Customer Rating:  
Summary: bate and switch
Comment: I ordered Harry Potter and the Half-blood prince CD audio book, narrated by Jim Dale. I received a cd with "all the harry potter books", instead.
Not at all happy -
Customer Rating:
Summary: Might be my new favorite HP book!
Comment: I absolutely love this book. It is incredible. I read it the first time and thought it was good, but the second time was amazing. I am really looking forward to the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Filler not killer book....until the very end
Comment: Overall:
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2.5 stars -- The story is weak exposition (for the most part) filling in holes in the plot / milieu that needed to be filled before the conclusion of the series to satisfy the Harry Potter fan base. The concept of Horcruxes is not new to the fantasy setting (many authors have used them before with wide circulation in the D&D realm for Liches). The death of Dumbledore is expected not the exact method of it. The milieu is getting dark but does not quite feel right for where I would have taken the story.
Characters:
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The use of the Pensieve for background development is a nice trick but seems to be used a bit much in the story. You could have just had Dumbledore explain things which would have worked just a well. The background of Tom Riddle is interesting but you quickly see how evil he is...did not need to belabour it as much as was done. Harry is growing a bit but is still emotionally stunted compared to the other characters; I am not sure why this annoys me so much when I reading the books. I guess I would like to see the characters learn from their mistakes instead of repeating them all the time.
Ron and Hermeine are clearly going to work out in the next book as are Ginny and Harry.
Snape is done very well in the book. The death scene of Dumbledore is done very well with great impact. The depth of Snape character is unmatched by the other characters in the entire story. The underdog role of Snape in the face of constant social pressure and potential lethalness is very well done (inserting a bit from the last book). The anger and betrayal felt in the death scene when Snape kills Dumbledore is well engineered and affective.
Draco: His true character is demonstrated -- a wuss. He is all talk and no show. I know JKR is going for redemption for him but he could really have had it. Draco only realizes the implications of his actions late in the book and could done many things about it.
Dumbledore: Many things are annoying about him in this book. The trying to make up for lost time with Harry is done pourly and ineffectively. It would have been much easier to actually tell Harry things..but wait you can not do that as Harry has not learned to block out the Dark Lord as people have been trying to get to do that for three books but he is too proud / self-important to do it.
Plot:
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The plot is terribly weak. Dumbledore's death is needed to advance the plot. I must give credit to JKR for setting up the last book well in HBP. She has done a very good job of laying out the plot many books ago and utilizing the plot hooks through the books. The unfortunately part is that you have to read some slow scenes that in hind sight could have been removed.
The Horcruxes are over used in my mind. Also, it should be nearly impossible to find them regardless of how much you have insight into the Dark Lord's mind. A smart wizard would have taken much stronger methods of protection and obfuscation for the objects.
Actions:
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The action is lacking up until the end of the book. The Death Eater raid on Hogworts is done fairly well. However, I still do not understand why the "good guys" are not killing the Death Eaters outright. There are many opportunities to do so. It is a war; war is a terrible thing with terrible costs. If the point is to show that violence and killing is bad, why not show the change in a beloved character after the battle where the character killed / executed a stunned Death Eater. If you are going for dark in the story/setting, the rounding up and killing of the captured Death Eaters would drive the point home very easily.
American GIs were forced to kill or be killed in WWII. When they came home, they did not discuss the fighting, horror and death but rather they did their best to celebrate life and build a better life for their families. It was their personal sacrifice that led to their ability to achieve so much; the strongest people are forged in the hottest crucibles.
Action:
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It is fairly weak until the climax.
Prose:
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It is on par with the prior books -- aka not evolving much.
Summary:
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Overall: 2.5 stars
Characters: 2.5 - 3 stars
Plot: 1.5 - 2 stars
Action: 2 stars until the end 3.5 - 4 stars (Dumbledores death is well done)
Prose: 3 stars
Customer Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Very CRUEL!
Comment: WOW, she really did a great job of getting everyone fired up for book 7. The ending was torture. I don't know if that makes me happy or really angry. I find myself continually amazed at how she created all this in her head and if she knew how things would turn out from the very start.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A revealing look into the past...
Comment: In the Sixth installment of JK Rowlings Harry Potter series, "The Half-blood Prince", she continues the thrill ride. As yet another year passes for Harry Potter, of all the changes that have come to him, the trials, difficulties, and changes, this year will bring some of the most ardent yet.
Pro. Dumbledore begins to teach Harry himself, but these private lessons held in the Master's Office are not the lessons that he is use to. The two takes a 'stroll down memory lane' as it were, reviewing key memories that Dumbledore has managed to collect concerning Voldemort's past and his rise to power. Together they learn the secret to Voldemort's seeming indestructibility, and devise plans to end the Dark Lord, once and for all.
This is the most compelling of the Harry Potter series yet, the heat begins to get cranked a little higher, and the pressure goes up on Harry and his friends. The mystery of the "Half-Blood Prince" keeps you guessing right up until the end.
****WARNING, THE REST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!****
It was hard reading the end of this book, for somehow I had managed to avoid hearing details of those last few chapters before reading them. Reading that ending, was one of the hardest things I've read I think. Rowlings really makes you feel you know these characters, not just Harry and his close friends, but Dumbledore and the other major characters as well. Standing on the top of that tower, watching helplessly along side Harry as he watches the murder of his mentor, hero, and friend, is nearly heartbreaking.
I highly recommend this story for anyone who is a Harry Potter fan, or just a general fantasy fan(though I suggest reading the first 5 first if you haven't).
RD Williams, author of "The Lost Gate"
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