What did you think of the sixth book? [Archive]

kashlie

16-07-2005, 05:44

First up, I will get the negative comments out of the way.
I felt this book was way too fast, touching on things then leaving them hanging. Harry's dealing with Sirius' death, for example. That just seemed way too simple.
I felt it lacked - something. I even for a brief moment suspected that JKRowling did not even write it!!
I don't even know what month it was when the end came!! I could simply have missed it...
I guess I am trying to say I have been left wanting.

I didn't understand the first chapter and failed to see the link between it and PS/SS until stopping and thinking about it. I don't think I was satisfied.
Draco's Detour was also unsatisfying, but I was shocked and awed by Spinner's End, the bit about Dementor's and the mist, and Felix Felicis.

I really don't know what to think just yet, having only finished about 15 minutes ago. I guess there is much to discuss, and I think I will need to read it again, without the anticipation and expectations, to find the new questions and digest the answers.
I think many of the new characters will play bigger parts in the next book. I feel like the HBP was merely a bridge between Voldemort's rebirth, and, hopefully, his death in book 7.

I did like it though. I think.

mimbulus mimbletonia

16-07-2005, 05:56

I really liked this one. I much prefer the happier, mature Harry to the angsty Harry in OotP. Finding out about the HPB himself was a let-down though, after how many months of speculation.

The first chapter didn't surprise me, but I was kinda surprised there was no follow-up later in the book - it seemed so important at the time.

I still feel there are many things left unanswered, and a major point (for me) answered, but not satisfactorily. kashlie, maybe you're right - not so many 'new' questions, but new angles to old questions, like Harry dealing with Sirius' death. And Snape. Or maybe I read it to fast and need to have along slow read now :) I'll admit I was rushing the last 2 chapters as I wanted to finish before having to cook tea. :rolleyes:

I really liked the way Harry asked questions in this book, and the romance aspect was quite enjoyable. Felix Felicis is a brilliant concept, loved that one.

This totally lived up to my expectations, and is my favourite of the series so far.

Boing

16-07-2005, 12:30

Yup. I'm complteley satisfied. I have to agree that I was disappointed by that first chapter and really just wanted to bypass it to get to "the good stuff" . . . but JKR has her ways and we will know in a couple years whether or not it has more bearing on the rest of the story.

I think it will take a bit to sink in and then I am going to have to go back and read it again, too. I think one of the reasons it seemed to go so fast was because I was reading it in a blur, too excited to get to the next part to really sit and think further . . .

Thumbs up from Boing!

The SketchWolf

16-07-2005, 18:37

As I have been unable to read (as well as get my hands on) the book for longer than I had hoped, I'm sorry to say that I can't give a full-blown reveiw yet, but so far I'm liking it very much. In my opinion, it's much, MUCH better than the fifth (which did not live up to my expectations at all, sad to say), so even though it may not be the best in the series, it's miles away from the fifth. And who knows? I could end up liking it best once I finish. But I believe my favorite will always be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. That's got to be one of the greatest literary works of our day... followed by only by other Harry books, of course!

yarvelling

17-07-2005, 03:38

Thoroughly enjoyed it :)
But, I have to agree with a little of what Kashlie said...it does almost seem to be a bridge between OoTP and the next...JKR almost seemed in a rush to get this story out. Although charming and funny in many ways, just like in all the previous books, there did seem to be a lack of the little 'intricate' details, and funny little side-stories which, whilst not driving the main plot, made for amusing or interesting 'relief' moments (best way I can think of right now to describe them!).
There also seemed to be a lot of reliance all of a sudden of convenient little 'short cuts' through the castle which I don't recall being there before; in HBP, every time Harry needed to get somewhere quickly and was about to be blocked by say, Peeves, he'd nip down this short-cut that just happened to be waiting for him, and arrive unimpeded..... That seems a little, dare I say, lazy?
Overall though, the little quibbles aside, a great story, and a fantastic set of developments to lead into the final book.

Alz

17-07-2005, 04:06

The book was without doubt my fav so far ...

