Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I'd forgotten how much I like this book. For some reason, the sixth book always gets lost in the shuffle for me. Must be because it's the penultimate book. I expect it to just be build up for the final book. And in some ways it is. This is the book that introduces us to Horcruxes and fills in Voldemort's past. But there's also a lot of fantastic stuff in here. Even if it does put some strain on Rowling's decision to use a limited third-person perspective.

I love all of the relationship stuff that begins happening in this book. Ron and Hermione's jealous dance around each other is perfect and so typical of first romances where people are too scared to just say what they want. Harry's crush on Ginny is wonderful, too, if a little cheesy with the chest monster metaphor. The moment when they finally kiss still thrills me completely, and I always wish she was more of a presence in the final book so that we could see them together a bit more.

Overall this book is much better done than the previous one. It's a lot tighter with no unnecessary or forced scenes. The callbacks to previous books are great, especially with the light it sheds on Tom's diary from Chamber of Secrets. It introduces new plot points very well, shows everyone growing up and achieving more equal footing with the adults around them. And the final twist is shocking and heartbreaking no matter how many times I read it.

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