Major Spoiler Post!

I have read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! And I did it all by myself, aren't you proud?

As I read, I was nerdy enough to take a few rough notes of my thoughts on events of particular interest, but before I go into those, I want to give a brief overview of what I thought of the book. Generally, I don't think it was nearly as good as any of the other books. For me, this was a sign that JK Rowling has been put under too much pressure to write quickly. It seems that this book is about 60% backstory, 20% lovestory (also known as 'fan fic') and 20% good stuff. Now, whilst I commend JKR on producing the goods for the last part, I was disappointed about the backstory - I feel that if she had taken more time writing the earlier books, much of this could've been added to earlier plots in time for events in the seventh book to make sense. I also feel that if she had taken more time to write the books, suicide rates among children would be higher. Anyway, I just feel that the quality of JKR's writing has gone down. What happened to the conciseness of the first two books? She seems to be a little caught up in conspiracy theories and over-complex plots. Tell the damn story, woman!

Speaking of her new meandering writing style, I was dismayed by the inclusion of romance. I think JKR has spent too much time reading fan fiction and caving to her readers' wishes - the Hermione/Ron/Lavender love triangle was completely unnecessary and out of sync with the rest of the series - or the first four books at least. I feel that since the movies have come out and Harry Potter's success become phenomenal JKR has allowed too much outside influence to penetrate and influence her work. Call me Tory, but BACK TO BASICS!

Here are the things I regarded as note-worthy:

1. I see that Harry was much less CAPSLOCKY in this instalment. This is a move in the right direction as CAPSLOCKY!Harry would've ended up with my fist in his face. I found only two instances of CAPSLOCKY behaviour, on pages 231 and 512.
2. On page 352, Ron is described as having his mouth half open. How can your mouth be half open?
3. Britishisms. Perhaps these were changed for American versions of the book, but I noticed a lot of 'snogging' mentioned, a word which I know is not commonly known in the US or generally outside Britain. Similarly, on page 364 the word 'trainers' is used, in reference to sports shoes. To Americans, trainers are 'sneakers' and I can only wonder if this was changed in the US version. I imagine so, because God forbid America should have any outside influence.
4. Page 377 - Hagrid's dolphin-sized footprints. I'm going to assume she means dolphin shaped here, for Hagrid is about ten feet tall maximum and dolphin sized feet would leave him hugely out of proportion - those of you with your minds in the gutter may realise this implies Hagrid has a third leg.
5. Blatent overuse of words. Now, I didn't take specific notes on these, because it is only apon completion and reflection that you realise how overused they are. Words I noticed were used too much were these and their variants: mutiny, serenely and careworn.
6. Page 309 - Lovers' Lurgy. Nice to see this reference to Primary school customs. In Hackney at least, the Lurgies were the equivalent of 'cooties' or 'veinies' or whatever you wanted to call them. They were (and I still consider them to be) a sufficient excuse not to talk to or otherwise associate with the opposite sex.
7. Grammar. I am a grammar whore. Grammar is my pimp daddy. I cringe and vomit and display other signs of disgust when I see published authors making schoolboy errors. For example, take page 604 where Harry says "I've got nothing to tell you." I've got. Why the double possessives? "I have nothing to tell you," is sufficient. Also, page 38, Narcissa says "...Lucius's mistake," which is in fact JKR's mistake. The apostrophe already indicates possession, so there is no need for the additional S, because the word ends with S.

The following two points are perhaps most important of all:

1. Page 526. Harry lists all the scary things that could be lurking in the water. "His thoughts were of water-monsters, of giant serpants, of demons, kelpies and sprites..." Here, JKR displays her ignorance of the power of kippers. They are a force to be reckoned with, Ms Rowling.
2. I must commend JKR however, for mentioning kippers not once, but TWICE in Half Blood Prince. They are on pages 206 and 596.

I also think, that although Snape killed Dumbledore, he is still on the good side. I think what the two of them had argued about, which Hagrid overheard, was that Dumbledore wanted Snape to do whatever it took to hide his allegiance to the Order - even if it meant killing Dumbledore himself. That is what Snape was yelling "NO WAY JOSE!" about (I may be paraphrasing slightly there). When Dumbledore seemed to plead with Snape just before his death, he was pleading with Snape to kill him. Snape complied and therefore is still good.

As for Draco Malfoy, I was pleased to see he grew a spine and finally smashed Harry's face in. Some may argue that he was weak-willed for not killing Dumbledore himself, but give the guy a break! He's only sixteen in HBP and there is a great difference between being able to beat up your school enemy (or maybe Harry's more than that really, having put his father in prison, but I digress...) and killing your headmaster. I reckon Dumbledore's last words struck a chord with him - over the course of the last book he will realise that joining Voldemort isn't the only way for him and that if he stays faithful to the Dark Lord he will forever live in fear (or Azkaban). I think he'll switch right at the last moment, but he will be too proud to ask for Harry's help. He may help Harry in a very secret way.

And that is enough for now. My fangirls are screaming at me.

Ethan politely returns Slythergenic's knickers. Sorry, they're not my size.