I think it is on it's own as far as composition and detail - it could almost give the aspect that it was written by someone else because it just delivered answer after answer after answer!
Usually we spend the book trying to figure things out - occasionally you get a clue, fact or detail -HBP was just one long list of answer to the questions people like myself seem to ask that other felt were over analysis or just not important ..
I think JKR was very clever - because she delivered so so much to us in HBP - but notice the real lack of overall/septology clues?
She really is a clever woman - she delivered answers and many of them - but still you will feel a little 'upset' that you didnt get any overall answers or the fact that the questions coming out of it remain very low - that is expected as JKR has so much already to tie up that adding a shed load more questions would make the last book a telephone directory!

The book is sheer genius - you may not see it because you felt it ran too quick, didnt ask enough - didnt answer enough of your own questions - but look at it from JKR's point of view - she delivered 607 pages of text yet again that on this occasion provided you so much information you dont know what to do with it - while still keeping the big questions out of the storyline!

JKR - YOU ROCK!

kashlie

17-07-2005, 04:23

Blaise, Yarvelling, thankyou for that!
I have been thinking about it ever since I finished reading it. The questions are starting to come, I must admit. But the biggest question I am asking myself is why I have a problem with it.
We got the answers we wanted, we got the shock that very few expected, and we saw Harry become a man.
What I didn't feel was right was the Half Blood Prince storyline, but as I think about it more, I realise it isn't about the HBP himself, but about the connection between him and Harry.
I still can't say if I liked the book or not though, and that is upsetting me quite a bit.

Buzzzz

17-07-2005, 04:23

All I can say is Wow... It was a great book.

I have to agree with Kashlie. The book did seem kind of rushed, but although rushed I think she did an excellent job of creating a "bridge" between the previous and next book, as said above. I think she left out alot of the emotion Harry would be feeling throughout and at the end of the book though.

I was dissapointed by the first chapter too.. I just wanted to get to the story.. it kind of put me off reading it for a few hours.

Overall, I think the book was great and I can't wait to see what happens in the last book. And I will have to agree with Blaise, she will have to make the next book a telephone directory.

mimbulus mimbletonia

17-07-2005, 04:23

Fortescue

17-07-2005, 04:40

Well, I guess I am thoroughly disappointed. The first third of the book I wondered where it was going because it didn't really seem to have direction or purpose.

It was too shippy - not so much about Harry and Jenny - Ron and Hermione stuff, but adding in digs about Filch and Pince - Dumbledore and McGonagall Etc. and Won Won's obsession with Lavender's tonsils --- come on!

Considering who got knocked off this time, I will be truly amazed if the seventh book can be any better, simply because she knocked off one of the most important "good" characters, but left all the evil ones intact.

I agree with kash, it didn't even seem like JKR wrote it - not to mention all the new characters and things that were introduced - it made the story too fragmented. I was under the assumption she was going to be tying up loose ends not making more. It was a big letdown!

The SketchWolf

18-07-2005, 08:16

I noticed that when I was about 2/3 of the way through the book, and realised nothing significant had been revealed, and really no major plot developments. It was all about the potions lessons, quidditch and girlfriends.

Exactly my point.

Well, one of them anyway. I was happy to notice that Harry was no longer a hormonal nightmare (I think JK overdid the 'teen angst' in the fifth book) for one thing... and I was happy to see a little further character developement, thought perhaps not as much as I was hoping for.

In the past couple of books Dumbledore seemed significantly, uncharacteristicly un-Dumbledore-ish... well, guess we won't have to worry about that anymore... *excuse the morbib humor, it's a flaw of mine*

However, I have to say that this has to be the most predictable Potter book yet.

Tonks

18-07-2005, 08:27

Alright, while i did think it was a bit fragmented, I really did like it!

I am so glad that Harry finally got over that teen angst stuff, because that got pretty annoying.. and I loved all the so-called "shipper" stuff because it's about time some of that got started..

I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to learn more about ghosts and how people become ghosts and that sort of thing, as that was such a big issue at the end of OotP but really didn't show up at all in HBP.

Um, it really was a much darker book to me.. there were so many different attacks and that sort of thing, but in addition to that, everyone was just in a much more depressed mood.. Except for Fred & George I suppose but even they weren't all happy happy happy.. But i really did notice that HBP had very few one-liners that made me laugh out loud..

