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 Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:34 pm
For myself, it was disapointing. After two years wait I expected better. Why? Now let me explain myself.
The point of the book.
It reminded me of the fifth, I didn't find this book had a main storyline. The first book was all about the Stone, second was the Chamber of Secrets, third was Sirius, Fourth was the Triwizard, the Fifth they didn't have a main storyline and neither did the Sixth in my opinion. They were kinda just going along instead of having a main goal. I mean the biggest thing was Draco, which to me didn't seem like a main storyline, just going along the year. I didn't really care for the identity of the Half-Blood Prince actually. Now I know that Dumbledore and Sirius dying were big things, but those took only a few chapters of both books. Both books seem to be set-up for the 7th. Now hopefully the 7th will be worth it.
Long Conversation
I had the sixth book July 16th as most people did, and haven't read it again. The other 5 books I have read over and over, but this one,I just don't have the desire to read the long conversations again. Now it is probably important for the 7th book to know the background of Voldemort, but I find the conversations dragged on. The trips in pensieve were getting extremely dull by the end. I mean, ya, probably important, but boring. Again, if it's worth it and the 7th is a total Masterpiece, then I'll forgive her.
The Love
I was never a big shipper of anyone, and probably never will but I do have to admit, I liked the Harry/Ginny thing. Now half of the book (I know, I know, I'm exagerating) was practicly about the Ron/Lavender/Hermione thing. Which, again, I'm not interested in the love life. I want action, excitement, not love life. I don't like chic flics, never have and never will, just not that type of person. Harry and Ginny was cute, simple, Ron/Lav/Hermione, pointless.
So ya, after all of that, if the 7th book is awesome, then I'll forever shut up, but I'm getting disapointed with the last two books.
What did you think of it?
EDIT: Ok so far no one has done it, but please DON`T quote the whole first post. Bits and pieces, alright, but not the whole thing as some people do.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:52 pm
I liked it.
I don't care that they didn't have a point in the book; it would've gotten really episodic. And anyway, this isn't about Harry knowing all along about something in a particular book, he's trying to figure things out that go with the whole series plotline. You just can't fit that in with another sub-plot line.
Also, I'm one for reading long conversations. It gives you the facts, and it wasn't really that boring to me, seeing as I've been reading out of textbooks for five years to get my information.
Honestly, not everything in the book is required to have a point. It's there for entertainment, and it reflects normal high school "romances".
However, it seemed a bit rushed. That I did not like, but otherwise I thought it was wonderful. OotP is still my favorite, but HBP isn't my least favorite.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 7:14 pm
I liked it too, but I felt that Order of the Phoenix did have a main storyline. Half Blood Prince, I felt like that there was no true common thread to tie everything to one major point; like it was all over the place and not in one solid place.
I agree with [Ernie] that an interesting book doesn't necessarily mean the book needs a main plotline. I thought that the tangets of the plot could have been better tied, but I liked to read those tangents.
Also, In HBP, Jo had to give more answers than questions more than any other book yet. She had to answer questions from why Voldemort didn't die to who fancies who. Usually she does is pose almost all questions and big end of the book answers, but in HBP she had to answer the big ones throught the book.
So basically, there's still plenty of q's, but much less than before. HBP didn't really tie everything in the book up, but was still very enjoyable.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:51 pm
I liked HBP, though I haven't had time to read it again yet. Of course, I just finished GoF for the second time the other day- lame of me, I know- so really, you can't expect to much.
I felt that it did have a common theme running through it, honestly. It was about the Horcruxes, even if you don't know the whole time what the Horcruxes are or even that such a thing exists.
I will agree with [Ernie] on that it felt a bit rushed. It reminded me of my own novel or fic when I know that something really exciting and fun is coming up, but I have to write all this borning stuff because it's important stuff, and the story won't make sense without it, but it's still really boring and you hate it so you write it as fast as you can to get to the cool stuff.
