RSSBook Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
July 30th, 2006 | No Comments
Author: J. K. Rowling
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Rating: 
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The sixth book in the much ballyhooed Harry Potter series is one of Rowling’s weakest efforts to date. Part of the problem is that with only one book left in the series, Rowling must cram in all the exposition and backstory that got cut out of previous books so that the series finale makes sense and is free to plow straight through to the finish.
While Order of the Phoenix had darker and better developed characters, Half-Blood Prince brings back the caricatures from the first four books of the series. At times I felt that the only indication that these characters had grown at all over their last five years at Hogwarts was the excess of romantic entanglements. Perhaps some readers enjoy the many couplings, triangles, and endless snogging, but I find them a bit tiresome. The major supporting characters from books past, including most of the extremely large cast of book five, are largely relegated to the background. I don’t think this helps the book any, as the flatness of the main characters becomes much more obvious when they’re the only ones to focus on.
Book Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
May 26th, 2006 | No Comments
Author: J. K. Rowling
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Rating: 
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This book is a represents a dramatic shift from the first four, both in style and in content. This is the first book in the series that is character-driven rather than plot-driven. There isn’t as much in the way of action, but characters’ inner thoughts, feelings, and motivations are examined much more closely. Virtually all of the major characters get some extra depth. How you react to this book will depend largely on how interesting and/or believable you find each character’s transformations to be. Obviously, as a psychology person, I ate it all up.
And there are some drastic transformations. Harry and friends experience puberty full-on, which would be enough to send anyone’s emotions haywire without the added the stress of exams and their high-profile extracurriculars - Quidditch players, prefects, being The Boy Who Lived. Throw in the possibility that any of the major characters or their loved ones could die any minute in a bloodbath arranged by our favorite Dark Lord, and I’d say mood swings, rash, irritable behavior, depression, and the emergence of new personality traits are all to be expected.
