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HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE By J.K. Rowling
I did it. My kids laughed at me for reading it before they did, but I bought the new Harry Potter book and finished it in a week. For any of you who were once very much like me in that you wrote off the Harry Potter books as just for kids, please let me convince you to give them a go. They really are great stories and better escapist literature than the serial killer novels stocking the adult fiction section.
This sixth installment in the Harry Potter series is quite fulfilling. I would not say it is my favorite - that honor probably goes to the Order of the Phoenix - but it delivers all those things we expect from a Harry Potter book. The suspense is riveting. The characters are sixteen now, full of hormones and courage, but still the same Harry and Ron and Hermoine we’ve come to love.
My only disappointment with the book has to do with the character who dies. I can’t say more or I’ll give it away, but I’m just not sure if I’m being hoodwinked or not by the death of this character and by the character’s murderer. I have this feeling that all is not what it seems, and I don’t like feeling like a sucker.
This is a cliffhanger to be sure. We are meant to be left wondering, but man – that’s an unfulfilling feeling after nearly 700 pages. Having said that, I wouldn’t have missed it. Reviewing Harry Potter feels rather like critiquing the Big Mac – but there you have it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. On the Book Beat for KSL Newsradio 1160, I’m Amanda Dickson.