I am one of the few who actually enjoyed the romance. I am very much a character oriented person. It's difficult for me to image action sequences so I usually just skim them. I'm all about analyzing character and plot, and prediticting the hows and whys and therefors of a character's characterization. I loved the romance because I thought it brought out the best in Ginny, and gave me more to work with for Hermione. It makes convincing people to like Ron more difficult, but that's okay. He hasn't reached Percy and Peter level yet.
My favorite part was actually Slughorn, but I'm going to start a thread on that...tomorrow probably.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:27 am
I had trouble following the book. It just seemed really well, predictable. I mean, I had the Half-Blood Prince pegged immedietly after the Sectumsempra (spelling?) incident because no one else could have known. I also figured that Draco was going to try to kill either Harry or Dumbledore and because we still have the seventh book to deal with, I was guessing that Draco would try to kill Dumbledore and Sev' would have to do it.
The whole Ron/Lavender/Hermione love triangle thing did nothing but piss me off, same with the Harry/Ginny thing simply because I don't remember ever having beasts in my chest talk when I was sixteen. Ever. Course, the whole thing might me an allusion to some sort of masturbation thing...no idea. *shrugs*
Also, the fact that everyone just sort of got over Sirius' death bothered me as well and the lack of explanation. I had better get an explanation in the seventh book for that stupid veil.
Remus/Dora...I don't believe it and I refuse to believe it because they just don't work. This has nothing to do with my adoration of Sirius/Remus because and I hate to say Sirius is dead. I just don't think Dora's personality meshes with Remus'. Also, Remus seemed more than a little "oh ******** no" about getting with Dora in the first place. I mean, he basically ignored her entirely throughout the books, gave a really half assed excuse. I feel that the relationship is based more on grief than anything and it won't last.
*shrugs* Beyond that, I loved the horocrux thing and I'm glad that we'll be going back to Grimmauld Place (maybe) in the next book. Also, I look forward to learning more about Severus.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:53 am
Ex-Professor Remus Lupin Also, the fact that everyone just sort of got over Sirius' death bothered me as well and the lack of explanation. I had better get an explanation in the seventh book for that stupid veil. Remus/Dora...I don't believe it and I refuse to believe it because they just don't work. This has nothing to do with my adoration of Sirius/Remus because and I hate to say Sirius is dead. I just don't think Dora's personality meshes with Remus'. Also, Remus seemed more than a little "oh ******** no" about getting with Dora in the first place. I mean, he basically ignored her entirely throughout the books, gave a really half assed excuse. I feel that the relationship is based more on grief than anything and it won't last. See, those I can agree with. The fact that Harry had been so hurt last book and now, two weeks later is fine, rather annoys me. *has just reminded self of fic she has been trying to write for two years*. sweatdrop Eventually, I will. It involves Harry going to Remus's house between year 5 and year 6 and learning that he isn't the only that is hurting because of Sirius's death. As for Remus/Dora, I must agree. Remus is usually an easy going guy, and only tells someone no when he has to. Whatever his real reason, and I'm going to blame this on his grief for his friends, he didn't want her. He wasn't going to tell her flat out, but you can tell. I don't like Dora, and not just because of this. I didn't like her in book five. She's two happy. To klutzy. I've yet to see her do anything that is actually of use to anyone. So far she's just kind of gotten in the way, both physically and plot line wise.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:59 am
Thank you Reg...I only like Dora in Laocoon's Children verse...she's more interesting, especially when she walked in on...nevermind...read Stealing Harry people and than read Laocoon's Children...they're amazing.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:36 am
My basic feeling about the book: a lot of good ideas, not enough substance to back them up.
I think I'm with Ex-Professor RL on most of this one. I agree the book didn't have a strong plotline, the way the others did, although it didn't bother me much. However, I did feel that parts of the book got really slow. It seemed like the various subplots (Ron-Lavender-Hermione and Harry-Draco-Dumbledore) just kept going around in circles without getting anywhere. I was willing to forgive this, too, though, because I found them less annoying than the subplots in other books.
