Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is far darker and more intense than any of the others, and I liked it very much.

The one thing I always found a little weak in the books was the unrelenting nastiness of Snape and Malfoy. Yes, earlier Snape did have his (sort of) moments of redemption (when he tried to save Harry during the Quidditch match in the first book, for example); and yes, Snape did become a (slightly) more sympathetic character in the 5th book (when we saw Harry's dad cruelly taunting him). But Harry never felt anything but hatred for either character, and I found that a little one-dimensional.

(MAJOR SPOILER ALERT -- SPOILER'S A-COMIN'!)

In this book, though....in this book, Snape reveals his true evil duplicity, and Malfoy (after becoming a Death Eater) shows some fear and even compassion (or at least an unwillingness to utterly embrace evil). Harry gains a small sympathy for Draco and a final and complete hatred for Snape. Both character arcs made this one far more interesting to me....although it's still hard to fathom Snapes coldly murdering Dumbledore. I wonder if we've actually heard the last of Dumbledore (I've been wondering the same thing about Sirius).

This one was a thrilling read, and Harry's embracing of his cold loneliness and singular destiny made the ending of this one uniquely dark and compelling.

I have to admit, I enjoyed them all, but this is the first one that I legitimately enjoyed on its own, without needing/wanting to share it with my wife and my son. I just liked it.