I really did like it, but I'm not sure where it falls in with my other book preferences yet. I need to give it a month or so to fully sink in and then I'll be able to decide - still, I wasn't that let down by it.. and it really did contain a lot of information that i've wanted to know!!

So - :D :D from me..

Finnegan

19-07-2005, 05:28

Well, I liked it, I suppose. But I certainly didn't love that way I loved The Goblet of Fire, and I do think that it had a lot of problems. First of all - is it just me, or did nothing happen until the last 100, maybe even 50 pages? It was strangely plot-less, I thought. Now, I know that we're probably warming up to the big finale, and that preparations have to be made, but that doesn't excuse spending an entire book on just giving Harry (and us) some information, and killing off a character who needed to be dead. I honestly wondered for the larger part of the book what on earth it was actually about. And while JKR did kill Dumbledore in a wonderfully cruel and funny way, that just didn't make up for the other 500 pages.

I was a bit disappointed by the way that every one of the romantic entanglements looked like bad fanfic. On occasion, I was wondering whether this was HBP or ff.net. The whole Harry/Ginny-thing, especially. That was predictable and boring and pointless, and all it told us was that Harry has hormones (which we already knew). Oh, and is it just me, or is Hermione being dumbed down for Ron? She was smarter in Philosopher's Stone that in this one, and it all seems to go back to wanting to be nicer and more acceptable to Ron. Yes, I really was ever so disappointed that no Weasleys were killed in the makingof this book.

Of course, there were things that I liked - while I failed to see why we needed to spend a whole book on it, I liked the information that we got on Voldemort. His stupidity has now been explained by inbreeding. :D And I think that I rather like the Horcrux thing - though JKR will have to make that I really quick quest to fit it all into book seven - and I like that idea of a mission for Harry, even if I don't like the idea of no Hogwarts in book seven (but I'm not sure I believe that).

All in all - I'll make it 7/10. Because I'm feeling nice today. ;)

Boing

19-07-2005, 10:05

In response to the relationships part of the book, I think it would have been really weird to have an entire book where no one even looks at a member of the opposite sex, especially given all the foreshadowing and groundwork that had been laid. I think JKR is still trying to show that they are teenagers and yes, there is a more important battle going on, but they are real people everyone can relate to and they act in a manner that befits their age.

As for Hermione - I think she is learning that yes, books are great, but there are more important things in the world. She still goes to the library to research and she still comes up with interesting theories for why things might be the way they are, but she's not always right.

Sirius Potter Fan

19-07-2005, 12:28

Althought I can't really say it was the best book I have ever read, I did really enjoy it. Some parts I had predicted more acurately than I thought LOL, others came as a total shock. I'm not shure whether JKR was just trying to keep the book short, or if she was in a hurry to get it out quickly (if you can call it that) But I think it indeed needed to be a bit longer, to fully cover what all went on. I was quite disapointed that Dumbledore never even attempted to continue with Harry's occlumency training, I'm hoping that it happens in the next book, . . . unless. . . well that's another thread.

I think the relationships were necessary in the story, may not have been plot specific, but Harry, Ron, and Hermionie need that type of bond with someone as a base for emotional stability with all the things happening. I think all the "snogging" (do you Brits really say that?) was quite comical and provided a good laugh. I also really liked seeing Hermionie being so frustrated when Harry kept out doing her in potions. She had always accpeted him doing better in DADA, but now. . . :p I enjoyed the story line with Draco, I think we are starting to see the core of him, and get a hint at where he may be going.

My biggest beef with the book was it's title. All the mystery around the HBP, well, yeah, we did indeed find out who it was, but it really wasn't the main line of the story, and previously the titles have been very specific about the story plot. The title of the book would have been more properly " Harry Potter and the Making of Voldemort" well you get my drift anyway. but even in that, I was a bit disapointed, in that we realy didn't learn that much about him. And we stil don't really know just what happened at his birth, only that his mother died, not even why she died.