I was really disappointed in the pensieve visions. I, personally, was hoping for more about other characters, not Voldemort. And if it had to be all about Voldemort, I was hoping for something more than: well, he's a bad person and always was. I didn't feel like anything significant was revealed about him at all other than the horcruxes, which could have been handled in one revelation. I know Rowling had to explain all that stuff, but I really did feel most of her "big" revelations are always something really obvious which detracts from the suspense. I thought their fight with Hagrid was a bigger shock than anything I learned from the pensieve.
I totally agree about Sirius. Seems like no one besides Harry even reacted, and all the grief of book 5 was dumbed down into "I don't wanna think about it" avoidance. Maybe that's realistic, but it felt cheap. Although at least Harry was WAY cooler than in the 5th book. Finally he seemed to settle down and lighten up.
Now, I like romance, and I would totally support Remus/Tonks except I felt it came way out of the blue, and there was almost no support for it at all. I would like to see a little set-up before I'm supposed to believe such different people are supposedly in love. And yeah, I don't like Tonks, which doesn't help. Harry/Ginny I support, too, but once they got together we heard absolutely nothing about it. I felt that was a little anticlimactic. And then they broke up. Lame. Does Harry really think people can't figure out pretty quickly who his friends are?
But I loved Slughorn!!!! And I liked the HBP part until it was Snape, since that was kind of predictable, too.
So, basically, I liked the book just fine, better than books 2 and 4, but I felt it lacked a lot of substance and was a pretty quick, shallow read, so it will never be anything like a favorite.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:27 pm
I loved it. In fact, it's my favorite HP book so far. And I totally had Snape pegged for being HBP, though I will admit I initially read a theory that said Snape was the Prince due to the potions book being on the cover of the adult version of the book; I decided it was the most logical rumor so far (I'd read one in which Seamus was the Prince), and the deal was sealed for me once Harry started reading from the potions book. It didn't really help that I already knew Dumbledore was going to die, but ah well.
I thought the romance was hilarious. Won-Won and Lav-Lav, Romilda Vane, "abstinence", Crabbe and Goyle as polyjuiced little girls... for me, that was pure gold. We got plenty of angsty teenage hormones out of Harry in OotP, so I feel like if we didn't get to see the other side of it (the horribly wacky side), we'd have been gipped out of a true coming-of-age story. I didn't care for the Harry/Ginny romance simply because I'm indifferent to Ginny, but all mentions of Harry's, ah, monstrous libido were fantastic. I sporfled quite a bit (Sen Lee can tell you!). I wanted to give Ron a noogie and tell him to hurry up and figure out his feelings for Hermione, but I forgive him for being fifteen/sixteen and utterly confused.
The whole thing with Harry dealing (or not) with Sirius's death doesn't really bother me in that I never got a sense of true closeness between the two. They had all of two books to get to know each other, and that is hampered by the fact that Sirius was still a fugitive and couldn't see Harry as often as he'd like. Plus Harry's at school, so it's not like there's loads of time for bonding between dealing with the Triwizard Tourament, Umbridge, and Occlumency lessons, not to mention all his regular classes, his relationship issues, Rita Skeeter, Quidditch, and God knows what else I've forgotten. So I'm not worried that Harry's decided Sirius wouldn't want him to bemoan his passing for long and move on.
As for Remus and Tonks, we have a rather unreliable narrator who's not always adept at picking up on things. Out of the blue? No worries! Because honestly, I'm not a Marauders or Tonks fan. They're okay, but they're not among my favorite characters. Yet everytime I see R/S & R/T arguments, I want to pull out my trusty Remus/Willow icon and say, "Who cares?" I don't know. I think I'd rather be happy that Remus is happy. And no, I don't believe Tonks coerced or forced him into any sort of relationship with her; Remus may be very waffly, but he's got more backbone than that.
Argh. I shouldn't get prickly about shipping. gonk
(And as to Tonks being too happy and too clutzy: would you really rather have mopey, depressed, angsty Tonks all the time? Or perhaps CAPSLOCK OF RAGE Harry-type outbursts? I swear, I wanted to strangle him in OotP; screw the hormones, the boy just needed a good, swift kick to the balls. Anyway, Tonks. I'll take her current characterization over "my soul... is black... like the darkest... ... ...midnight..." any day of the week. Glad she got HBP out of her system.)
