After all the anticipation...

Ahem, it's been a little over 24 hours since I finally got my hands on the long-awaited Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince book, and I've just finished reading it. When I closed the book, I stared at the purple cover (I took off the green paper cover, which I found annoying because it keeps slipping off) for a few minutes. My mind was a mess, torn between feeling of regret that I finished the book so quickly and the feeling of relief that I finally finished reading the book. I was also torn between sorrow, curiousity, awe, and shock, among other indescribable emotions, brought on by the story which I had anticipated for these many months.

Now I won't give away the story here of course--that is for people to find out for themselves, I would never rob others from the joy of racing through the pages of the book. Nothing is more satisfying than that. In fact, I had to stop myself from reading too fast, a few times I had to stop, take a deep breath, then continue reading in a slower pace so as to not miss any details in the book. However I must say, though, that I did not expect the story to take a turn as it had. Although a horrible friend of mine told me one of the most important plor turns in the book before I started reading it (and I assure you I will NEVER, ever forgive that person for doing this...NEVER), I still felt shocked more than once while racing towards the end of the book. I have to admit, I certainly preferred the more light-weight, cheerful tone of the earlier books (i.e. books 1-3). Ever since book 4, the world of Harry Potter has changed, and I still haven't decided whether I like or dislike this new, more realistic and dangerous world. Of course it is more suspenseful and a whole lot more grown-up, but I guess until I finish the 7th and last book, I cannot make up my mind. There are some parts in the 5th and 6th books that I wish didn't happen, but I'm sure they happened for a good reason, and I shall wait eagerly for Ms. Rowling to disclose why she made them happen the way they did in the final Harry Potter book.

And while I'm waiting, I guess I will continue to ponder some of the details in the 6th book and wait for my laundry to get done, the chicken to defrost, and start packing, in my very un-magical world.