I am very disappointed.

The storyline especially the death looked very contrived; the death was as if publisher (or someone else) forced Mrs. Rowling to kill someone important and he was chosen. The logic behind the sequence of events were very flimsy. Also the death takes away the factor that holds together the tomes.

Overall it appeared too much planning but less heart has gone into this volume. As if it was a desperate attempt to pensieve all the storyline together and bridge the apparent puzzles.

In this book you will find several characters behaving much different from their normal style and capabilities and they are not under any spell either AFAICT. That really make it a painful reading at times.

The book ended without any direction. Unlike the other books in the series it was pervading with a sense of fear all throughout. In the previous volumes there were a lot to go on with the storyline other than Voldy factor. This was all about Voldy, about his early life, killings and death etc. At some point Mrs. Rowling has stopped writing for children. Frankly I am at a loss as to the target audience. My overall impression was that little inconsequential events were thrown in simply as an interlude. If I were to name it I would name the tome as - Tribute to Voldy

In conclusion I must say that if you haven't bought it yet, don't bother. It's a waste of time and money. Go outside and bask in the sun with a picnic basket instead.

I think I know what will happen in the final volume and how Voldy will die. Half Blood Prince will spring yet another surprise at the end of volume eight completing the final piece of puzzle.

Oh one parting thought for Mrs. Rowling. Please don't write detective stories. It's not your style.

PS. And don't even get me started on the strange logic (if there is one after all) of horcruxes and why it was just not simpler to kill the main-Voldy first instead of his bottled away parts later on at leisure. And the incessant arguments between Harry with his Scooby gang, who for some strange reason has suddenly lost faith in Harry, is boring to say the least. Oh yeah there are some predictable romances with tons of "snogging". At least I learnt a british slang.