V's Pick #43: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Somehow I knew Snape was the half-blood before this book even began. Maybe I'm a good detective or maybe Rowling never meant for it not to be easy to guess. However, this book still took me through the process of putting the pieces together which I wouldn't have ever guessed about on my own.

While it houses my favorite scene of all I've read ("The Cove") it was not as enjoyable for me as The Order of the Phoenix. I can't put my fingers on it. I loved the tips through the Penseive more than I'd liked almost any other sub-plot in any other book, but overall, the book left me with a foreboding I wasn't sure about. Unlike the ending of Book 5, this one just felt like I was *supposed* to be sad. I didn't see it coming, nor could I even begin to imagine what would come from it, but I just didn't feel the emotional commitment I think I was supposed to.

Partly, I'd learned by now that I couldn't trust Rowling - not to keep the dead, dead...nor to bring back who I wanted to return instead of who did. The saddest moment of the entire series in my opinion, was Harry losing Sirius and he was the one character who left and didn't come back. In addition, despite being appalled by Snape in this book, something still didn't feel right about hating him. So confused, which I guess, was the point.