cockiness to a point where you actually feel sorry for him. I felt sad and pity for him and I knew by that point, that no matter how dark things he'd choose to do, he wasn't completely beyond saving. It's heartbreaking to see his struggle, his confusion, and how this whole thing slowly destroys him.
Harry feels a lot more interesting in this book. He feels more mature like he can finally stand on his own feet and be more independent and more determined. I like him more as time passes, not that he ever was particularly unlikable, he was always nice, but he gets better.
The relationships between the characters are great. They feel a lot better and more natural than in the movies where they felt awkward. The relationship between Harry and Ginny evolves nicely and naturally and even though I couldn't care about its portrayal in the movies, in the book it's pretty wholesome. Especially the scene of their first kiss is adorable and it baffles me why it wasn't included in the movie! The scene was simple, it could be made short and it would have been so much cuter than what we got!
The relationship between Ron and Hermione is a lot nicer in the book too. The romance between them feels inevitable, like it was meant to be, like it couldn't be any other way and I love this. I have to admit though, I did find the final scene between Harry and Ginny (at Dumbledore's funeral) a bit cringy.
I didn't care much about the Tonks-Lupin pairing, but it wasn't bad either, just kinda meh for me...
I never really liked Fleur, but I also didn't hate her and I couldn't understand the hate Ginny and Molly had for her and to the point they had it. I was glad that she proved them wrong in the end and proved that she really loved Bill and was willing to stay by him. She was fierce in this scene, the scene itself was great, it had a lovely outcome (as Molly finally accepts her) and I found new respect for her.
I really liked Slughorn; I thought he was so much fun and he was also an interesting character with a lot to offer to the characters and the story. The scene where Harry tries to get the memory from him was both hilarious and smart at the same time! I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Dumbledore's death is depressing. I can only imagine what reading it would feel like to someone who's not familiar with the story. It wasn't shocking for me, because not only was I familiar with it, but also because I think it was foreshadowed quite a bit. Still, this doesn't make it any less tragic. Specifically, the part where they find his body is chilling and heartbreaking. The scene of the murder itself is full of suspense and emotions and, once again, hidden meanings. Draco's hesitation, Snape's apparent resentment, Harry's inability to do anything... all of it is great!
And it was all so perfectly portrayed in the movie as well! For all its flaws and inaccuracies, this movie has a few redeeming qualities. The actors, for one thing, play their roles perfectly, they all display great acting. And, more specifically, Alan Rickman (R.I.P.) is phenomenal as Professor Snape! Every scene he's in is precious, and especially the murder scene is absolutely flawless! It's just a bit different from the book, but it's a great interpretation of the original, nonetheless. In fact, the moment where he confesses to Harry that he is the Half-Blood Prince is even better in the movie!
***END OF SPOILERS***MY RATING***
I don't know what else there is for me to say about this book without repeating myself and without just saying how great it was over and over again. This post is already too long as it is... 😅 It was a great book, definitely my favorite in the series so far and it could also probably rank among my favorite books in general. The writing is great, the plot is rich, and the characters are perfectly developed... I can't find a fault with it, which is why I rated it 5/5*. It deserves this rating and it deserves your time and attention.
The build-up from all the previous books is definitely worth it when you get to this book and to what seems to be the fascinating ending of the next book. I've already started reading "The Deathly Hallows" and I can't wait to dive deeper into it.
Until then...
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