Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[Lindar]

OK who has read it? and who plans on reading it? and how many people were sorta disapointed and upset/angry and happy at the end of the book?

[velvety_kitten]

read it in one sitting. not real impressed with the ending, hoping it comes back in the final book as some sort of ploy. *fingers crossed*

[Anonymous]

I wasn't disappointed with the ending. It makes sense. Dumbledore was feared by Voldemort almost as much as Harry is. JKR will do something really good with it in the last book, but I very much doubt that it's all a hoax.

[The Cleric]

I was dissapointed by the lack of reference and connections with Snape. He's the fricken title of the book, you should include him more! That, and the wierd Ginny/Harry thing. That came out of NOWHERE.

[The Morrigan]

In case it isn't obvious from the thread title/OP:

SPOILER WARNING

Having had some time to reflect on things a little now...

I've been a little disappointed with the direction the books have taken ever since The Goblet of Fire. Rowling seems to be playing the whole thing for shocks rather than exploring and adding depth to the world she created. That said, I thought the Halfblood Prince was a definite improvement on the fifth book of the series . However it still had a thrown-together feel to it. I also felt that, in a book so full of romances (Bill & Fleur, Harry & Ginny, Ron & Hermione, Lupin & Tonks) those romances could have been tied in with Dumbledore's comments about Harry's strength lying in his ability to love a bit better.

I suppose there was a certain inevitability in the death of Dumbledore and the romance with Ginny Weasley, however I can't help but feel that the lead-up to both could have been handled better.

I was also a little disappointed in that I was hoping that the sixth book would start to move away from the 'Slytherins are the evil' theme. This could have created some very intersting characters and been nicely in keeping with the idea that it is our choices and not fate that shapes our destiny. Apparantly, while out choices may shape our lives, if you get sorted into Slytherin, you're screwed (well ok, Slughorn is kind of OK, but he's still a vain, spinless bastard.

It's not that I didn't enjoy the book, but it could have been so much better and the first three books indicate that Rowling is capable of so much more.

[Anonymous]

That, and the wierd Ginny/Harry thing. That came out of NOWHERE.

Not really, Ginny had been infatuated with Harry ever since they first met. So it makes sense.

[The Grim Squeaker]

The Harry/Ginny ending was ripped out of Spiderman 1 (badly, he's a friend of her family anyway so shes still a [potential target).

The ending was annoying, especially considering how long it'll probably take Rowling to write the monstrosity needed to finish all the dangling plot lines and Phylacteries er One Ring, I mean Horcruxes