harry potter and the deathly hallows by j.k. rowling
by this point, if you care about harry potter and the deathly hallows then you've read the book already and have your own opinion. and, if you don't care about harry potter, you're pretty much sick and tired of hearing about it already. so i'll try to keep this brief. maybe if i had written as soon as i'd finished the book i'd be all into going on at great length about stuff, but that moment has pretty much passed.
if i had to sum up this book in one word, the only one i could even think about applying is "satisfying." i thought it was an incredibly fitting conclusion for a series that i've loved oh these many years. yes, i cried a lot. but at least half of those tears were ones offered joyfully because they reminded me why i've been such a fan all along. i really do think that rowling is a terrific storyteller, and as justin and i were discussing soon after he finished the book, i think she's earned her millions and deserve than more than many.
- the deaths galore - sad about them all, to some extent, although dobby was the one who had me bawling the most. and it was especially his burial that got me all weepy. the ones that came at the end - well, those all came so close together and were wrapped up with everything else that was going on that it's sort of difficult for me to separate them. as for the ones at the beginning of the book, mad-eyed moody made more of an impact than hedwig. and i feel a little guilty and/or heartless admitting that.
- all the wandering in the wilderness stuff didn't bother me, as i've heard a lot of people complain. i guess i sort of take that as a given in your epic hero story and the tedium felt very appropriate for the story.
- sneaking into the ministry was super fun.
- still hate umbridge and wish bad, bad things upon her into perpetuity.
- the wedding scene i could've done with being a little shorter.
- other sad crying bits: dudley's human turn, harry going bravely into his fate, hagrid thinking he was dead.
- happy crying bits (yes, i'm a total sap): ron's return, harry going bravely into his fate, neville
- i wish there had been more luna. and ginny. i almost forgot why i liked ginny in this one, she was such a non-entity.
- the death of bellatrix=awesome, especially after rowling said in the bloomsbury chat that she was responsible for tonks death.
- loved harry and hermione and ron and hagrid and neville.
- was anyone really surprised by the "harry, you're a horcrux" thing? i've sort of taken that as a given since the end of the last book, but a few of the reviews/comments i've read about this one have people saying "oh, stretches the imagination a bit, that one" and i just scratch my head and say "really?"
- the epilogue: eh. didn't love it, didn't hate it.
- the "snape's memory" chapter just might be my favorite chapter of the entire series. i shouldn't say that maybe, since i haven't read the six other books since they each first came out, but it's hard to think of one i love more. the only one that even pops into my head is the end of order of the phoenix.
probably i could say more, but that's all i can come up with right now. i've always said that once the series was finished i'd go back and read them all straight through. don't know when that will be, but it could be soon. i thought maybe my enthusiasm would've passed by now, but i just watched the last half of prisoner of azkaban on tv and i downloaded a lot of wizard rock last week, so maybe not.
finally, this has absolutely nothing to do with the book, but whilst over on amazon to get the links for this entry, i stumbled on this, which i'm sort of in love with. i dunno, it could just be because i haven't been out of the house today and i woke up way too early, but i'm a bit in love with it. oh, for a child to dress up. only, not really.
if i had to sum up this book in one word, the only one i could even think about applying is "satisfying." i thought it was an incredibly fitting conclusion for a series that i've loved oh these many years. yes, i cried a lot. but at least half of those tears were ones offered joyfully because they reminded me why i've been such a fan all along. i really do think that rowling is a terrific storyteller, and as justin and i were discussing soon after he finished the book, i think she's earned her millions and deserve than more than many.
- the deaths galore - sad about them all, to some extent, although dobby was the one who had me bawling the most. and it was especially his burial that got me all weepy. the ones that came at the end - well, those all came so close together and were wrapped up with everything else that was going on that it's sort of difficult for me to separate them. as for the ones at the beginning of the book, mad-eyed moody made more of an impact than hedwig. and i feel a little guilty and/or heartless admitting that.
- all the wandering in the wilderness stuff didn't bother me, as i've heard a lot of people complain. i guess i sort of take that as a given in your epic hero story and the tedium felt very appropriate for the story.
- sneaking into the ministry was super fun.
- still hate umbridge and wish bad, bad things upon her into perpetuity.
- the wedding scene i could've done with being a little shorter.
- other sad crying bits: dudley's human turn, harry going bravely into his fate, hagrid thinking he was dead.
- happy crying bits (yes, i'm a total sap): ron's return, harry going bravely into his fate, neville
- i wish there had been more luna. and ginny. i almost forgot why i liked ginny in this one, she was such a non-entity.
- the death of bellatrix=awesome, especially after rowling said in the bloomsbury chat that she was responsible for tonks death.
- loved harry and hermione and ron and hagrid and neville.
- was anyone really surprised by the "harry, you're a horcrux" thing? i've sort of taken that as a given since the end of the last book, but a few of the reviews/comments i've read about this one have people saying "oh, stretches the imagination a bit, that one" and i just scratch my head and say "really?"
- the epilogue: eh. didn't love it, didn't hate it.
- the "snape's memory" chapter just might be my favorite chapter of the entire series. i shouldn't say that maybe, since i haven't read the six other books since they each first came out, but it's hard to think of one i love more. the only one that even pops into my head is the end of order of the phoenix.
probably i could say more, but that's all i can come up with right now. i've always said that once the series was finished i'd go back and read them all straight through. don't know when that will be, but it could be soon. i thought maybe my enthusiasm would've passed by now, but i just watched the last half of prisoner of azkaban on tv and i downloaded a lot of wizard rock last week, so maybe not.
finally, this has absolutely nothing to do with the book, but whilst over on amazon to get the links for this entry, i stumbled on this, which i'm sort of in love with. i dunno, it could just be because i haven't been out of the house today and i woke up way too early, but i'm a bit in love with it. oh, for a child to dress up. only, not really.