I liked Slughorn, but I'm just a little leary of him. One thing that really surprised me with him, is that if he taught Lily, then he would have taught Snape as well, but he never seemed to notice that Harry was doing things that Snape shurely must have done

Tonks

19-07-2005, 13:53

Yes, I really was ever so disappointed that no Weasleys were killed in the making of this book.
:eek: - Don't even ;)

Um, I found it extremely weird that Lily was made out to be good at Potions and part of the Slug Club but that Snape was never mentioned as part of that. It didn't bother me so much that Harry would've been doing the same things as Snape, as it was many years later, but that Slughorn never mentioned Snape was skilled at Potion-making.

I do have to echo SPF's beef with the title here.. and am hoping that the HBP stuff will become much more important in book 7 or its going to seem like a lot of filler to me.. Pity 'Harry Potter and the Horcruxes' just doesn't have the same ring to it..

Snuffles

19-07-2005, 18:35

I have to say I was really disappointed with the HBP.
It seemed like JK Rowling seemed to have run out of ideas to write about!
From the start, I thought it was pretty lame for JK Rowling to switch Harry's best and worst subjects.
Then there was the whole thing with Snape and Dumbledore's death.
We all knew Snape was evil from the start, didn't we?
Dumbledore dying... it was pretty, well, disappointing.
The whole first half of the book sort of had no point, because the real action came near the end, when Dumbledore died, and Harry had to fight.

And here's one of the several questions that popped in my head as I was reading this. "Why couldn't have Harry rode on a broomstick to catch Snape and Malfoy, at the end of the book?" It SAID in the book that the Ministry was able to figure out there were two people in the tower because there WERE two broomsticks. It wasn't like he had to get out of the school grounds, either, because it would just be the front lawn of the castle he would be riding the broom. Sure, Harry must have panicked and all... but... it seems such a.. coincidence that Snape and Malfoy would get away, right?

Then here's another question. "What WAS the mission that Voldemort gave to Malfoy?" The book never stated it. To kill Dumbledore? To fix the Vanishing Cabinet? Because Malfoy said he had to get the idea of the Vanishing Cabinet himself. If it was to kill Dumbledore, how could Voldemort actually expect Malfoy to do it? Well, I don't think he expected much, but why did he even bother giving th order to Malfoy, of all people?

And finally.. who is the RAB? Because that seems to be the only important point in this book, other than Snape finally showed his true colors.

Any speculations on that?

Sirius Potter Fan

19-07-2005, 21:21

Here is the thread on RAB

http://www.maturepotter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2586

Sirius-fan-forever

20-07-2005, 08:12

I guess I was disappointed after I read the book too. Only because it wasn't what I expected and I don't know but something was missing from her usual style. It seemed rush and although it gave a lot of information and background about questions that came up in other books, it didn't have the same feeling to it.
I think my major disappointment was that hogwarts and things that were going on just didn't seem the same. We hardly hear anything about Harry's classes except potions, and for some reason quidditch didn't have the same feel either. I missed draco and harry's rivalry which always intensified all the books. I liked the explanation of the horcruxes and the part at the end but otherwise the beginning seemed sort of thrown together without a major plot. I did like the romance aspect of it, though she kind of made it a bit cheesy. Overall I liked this book less than Ootp or Poa because there is a lot less action and hardly any of her usual twists. But being a potter fan, I really appreciated all the questions she answered and information she provided.

Sirius Potter Fan

22-07-2005, 08:13

I missed draco and harry's rivalry which always intensified all the books.

I wasn't able to put my finger on it, but I think that was a part of it. some of it was there, but it really came down to Draco hiding to work on his plan, there were'nt really many confrontations at all. And I think, that just as much as Ron, Draco was used for comic relief, because he allways got what was coming to him in the end. . . one way or the other.

Snuffles

23-07-2005, 17:26

I missed draco and harry's rivalry which always intensified all the books.

No rivalry?? :eek:
Not as much rivalry, perhaps, but there were some rivalries in HBP!
Remember at the train? Draco put a body-lock charm or whatever it was (petrificus totalus) and left Harry there under his Invisiblity cloack. Remember the bathroom scene? lol. :D

Hermione

26-07-2005, 18:59

Now that we have read it what where your feeling about HBP? Did it live up to your expectations?

I'll go first, I was disapointed in the book. It wasn't as sharp or as funny as the previous ones. It also left a lot of things unresolved, I feel as if I have been given more plot but none of the confusion has been lifted.

