Parent reviews for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

For me this book didn't have the same tone and fun that the others have. Harry seems to be a bit short with people that he never has been before. He also seems to be a bit single minded in the is book, especially toward Malfoy and Snape. I didn't like all the death in this one even though I understand why. It does tie up alot of the unanswered questions of the past books but leaves just as many still to be answered.

Outstanding. I love these books as much if not more than my children do. This one moves much quicker at the beginning than #4-5 did. However, in keeping with the development of the now-16-year-old main characters, the "snogging" scenes will be awkward to explain to my 10-year-old...

I really didn't like that Ginny tells Ron off for being mad that she's passionately kissing her boyfriend in public. The author gives Ginny a few pages devoted to defending kissing. And she makes fun of Ron for never having kissed anyone before. She called him a 12 year old because of it and recommends he go kiss someone. Later in the book Ron gets a girlfriend and kisses and hugs her in public. I don't think kids should be encouraged to make out with people.

Rowlings is really amazing to me as she creates a fantasy world that feels very safe to identify with. At the end of Book 4, there's the intellectual understanding that it's not so safe. By the end of Book 5, there's an emotional understanding that it's not so safe. But in Book 6, the kids really come of age. If your child feels that Harry is like an adult, this book might be okay (though I don't think they'd understand a lot of it). If your child feels like Harry is HIM, you might want to pre-screen. The book hurts.

great

J.K. Rowling creates magic again with the second to last Harry Potter novel. Although much darker and more violent, the book benefits from the shift towards maturity as the characters age. However, it's hard to follow if you haven't recently reread at least the 5th book. Enjoyable (again) for adults and kids alike, it's definitely worth reading.

I liked this book because of the background information that was given on dear Professor Snape...he's a tricky character, and I can't wait to see what goes down between Potter and Snape in the last book because JK hinted at we'd have to keep an eye on dear Snape. However, the death in this book was disturbing to me. But even the best fall down sometimes.

This book is a great one! I suggfest it to 8+. The kissing, or "snogging", as they call it, does not bother me in the slightest. In fact, I've been waiting for these realtionships to come up (not saying who - you'll ahve to read it to find out)! The violence doesn't bother me, either, but younger kids might be scared. The reason it is 8+ and not 4+ is solely because of the violence. I finished this book in 1 1/2 days (I'm a bookworm) and I started reading the first book in kindergarden!!

This was an exceptional read for my husband and I (and we're reading it to our 7 year old). I have to say that it was so much sadder than the others and the reality of Harry's future fate is thrown right in your face. It's on the verge of depressing (emotionally), but the story keeps you interested and just dying for the next book. Not the action/adventure book that the others were, but a much more mature storyline leading us to the next book.