The Deathly Hallows (Mark Spoilers!)

[scrumpleberry]

I'm glad that (SPOILER)Dumbledore's reputation became slightly tarnished. The perfection was just unrealistic. It really started hurting me when I was having the same doubts as Harry, but I think it was for the better. You grow from your mistakes and it seems Dumbledore was no exception.

Yes, I agree completely. It added a lot to his character.

[Araciel]

just finished it.

my eyes hurt.

[Spawn of Sephiroth]

well, i finished it about an hour ago. I hated the freaking (SPOILER)epilogue, and I actually expected Malfoy to thank Harry in some way shape or form. I would have just enjoyed the ending more without the epilogue. The epilogue should have told about all of the characters, not just the fact of Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermiones kids leaving off to Hogwarts. Although I was happy to see Neville become the Herbology proffessor.. The ending was perfect with the exception of that (SPOILER)I wanted to know whom the new Headmaster of Headmistress would be when I read the epilogue and now I am just sitting here in a reality that I will never know anymore about Harry Potter and that there will be no more books. I heard rumors of Rowling doing another series and I only hope it is just as catchy and interesting, but it will never be as great as Harry Potter. Thank you J.K. for the ten years of great and inspirational writings! Even though your writing were the best ever I have seen, I am so mad at you for [BIGSPOILER]killing one of my personal favorites, Dobby.[/BIGSPOILER] It is a great ending to an epic tale. Thank you alot!

[Heath]

And now another random thought.

(SPOILER)A lot of people seem a bit miffed that Molly Weasley nailed Bellatrix instead of Neville, but to be honest I prefer it. I've always really liked the story of Gideon and Fabian Prewett, and until this book I had no idea they were her brothers, and when I read Harry getting Fabian's watch I smiled.

It just explains her character, why she is so overprotective and scared, having lost her brothers to the Death Eaters, and not being able to help them, and I imagine the injuries to Bill and George, and losing Fred will have only made it worse. By fighting Bellatrix and defending her family, it just completes the character.

Neville's character isn't based on regret over what happened to his parents, or a need for revenge. He just wants to live up to their name and be considered worthy by his Gran, and I'm sure you all noticed that he did.

I'd have to agree with you. I've always liked Molly Weasley despite the fact she can be irritatingly motherly but as you said it's quite clear why she's the way she is. The fact that Rowling did bother to take the time to give more depth to the character of her was a personal highlight of the book in my view. Given how much she's had to endure over the years, (SPOILER)such as losing her brothers, Ginny being posessed, Percy ditching the family, etc, etc I was glad she was able to blast one of the more prominent Death Eaters for good. Especially someone like Bellatrix who is essentially the complete opposite of Molly. Thinking about it, the Blacks in general seem like the opposite of the Weasleys.

The gratitude I feel towards Rowling is that which could never be given justice through words alone. I find it hard to believe that the series ran for 10 years and in all that time i've been hooked. No other book in my small library can boast what Harry Potter can and now that it is al over I feel a dull ache where anticipation for the ending has been replaced with the saddening knowledge that there will be no more. I feel almost as if my last vestige of childhood left me the moment I tearfully closed that book.

I don't think I will even be more engaged in a series of books than I have been since 1997 with Harry Potter. I never thought I could be so euphoric and as torn at this thought, much as Rowling herself said. I only hope she knows how much she has touched the world.

I've been reading the books since about 1996/7 too and it did seem incredibly weird to think I was buying the last Harry Potter book. I'm not an obsessive fan, the likes of which we've been treated to seeing on television, but I'm definitely a lover of the books. I'm not sure if I'll be as engaged again, however. While Rowling isn't the best writer amongst my limited library, she's definitely one of the best storytellers. And I'm glad that I was able to share in that story of Harry, if only as an observer.

[Miriel]

Alright. So after finishing it last night and absorbing the whole thing, I've decided that I'm disappointed with the book.

And it wasn't just how things went down, it was the actual way the book was written. Incredibly jumpy, uneven, side plots that seemed clumsily attached, etc. I don't think the book flowed well, at all. It just seemed all over the place. Aside from the initial thrill early on in the book, I found large chunks of it to be slow and rather boring. It's gonna get better, it's gonna get better! I just kept telling myself that.

As for the actual plot, I thought it was just ok. It all just felt like it could have been executed better. Some of the stuff Rowling came up with, I thought "ohh...ok. I guess that makes sense" and other stuff just made me go, "wtf? Are you serious?" Like the whole thing with (SPOILER)Harry vs. Voldemort. Ok, so the killing curse didn't work why? And she launched into all this mumbo jumbo trying to explain why it hadn't worked, blah blah blah blood protection horcrux blah blah. It just seemed like she was stretching things to try and make everything fit and make at least SOME sense. Didn't work too well in my opinion.

As for the deaths. Very unhappy with the death of (SPOILER)Fred and Remus/Tonks. Not because they were my favorite characters or anything, but because their deaths seemed unnecessary and cruel. I can think of very few things as harsh as taking one twin away from the other, or taking both parents away from an baby. Rowling really had to kill both Remus and Tonks, making their newborn child parentless? Really? Pfft. I think that even the killing of Ginny, Ron, or Hermione would have been less heartbreaking than the idea of George being without Fred for the rest of his life. George was probably having suicidal thoughts at the end of book 7. Really, it was downright mean.

I liked all the stuff with Snape, it made sense and all of it fit together as I had hoped the rest of the book would fit together.

The Dumbledore stuff was alright.

The relationship between Harry, Ron and Hermione was alright too. Nothing fantastic there.