Ultimately I liked the rushed feel of the book because it's finally getting toward the end; the war hovers over Hogwarts, lingers in the minds of the students and professors, and everyday brings news of what's going on in the greater world. With a feeling of zomg!Voldemort and ohnoes!war constantly around, I'd probably feel a bit harried too (no pun intended). I'd want to finish all my classes in the least amount of time possible.
I'm glad that Dumbledore is dead. Harry no longer has a mentor to hold his hand, and his death provides a powerful catalyst for going after Voldemort. With his passing, Harry is, I believe, finally an adult. And if not, pretty damn close. Harry can now take the next big step in his responsibility, for if Dumbledore was there, the entire journey of having to defeat Voldemort would be lost. This is the hard path, the right path, and I am more than looking forward to seeing it in the next book.
Oh, and Snape? Yeah. Awesome. Still my favorite character. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Why do I always make nice, long posts at school, and never at home?
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:42 pm
Ahar! There's that other thing that was bugging me!
The Harry not mourning Sirius thing. I had expected the beginning of the book to be filled with Harry mourning over Sirius. But he wasn't. It had only been two weeks. I think that, while it wouldn't take Harry too long to get over it, a month is a tad short. I'd say all summer, and possibly into the school year. But then again, he might have been mourning, and it was never shown due to the fact that he was waiting for Dumbles to pick him up, and then he was with his friends 24/7. Harry doesn't really mourn in groups, except when Dumbles died.
I guessed that the HBP was Snape before the book came out mrgreen
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:02 pm
Hmm, I know what you mean, Ronald Bilius Weasley, and I think that's interesting. I got a really strong sense of Harry bonding to Sirius. Even though they didn't get to see each other much, Harry seemed to desperately want someone to consider family, so I think he jumped on the chance. And it helped that they were both feeling trapped and sorry for themselves, which created an even stronger feeling of shared emotion. The bonding may have been a little superficial and rushed, but I think it was there. Plus I think Sirius was pretty devoted to Harry.
Haha. You have a good point about Tonks, though. Although I don't think anyone ever said they wanted her to be dark-souled and troubled, I have to agree, moping Tonks in the 6th book was even lamer than chipper Tonks. blaugh
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:58 pm
Honestly...I ignored her. I had already made up my mind by the end of OotP that I didn't like her. I would read it, and the dismiss it, so her being angsty didn't really bother me.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 10:39 pm
Agreeing once more with Reg on Dora...don't like her, never will, and can't understand what Remus would see in her.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:37 am
I liked her effect on Aunt Petunia. biggrin
Okay, HBP...
I have a lot of the same complaints as everyone else; out-of-the-blue romances, drawn-out revelations, etc. But I also loved the way Harry has grown up in this book. He is so much better when he isn't yelling. rolleyes
It did bug me a bit, the way Hermione became less mature in some ways. I had always thought she was above things like trying to make Ron jealous, but I guess love/lust can do that to you. (I wouldn't know, I have the emotional range of a teaspoon sweatdrop )
Hagrid's progress with Grawp had me laughing. On the one hand Jo is trying to say "don't play with monsters" by showing us Hagrid's pets, but on the other hand she is touting the second chances and blood doesn't matter thing with Dumbledore. So she went with the latter option and turned Grawp cuddly. It wasn't really important to the story, I don't think, but it was still funny.
HBP has certainly had the effect of whetting my appetite. I can't wait for the final book to come out, although of course the downside is I won't be getting my HP fix any more after that, except for the movies. crying
Overall it wasn't bad, and the Horcruxes idea was pure genius. PURE GENIUS. The perfect setup for the final book.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:09 pm
Acidic Cynic But I also loved the way Harry has grown up in this book. He is so much better when he isn't yelling. rolleyes Amen! wink Acidic Cynic It did bug me a bit, the way Hermione became less mature in some ways. That's an interesting point, too. I like that. I thought her behavior was getting kind of annoying. But, yeah, I guess you're right. Hormones can really screw you up.
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