What are your thoughts?

Caledaravel

29-07-2005, 14:23

Before HBP, I had never considered the Harry Potter series to be very ... literary. That's not quite the right word, but the best I can come up with at the time. I always thought it was very interesting and cleverly written, but I hadn't thought that J.K. Rowling had done anything groundbreaking as far as her usage of the written word. I must say, however, that her writing in the last few chapters of the book, especially regarding Dumbledore's funeral, is especially poetic and moving, like nothing else she has ever written. By far, HBP has been my favorite of the septology.

Alz

30-07-2005, 01:33

I think HBP was written almost in a different style from start to end ...
I'm not adverse to it - in fact I found it exciting and compelling - almost like it seemed a lot more mature in approach ... hard to explain is it is just my thoughts but I felt overall JKR raised the bar just a little ..
Considering the task of what she had to do in HBP - I was amazed the book was as excellent as it was - and I maintain that I think this book actually might now be my fav over GoF ...

kashlie

06-08-2005, 04:51

it is still perhaps, my least favourite. i can't get into it again, and have been reading no more than three pages at a time.
for me, there is something seriously wrong with it.

or maybe it is just me...
however, i do still feel that chapter 1 could have had a bit of a spruce up - politics is boring, however important the details -
the harry-draco relationship was actually quite sickening to me. so sickening, in fact, that i even skipped that whole train part when i came to it. as for 'sectumsempra'... i shake my head that harry would do that.
the chapter 'the burial', if i remember correctly, served no more purpose than for harry to get slughorn's memory...and while i did enjoy how he did it, it was a completely different, drug effected harry we were seeing.

all the budding relationships are leading us to a huge fall. i think one half of each existing couple will most likely die in book 7...

i was disappointed that Harry did not get any happiness in this book. he began the year depressed, despite Dumbledore coming for him, and going to the Burrow, and he ended the year depressing.
i was also disappointed that the Durselys didn't get the proper server they deserved, but i realise had they been given what they truly deserved, then there is no way Harry would be allowed back one last time.

lastly i think the whole 'half-blood prince' thing was underdone and a waste. the potion book and the fact that it belonged to Snape was important, somehow showing Harry that however much he disliked Snape, he was a good teacher (or something like that...what was the importance of it?)

it is going to take me a bit longer to than i thought to understand and appreciate HBP i think.

Sirius-fan-forever

08-08-2005, 07:08

Well, like Kashlie said, even I was a bit disappointed about the book. But having read it a second time now, I actually like it more. I guess I didn't like it much initially because it's so different from the others and I was expecting it to be similar. But still my favourite is still Ootp though I appreciate HBP a lot more :D

Haley's Comet

08-08-2005, 08:52

When I began 'The Half Blood Prince' I was beginning to wonder if it was written by J.K.Rowling. I mean, it was so different from the others. Much of the book was devoted to filling in an awful lot of background, and like many of you, I missed the rivalry between Potter and Malfoy. Out of all the Potter series so far, 'The Half Blood Prince' is my least favorite. My favorite right now, (and has been for a while) is the ' Goblet of Fire'. I found 'The Half Blood Prince' to be very hard to read at times, and there was a time where I was threatening to just put it down for a while, but I stuck with it. But it was pretty tough to get through in places.

George

08-08-2005, 10:07

Okay- a review from me is here at last.
Having read it five times, I can safely say that I know what it's about.
Well, I really don't know what all the negative comments people make are about- this was my second favourite of the series... just behind Prisoner of Azkaban. Right, so it DOES fill a lot of background- so what?!?! It's answered a load of questions we have been pondering for ages- all the stuff about Voldemort's past-it's given a lot of info and I don't see why people don't like that. It was dynamic, fast-paced and creative. It is a very good build-up for the last book. I mean, what did people expect? I'd like to know what those who have had bad things would have liked to see. I don't disagree with you- the book could have been made better with some additions. But, think about this: do people have bad things to say because they were disappointed, or because they reeeealy wanted it all to end, and it didn't. I mean, I would have liked more, and we'll just have to wait another couple of years to find out everything. :eek: