I've been re-watching the Harry Potter movies alongside re-reading them, and as I've now finished re-watching and re-reading them all, can I take a moment to say HOW did I think that this was the most heartbreaking thing I could read from Rowling? Because I was not prepared to read The Deathly Hallows again. But that's not what I'm here to talk about today.
The Half-Blood Prince is probably my favourite out of the whole series. I say probably because let's face it, it's a tough choice to make. I love it because there's so much backstory (which FYI is one of my fave things to come across in a series). I ADORE the sections about Tom Riddle's heritage and past, and absolutely devoured those bits.
This is the first book where we really get an insight into Dumbledore's life. Not as much as in The Deathly Hallows, but we finally really learn something about the man behind the legend, and so does Harry.
As well as Dumbledore and the big V, we also begin to understand a lot more about Malfoy. There's so much pressure on him, and when Harry catches him crying in the bathroom it seems like just the tip of the iceberg. I love the fact that in this book Rowling turns a straight up villain into someone we can sympathise with a little.
I had forgotten how *spoiler alert* genuinely upsetting Dumbledore's death was, and how utterly betrayed we all feel. The whole section where Harry and Dumbledore go to find the locket right up to Dumbledore's funeral is something that I was completely attached to: I couldn't put it down until I'd finished finding out EVERYTHING.
I'd also managed to completely forget the whole Greyback biting Bill and him becoming a little wolfish scenario, because they've definitely cut that from the film.
This book is the first one that really made me cry 'THAT'S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED IN THE BOOK' when I re-watched the film with my boyfriend. And then paused it to explain the back story. It's pretty much the most annoying thing you can do whilst watching a film, but my god was it necessary.
Anyhow, this book broke my heart a little, but I feel like that's kind of needed to prepare you for the utter heart shattering misery (and sort of joy?) that is book number seven.
What do you think of The Half-Blood Prince?
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