Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Three years ago, I bought J.K. Rowling's 6th installment of her Harry Potter Series, The Half-Blood Prince, but it was only recently that I felt compelled to finish reading it. The movie version is about to be shown and I didn't want my imagination colored by it. Once I got started with the pages, there was no turning back. J.K. Rowling once again captured my mind, heart and soul as she did with the first five books (which I never got the chance to review as this blog hasn't been around 4-7 years ago) But I think I shall copy some reviews just for my own reference (and because I sometimes get tired of writing my own thoughts about it, hihihi).

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts. With the help of Dumbledore through the pensieve, he explores and learns Lord Voldemort's past as the very talented Tom Riddle. Harry then prepares for the final battle amidst emerging romantic relationships between him and Ginny and possibly even between Ron and Hermione. Emotional confusions and conflict resolutions arise as are characteristic of mid-adolescence but  despite these raging concerns, the main goal really here is for Harry to realize that love is his ultimate battle gear, something that Voldemort never has and never will experience. That is Harry's core and that will be his tool as he learns to grow up from being a teenaged wizard to becoming a very responsible and fearless man.

"Rowling's sixth book opens in the British Prime Minister's office after 'a very long, tiring, and difficult week,' words that cast an eerie light on actual events in London this summer. Yet from the first, the author has used the wizard world to offer insight into the goings-on in the real world, perhaps now more than ever. After the new Minister of Magic introduces himself to the Prime Minister, the scene shifts to Professor Snape's home, where Draco Malfoy's mother and aunt pay him a call, referring to a cryptic mission on which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is sending Draco. Next, Dumbledore himself fetches Harry from the Dursleys, as the two begin a book-long quest to get to the heart of the dark wizardry impacting both the Muggle and magical worlds. Although You-Know-Who makes no appearances here, his henchmen gain momentum, and his past comes to light through multiple trips via the Pensieve; perhaps Rowling's most brilliant invention yet, the Horcrux, comes chillingly to the fore. Meanwhile, after winding up with a used copy of Advanced Potion-Making with notes from a mysterious Half-Blood Prince, Harry aces his Potions class, taught by the new Professor Slughorn; Snape is now teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts — what can that mean? Readers will have to madly flip the pages to find out. Rowling spends a fair amount of time in the set-up but she accomplishes a great deal in this book, pulling together threads from all the previous titles and expertly poising readers for the planned finale. Old friends such as Lupin and Dobbin make reappearances, love interests and subsequent tensions unfold. Harry, now restored to popularity, nonetheless finds Ron and Hermione wary of his new obsession with Draco Malfoy's activities. The situation at Hogwarts mirrors world events: even Dumbledore finds it difficult to distinguish the good from those who would unleash terror at the school and society at large. If Harry grew up in the last book, here he becomes a man, learning the true impact of the last book's prophecy, and the importance of love as the antidote to fear. " - Powell's Books