Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (2005, Hardcover)

The long awaited next book in the series lived up to my expectations.

The twists and turns and the surprises keep coming (especially in the 2nd half of the book)

I thought the first half of the book was a bit slow to develop but man the 2nd half - I could NOT put the book down.

The book keeps in line with others as Harry's stubborness to not disclose everything to Dumbledore causes problems as usual. This book is darker and a bit more advances as it digs into Voldmort's dark past. It has a lighter side of love interests for Harry and Ron (well sort of for Ron but you will see).

Harry's old rivals are back - Snape and Malfoy but this time they play much bigger roles and actually have a central plot around them (the ending is surprising - I kid you not)

Rowling spends more time on plot points and story lines than she does misc. stuff like Quidditch and has an ending that you would not expect. A bold move on Rowling's part.

As far as the best in the series - yes so far it is.

One thing that this book also does is set you up for great conversations on how the series will end. J.K. Rowling really has her readers guessing now with all the curve balls she threw at us in this book. Will the next one be fit for a King?

My only question is - what will they pick and choose to include in the movie for this whopper of a story and ending?

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