Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6)[Children's Edition] - J.K. Rowling

OK, time for another review - and this was one that started at midnight the night it was released.
Standing in the Queue outside Potterkars chatting to some students about our theories about this book, it was pleasantly warm, cheerful atmosphere and generally people were excited. I'd been issued with instructions not to come home without at least two copies, and looking at the mass of people waiting I was likely to get lynched or mugged for the books. Damn.
Midnight rolled around and the bleary eyed staff opened the door to a magical world for all of us. Naturally, there was a crush to get through the door. Half an hour later I owned two copies - one childrens for the shelf, one adult for me. Yippee!

Now, the book itself. This review WILL contain spoilers, so if you've not read the book get your head into then come back and hear my opinion!

The Story
Right... lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. The story begins with Fudge meeting the Prime Minister and explaining about the war - quite a clever plot device to bring the reader back up to speed on the story so far! We then flash to Snape making an Unbreakable Vow with.... no, thats enough. I'll not ruin it for you. Suddenly, you're confused - Rowling masterfully (or should it be mistressfully in this case?) draws you i nwith this part of the story - there's information there, but not enough to see how the story is going to progress, damn her!
Finally, in teh third chapter, we get to Harry. Who is waiting. For Dumbledore no less. Imagine how Petunia and Vernon react! Moving on, we meet the new teacher before school begins. And they aren't teaching defense, but Potions. Interestinger and interestinger...
Through the book, the plot darkens, thickens and turns into a proper old broth, including Harry and Ginny finally getting together (About time! I hear you cry...) Ron and Hermione... not. Harry finds he has been given a potions book with notes scribbled in the margin that differ from the publishers, and decides to try them, annoying Hermione by getting better scores... and there are spells too... what to do?
We find out WHY Voldemort survived, the reason for Tom being in the Diary, who the Half Blood Prince is, and whether Snape will carry out his Vow. Dumbledore... I'm saddened to say, finds this out to his cost, after being weakened while with Harry - more, I cannot say, though I've never been as close to crying as I have with this book.

Character Development.
Well, as I've mentioned, Ginny comes into the story far more, and good grief is she a firebrand and a half! Her development comes through strongly, well written and is quite honestly, unsuprising - anything you find out you couuld have guessed from the previous books.
We delve into Voldemort aka Tom Riddles past - we find out about his mother and father, his grandparents and how he became what he is in these books. Substantially written, this book seems to be more about discovering the main players than anything else.
There are some minor characters in this book that are developed, and they're quite important in their own way, mostly due to the way they impact Harry.
Overall, the book develops the characters quite nicely, concentrating on cause and effect to bring you to who the character is today. Very well done, and written into the storyline quite effectively.

Action
Well, the majority of the book doesn't really have much. Its not until we get to the last quarter that things FINALLY start to happen, and then its like having a tonne of bricks hit your brain - there's so much going on in such a short period of time that you feel as bewildered as the main characters must do! Extremely well done the conclusion of the action will have you bawling your eyes out and gasping in horror - and two characters true colours begin to show.

Overall?
Well worth the risk of being mugged for the book, I read the entire thing in six hours flat, not bad going for this monstrosity!
I'd reccomend this book to anyone, without any hesitation. Its well written, it explains enough that it'll stand alone, and theres enough going on that it'll hold your attention from the first word to the last.
Definately, one of my top buys for books!