Saturday, April 4, 2015

Half-Blood Prince: a brief review

taken from goodreads.com
With the second-to-last Harry Potter book crossed off my list, I can see the finish line. I am so close, guys. So close to being done shushing people who try to casually mention some otherwise well-known fact about the series or its characters. So close to being one of the cool kids. So close to being able to actually check something off my 2015 goals list (because even though I've been "checking" each individual book, "finish Harry Potter" is what was actually on my goals list and I haven't been able to cross it off despite the incredible amount of hours I've had Harry playing on audiobook throughout my house). It's been driving me crazy.

It's Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, and he spends his time impressing the new Potions professor (Snape finally got his dream job of Defense Against the Dark Arts) with the help of his used textbook's handwritten notes. The Half-Blood Prince, as the book's previous owner calls himself, has all kinds of shortcuts, fool-proof solutions, and original potions that Harry benefits from greatly. Meanwhile, Ron likes Hermione but gets his feelings hurt and dates other girls, Hermione likes Ron but gets her feelings hurt and refuses to be in the same room as him, Harry is obsessed with proving that Draco is up to no good, and Dumbledore spends a considerable amount of time teaching Harry all about the tragic history of Voldemort's life.

I just finished this one about a half hour ago probably, and I have some mixed feelings. (And every single one of those mixed feelings contains spoilers, so be warned just in case.) Also, it goes without saying, that I still have the final book of the series to read and these are my thoughts based on where I am right now. AKA: if you try to point out why my feelings are wrong because you know what happens in book 7, I will probably cause you physical harm.
  • Snape is the worst. Just the living worst. I've never liked him, I've always thought he was a whiny baby, and now he's proven that he's the worst. (Also, I'm still like 90% sure that he will turn out to be good in the end - and good all along - because Dumbledore isn't an idiot, I just have no idea how.)
  • Ron and Hermione are sooooo teenagers. They belong right smack dab in the middle of a sitcom. Just get on the same page at the same time and spend the rest of your lives together, already. 
  • Actually, copy and paste that last bullet point into this one, but use Harry and Ginny's names instead. Good grief. 
  • Along those lines, I cannot even talk about how annoyed I am with Harry. So you're going to go travel the world in search of Voldemort so you can kill him. Why do you need to be single to do that? You've just spent all this time swooning over Ginny and then you finally get her and now you have this big light bulb go off that you can't be tied down by her when you've got this quest to carry out? Even though you've known for six years now that you're going to have to go on this quest at some point? Even though for this entire book, people have been referring to you as the "chosen one" because you're going to have to kill Voldemort? Come. On. You don't have to dump her, for crying out loud. Ginny's a smart girl. She's kind of known all of this about you since day 1. How much of a distraction is she going to be, really?
  • Also along those lines, but worthy of its own bullet point I think: why do all superheroes tell the women in their lives that they have to break up with them so they'll be safe? The bad guys always come for the people in our lives that are our weaknesses, they say. First of all, again, I think Ginny realizes this is a risk. I'm pretty sure she's known it was a risk since she fell in love with you at age 12 or whatever. Let her make that choice for herself. Second of all, said bad guys aren't complete dummies. If you're dating a girl and then break up with her, Voldemort probably isn't going to be tricked into thinking you no longer care if she lives or dies. She's still probably a significant weakness of yours whether she's officially your girlfriend or not. So date the girl, for crying out loud. 
  • I'm still waiting for Dumbledore to show up alive. I know they buried him and the painting is hung in his office and all that, but I just want to go on record as saying that I will not be surprised when he shows up alive (and dressed in white, most likely) in book 7. Snape forgot to double-tap, I'm sure of it.  
  • The parts in which we learned about Voldemort/Tom Riddle's childhood and upbringing were heartbreaking and also terrifying. I actually got kind of scared listening to the scene where Dumbledore meets him for the first time...I've watched more than enough Law and Order SVU to know he had all the classic signs of being a sociopath and future serial killer. It's some pretty heavy content for its intended young adult audience...but read with a parent might be okay.
I think that's pretty much it. I really enjoyed this one and it went really fast (mostly because it was way more interesting than its predecessor, I think). I'm excited to listen to the final installment...if not mostly because then I can cross this series off the stinking list. 

Here's where I am with my 2015 reading goals list:

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