Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

Product Description
This must-read fantasy takes you inside Hogwarts again for Harry's 6th year. What's in store for the wizard and his friends? What danger does his greatest enemy have planned? And who is the half-blood prince? Find out in this long-awaited adventure! Winner of two 2005 Quill Book Awards: Best Children's Chapter Book in the middle grade category and readers' choice for Book of the Year!
function registerNamespace(ns)

Good, but too much tell rather than show ***relatively minor spoilers below*** Once I got started, I devoured HP and the Half Blood Prince in about a week. This was a nice change from the plodding Order of the Phoenix, which I forced down over the course of several months. The HBP focuses primarily on the development and evolution of the main characters. There are only a few big events but boy, are they shocking. The final pages throw the ball high into the air, to be caught somewhere in Book 7. I fault the HBP on two points: First off, many reviewers have observed that HBP is largely a setup for Deathy Hallows (which I have yet to read). But HBP also spends many pages attempting to wrap up and weave together the events of Books 1-5. Rowling tries to pull it all together-- characters, incidents, items from HP's past-- into one over-arching plotline. At times it feels very strained, and it's evident that Rowling dreamed up most of these explanations and connections far after the time they were originally written. Secondly, there are, of course, a number of rather astounding twists towards the end. However, unlike in previous volumes, I don't feel that these twists were handled very well. Their explanations seem feeble, half-hearted, and overall unsatisfactory. The twists inevitably result in character assassination of cast members whose reliability served as much of the foundation of previous volumes. The destruction of reliability is a bit too abrupt, and subsequent attempts to patch or explain away this loss feel like a band-aid over a dagger through the heart. Perhaps the Deathly Hallows will help bridge these rifts. Overall, it's still a very enjoyable, engrossing read. I feel like a young school girl in admitting that intrigue over the various romances prodded me to continue flipping pages. Several scenes and lines made me laugh out loud or smile, always a sign that a reading is time well spent.
Build-up "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by itself is a very good novel. When compared to its predecessor "Order of the Phoenix" and the last installment "Deathly Hallows", it doesn't quite measure up. The sixth book of the series is largely a build-up to transition to the final stand-off in the seventh book, but it seems like there is just a little too much talking and not enough classic Harry Potter action. I guess this was a pretty necessary transition, however, as it does set up the conclusion of the series very nicely. I suggest that if you have not read this book yet to make sure that you have the seventh book handy as you are going to want to continue on as soon as you finish this one.
Great book just like the rest. Like all the books before its a great work. My entire family (that can read) has read every book (my wife and I listen to them on cd). My 5 yr old has been harry potter for the past 3 years for holloween.