I fell in love with Neville, Luna, Mrs. Weasley in this book. Really really loved the actions they took.

Huuuuge let down with Harry+Ginny. Huge. (SPOILER)I really wanted Ginny to go out and kick ass and have Harry and Ginny fight side by side. But instead he tries and shoo her away and keep her hiding while everyone she loved was fighting? And all the stuff about Ginny being a very powerful witch never came into play. That sucks monkey balls as her love for Harry and her adept abilities should have garnered her a bigger role in the book than just being eye candy for Harry to think about and long for.

I think there should have been a bit more information about how the characters and the wizarding world pieced themselves back together in the end. I didn't like the 19 years later jump into the ooey gooey cheesy future.

I just thought that the book could have been so much better. Maybe my expectations were too high. But I mean, this was the end, there's no more HP after this. And she chose to end it this way. It's disappointing.

[Nominus Experse]

There are way too many smurfing plot devices that were terribly forced.

I didn't care for this book much.

[Yamaneko]

And it wasn't just how things went down, it was the actual way the book was written. Incredibly jumpy, uneven, side plots that seemed clumsily attached, etc. I don't think the book flowed well, at all. It just seemed all over the place. Aside from the initial thrill early on in the book, I found large chunks of it to be slow and rather boring. It's gonna get better, it's gonna get better! I just kept telling myself that.

They're all like that. Granted I haven't read this one or the one before (I have no intention), but she's not a great author and it shows. She caters to the people (millions) who are fans of the series, but really doesn't add anything to the fantasy genre. The books will be remembered for the sales numbers they were able to generate.

[rubah]

(SPOILER)Methinks Harry's christlike resurrection will piss off the Christian anti-witchraft movement even more..

(SPOILER) When JKR quotes the BIBLE in it? no wai man. And also she proved that it was good vs. evil just like everyone was saying all those years ago. You have good harry who refuses to be evil versus evil voldemort who refuses to be good! very black and white lol

I think you're being a bit naive about that. They don't care if it's a power struggle of good vs evil. Check out one of the ladies that's been rallying for years to get the books banned (in a Georgia town I think). She openly admits that she's not read them. She doesn't care if their contents have jack to do with good an evil. All she knows is "ZOMG TEH WTICHCRAFTZES!!! IT R TEH WERKZ OF SATAAN!!" These extremist types that rally against this are immune to logic and context.

I was being sarcastic xD

(SPOILER)Methinks Harry's christlike resurrection will piss off the Christian anti-witchraft movement even more..

(SPOILER) When JKR quotes the BIBLE in it? no wai man. And also she proved that it was good vs. evil just like everyone was saying all those years ago. You have good harry who refuses to be evil versus evil voldemort who refuses to be good! very black and white lol

(SPOILER)Sorry, my memory's not too good, but when does she quote the Bible? Having said that, the entire book could be the Bible and I probably wouldn't realise it.

p 325, from matthew 6:21 on (SPOILER) dumbledore's mother/sister's graves. Out of context, but hey, it's there.

I enjoyed waiting to read this thread until after I had finished the book just as much as waiting to read the book without spoilers for so long. It was fun seeing who thought what and knowing they were right or wrong.

(SPOILER)Something I noticed was that the chapter The Last Horcrux was off. At the time there were two left. The tiara and Harry. We didn't know about either of them at the time. When I read the chapter title I kept going over the horcrux's in my mind thinking I had forgotten about one, but it just turns out the title itself was wrong

(SPOILER)I was under the impression that the tiara and the cup both got burned by the fiendfyre or whatever

[Spiffing Cheese]

I decided to re-read the six first books for the bazillionth time before I read the seventh, and one thing really bugged me. In book four, when Harry is battling Voldemort, there was the Priori Incantatem. I remember Dumbledore later telling Harry that that particular effect makes the wand regurgitate its past spells in reverse order. However, when the echoes of the people Voldemort killed in the past are coming out of his wand, James comes out before Lily, which would mean that Lily was the first to be killed, contrary to what the first six books have been describing.

Dunno if this has been addressed before in this thread, but that was an error made by J.K. Rowling that was rectified in later editions of the book.

[Psychotic]

(SPOILER)I was under the impression that the tiara and the cup both got burned by the fiendfyre or whatever

(SPOILER)No, that was just the diadem. Hermione destroyed the cup with a basilisk fang.

[Radje]

The books will be remembered for the sales numbers they were able to generate.

Maybe to the media and to those who were too old to be immersed into the series as only a young child could properly be. Those young children who have grown alongside Harry Potter will, in the main, remember the books as one of the greatest stories ever told. Whether or not the reader saw Rowling as a poor writer.

[rubah]

Oh she actually did? I thought they were waiting for some reason.

[Yamaneko]

The books will be remembered for the sales numbers they were able to generate.

Maybe to the media and to those who were too old to be immersed into the series as only a young child could properly be. Those young children who have grown alongside Harry Potter will, in the main, remember the books as one of the greatest stories ever told. Whether or not the reader saw Rowling as a poor writer.

That's fine, but the fear is that these kids will not read books after they're done with the HP series. I hope the HP series is a gateway to get these kids reading other, in my opinion, better literature. I somehow doubt it, though.

[McLovin']

The movie better be damn good for this one.

Loved the book.

Can't believe (SPOILER)Dobby died. Loved that guy.

[Araciel]

Oh she actually did? I thought they were waiting for some reason.

you don't remember the (SPOILER) part when ron said 'thought it was fitting she did it, since we'd both had a go' or something to that effect?