Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price follows the trend set in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by taking place mainly outside of Hogwarts.Actually, while a good deal of the story takes places in Hogwarts, it is through the literary device of the pensieve, which transports Harry and Dumbledore to various places in Lord Voldemort's history without ever leaving the castle grounds.A large portion of book six is spent learning about Tom Riddle, the boy who would grow up to be one of the most evil beings alive.This is important because Dumbledore and Harry embark later in the story to find a Horcrux, one of the magical vessels that Lord Voldemort has used to split his soul seven ways.After retrieving the Horcrux, Harry is dealt another devastating blow by the death of Dumbledore, at the hands of no other than Professor Snape.The book is not all doom and gloom however, as the feelings for Ginny Weasley that have been growing inside Harry are finally acted upon.We also get the benefit of watching Ron go through an embarrassing relationship with Lavendar Brown, even though we all know his true feelings reside with Hermione.Book 6 seems to be mainly backstory, which is important.It sets the reader up for the final book in the series very well.Stand alone, I'm not a huge fan, but like I said, it works great for the series.