Like the lovable geek that i am, i was among the first in line to get a reserved copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Finished reading it in less than a day. Mulled things over in my head. Re-read it a couple of times. Even read some opinions of some fellow HP fiends in one of those online forums. I've finally decided that i'm thoroughly disappointed in ol' J.K's latest installment..or maybe i'm just getting old. I'm sure she thought about writing it in a style that would suit tweens and teens..along the same age as Harry of course. Coz when i was reading it i kept wondering if i bought a Harry Potter book and not a Sweet Valley High or Babysitter's Club book. Oh, it had its moments, such as the 'You-No-Poo' part..and it was kinda fun reading about their love lives for a while..but besides that, what? here are some of my qualms about it:
NOTE: There is a reason why i mentioned the word 'Spoilers' in the heading. DON'T go telling people who don't want to be told the story before reading it. That's just plain rude, and it says something about your upbringing. So please don't bring shame to your mothers and keep your yaps shut. I'm not going to mention names, but 'bato bato sa langit...'..u know the rest.
1. Not much character development. Harry's has become less angst-ridden than in the 5th book, but Ron's character took his place. Hermione simply seemed like this bitchy-ass selosa woman and not at all the sympathetic, warm intellectual she was previously. I thought she had a genuine thirst for knowledge, but here she's shown as a sore loser who hates 'not being the best' in something for a change. (Harry outguns her in Potions thanks to his trusty dog-earred book) And to think she wouldn't even visit Hagrid when Aragog died!! That's just mean. Plus, no mention of SPEW at all. All Dumbledore was was this Lame Grandfatherly figure to Harry..
2. Quite a lot of hormones flying about, but that was to be expected. I just wish Rowling didn't focus so much on it, if i wanted to read about that i would've picked up a Cosmo or watched ElimiDate or something.
3. This one was simply a major BOO-BOO on Rowling's part...dunno whoelse has noticed this error but in one of the chapters it's mentioned that during Potions class Malfoy had a facial expression that was an uncanny resemblance 'to the time Hermione punched him in the face.' or something like that. Punched! She never punched him; that was in the movie. She slaps him in the 3rd book.
4. Not a lot of new magical stuff was introduced. Or i suppose Rowling thought she's invented quite enough already; but in that case i disagree: this is what people look forward to the most..it's what made her HP series so great in the first place. And all she could muster were some feeble Zombies floating in a lake? [incidentally, doesn't that seem familiar?? When i read that part, i immediately thought about LOTR]
5. Scrimgeour wasn't impressive. The new Minister left me a bit cold. Again, was it intentional on Rowling's part?
6. I can possibly understand what Ron sees in Hermione, but what does she see in him?? I've already known they'd wind up together, Rowling had been throwing hints into my face about it since the 4th and even the 3rd book. Harry and Ginny was my bet too, i love it when i'm right heheh. ;) But i kinda got annoyed when Harry does an alla-Spiderman/Batman on Ginny and explains that 'they could never be' if they 'keep this up' or something..hahah!! And so they split up. But i'm guessing they'll be glued at the lips again once Harry finishes off ol' Tommy..
7. Why couldn't Fawke's cry over Bill's face instead of singing all over Hogwarts? Didn't even help Dumbledore when he was helpless. Dumb bird! Although..can Dumbledore be resurrected w/ Fawke's help? He better; so he can redeem himself!
The stuff i liked reading about were Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and their cool merchandise, Luna's lines and even the quidditch games..
guess i shouldnt've gotten so hyped-up about it..i'll just wait patiently for the 4th movie and the last book..
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