T.E. Lawrence
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I really enjoyed the sixth book, but spoilers ruined it a bit. I knew plenty of information about the other books (I saw the movies), but it had been so long that I had forgotten a lot of information. Spoilers for The Half-Blood Prince became a meme years ago when the book was first released, and I remember those viral videos of people driving by book releases and shouting spoilers out their windows. At the time I felt indifferent, but now I know how much that sucked for the fans. I don't understand why people love football, but I wouldn't purposely run into a Sports Bar and shout out the final score. That's just tacky. I don't know whether it's smugness or malicious that stops people from seeing it, but it's awesome that people love different things. There are too many fantastic books out there to waste time and energy on one you didn't enjoy.
Now, onto the actual story. I really liked seeing the self-fulfilling prophecy get deconstructed. Sometimes I thought the explanation was a bit on-the-nose ("Don't you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do!" - Dumbledore), but it still works. I like that the prophecy applied to more than one character, and the explanation that not all prophecies are fulfilled. It makes Harry less 'The Chosen One' and more 'The Everyman.' It's interesting to watch these three tropes at work, wondering which one will win out in the end. Then again, are they mutually exclusive?