1 of 2: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
This is one of two reviews. This is the NON-Spoiler review! but just in case others don't want to know anything about Deathly Hallows AT ALL, it will be behind a cut.
Skip down to actual review.
When I woke up on Friday morning, July 20, I had no idea how my day would go. I woke a little late, left for work a little late, got to work a little late. Not too bad and I had done way worse.
But we had a problem.
Our Harry Potter Poll had expired Thursday night at 11:59pm instead of Friday night at 11:59pm. My boss was majorly pissed off. It ruined her statistics and we lost about 10 hours worth of voters. I am sure the fact that I got in late was not helpful either. I sat down and helped remedy the problem immediately. There was drama involved in the resolution, but she was also a little mad at me for other things. (Let's just say, I have a similar problem as with Dumbledore, as stated in book 6. Since I am a bit above average in some things, my mistakes, when they happen, tend to be that much bigger. Been that way my entire life... anyway back to the review)
As everyone knows by now, there was a huge early release of the book and spoilers were already being posted. When I had come into work that day, I was going to be content to wait for my Deluxe copy to come to me via post from the place I had ordered it from in Chicago (Go BOOKIE'S!!!). As the tension grew in the book industry that day, I decided that I would have to avoid as much internet time as possible until I had a chance to read it. I decided on going to the Border's Grand Hallows Ball at the Time Warner Center. It was supposed to be one of the biggest parties around. It was giving away a beautiful 3 foot poster to those who bought the book that Friday and a glow-stick wand was to be given to all attendees. I also had a gift card from my very fabulous co-workers for my birthday. I figured, if I wanted to get the book that night after all, I had no problems with cash for once.
When I talked with my buddy, the owner of The Bookie's Paperbacks and More in Chicago later in the evening, I found that she had not gotten her shipment of books in until after the deadline to get it to me by Saturday. That decided me, I was gonna try to buy the book during the Free-for-All if they lasted that long. I told her to just ship it regular and not to worry about the rush.
Determined to stick around, I stayed in the Border's for the entire night. I could not join in the Ball area because I had not pre-ordered my book and I had not gotten there in enough time to get a blasted wristband. If I had KNOWN they would've started early, I could've been there early. Oh well, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I hung around a while with someone who was determined to try to find her way into the Ball. If I hadn't been in such bad graces with my boss, I could've done EVERYTHING because the ball coordinator is one of her contacts. I decided, since she had been giving me the cold shoulder all day, I wasn't going to even attempt to go near her. Too bad. STILL had fun anyway! I ended up knitting for about and hour or so too, not my own, trying to tempt people to buy Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel. Very nice projects and a Molly Weasley sweater using knit and crochet, very nice. I ended up buying the book myself.
Finally, around 2:00am I am not really certain which, I left for home with my brand new copy of The Deathly Hallows, my poster and my glow-stick Wand. I had gotten everything I came for. I was still in my work clothes, I was starting to have a scent about me and I was tired as all hell, but excited even more. I refused to crack the book until I could read it in comfort and solitude in my own living space... so I teased myself by continuing to listen to Half-Blood Prince all the way home. Getting more ideas and reinforcing many of my suspicions about characters and events that may happen in the book that was sitting in my possession.
I got home, took a shower and started reading. It was about 3am... I was only going to read a little bit because I had an appointment with an Open House on Saturday morning between 10:30am and 1pm....
As I continued reading for several more hours I realised that I should not go to sleep because I would MISS my Open House and it was CRUCIAL that I go. So I read all the way up to the time I dressed and hiked over to the Open House. It took all of an hour. I walked there, looked around, signed in, did some shopping, got back to my book in about an hour. Amazing, right?
Well, what amazed me is that I was awake for OVER TWENTY FOUR HOURS and still going! I could not separate myself from the book. As I continued reading, I did take breaks to eat (very little!), drink (just as little) and there were times I HAD to close my eyes and snoozed for a little while. Never longer than 30 minutes, it was amazing. The book had me so blasted intrigued. I was fighting dislexia, sleep and bodily objections just to get to the next page, chapter, story, whatever. In the end, I did not sleep until I had finished the entire book. There just wasn't any part of the book that was so slow that I didn't mind sleeping and waiting for the next part. I finished the emotional roller coaster known as The Deathly Hallows at 2:30am on Sunday morning. I woke Sunday at 4:00Pm and started planning my review. Wondering what I thought of the book and realised I was getting no where, so at 4:30pm I just started typing. And now it is 5:45pm and I still haven't even gotten to the non-spoiler review. So, here we go:
NON-SPOILER REVIEW
As we knew it must, Harry's final story starts at the Number 4, Privet Drive. But that is about the only given. We knew that he was coming of age, we knew that he was still at the Dursley's for the summer and we knew that he had to get someplace safe so that Voldemort couldn't just walk up Privet Drive and kill Harry.
The story from here is full and rich. The emotional content begins almost immediately and doesn't really let up until the very, very end of the book. JK Rowling promised us that there would be no need for prequels by the end of the series and she delivers. All questions, all reasons, all secrets are answered.
Yes, there were some slow parts, yes, I do think there is some parts that could've been cut down or reduced... would I change it? No. Absolutely not. All books have to have slow parts. It gives the characters and readers time to think, reason and predict.
Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Dumbledore's Army, The Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter, Oh my!
In her now traditional way, Ms. Rowling has taken us on a daring adventure. We are shocked and awed many times over, she pokes a little fun at the debates her books have created, she gives nods to the fandom communities, and twists our feelings around and around until we are about ready to snap.
If you have not READ any of the entire series, do not read this book until you have at least read the Half-Blood Prince! If you have read the entire series, this is a must read!
I bow to JK Rowling and Her Masterful Plan (TM). In my opinion, this story lives up to all the hype surrounding it. The story is as shocking as it is satisfying. Way to go, Ms Rowling. You deserve every penny of your fortune.
Skip down to actual review.
When I woke up on Friday morning, July 20, I had no idea how my day would go. I woke a little late, left for work a little late, got to work a little late. Not too bad and I had done way worse.
But we had a problem.
Our Harry Potter Poll had expired Thursday night at 11:59pm instead of Friday night at 11:59pm. My boss was majorly pissed off. It ruined her statistics and we lost about 10 hours worth of voters. I am sure the fact that I got in late was not helpful either. I sat down and helped remedy the problem immediately. There was drama involved in the resolution, but she was also a little mad at me for other things. (Let's just say, I have a similar problem as with Dumbledore, as stated in book 6. Since I am a bit above average in some things, my mistakes, when they happen, tend to be that much bigger. Been that way my entire life... anyway back to the review)
As everyone knows by now, there was a huge early release of the book and spoilers were already being posted. When I had come into work that day, I was going to be content to wait for my Deluxe copy to come to me via post from the place I had ordered it from in Chicago (Go BOOKIE'S!!!). As the tension grew in the book industry that day, I decided that I would have to avoid as much internet time as possible until I had a chance to read it. I decided on going to the Border's Grand Hallows Ball at the Time Warner Center. It was supposed to be one of the biggest parties around. It was giving away a beautiful 3 foot poster to those who bought the book that Friday and a glow-stick wand was to be given to all attendees. I also had a gift card from my very fabulous co-workers for my birthday. I figured, if I wanted to get the book that night after all, I had no problems with cash for once.
When I talked with my buddy, the owner of The Bookie's Paperbacks and More in Chicago later in the evening, I found that she had not gotten her shipment of books in until after the deadline to get it to me by Saturday. That decided me, I was gonna try to buy the book during the Free-for-All if they lasted that long. I told her to just ship it regular and not to worry about the rush.
Determined to stick around, I stayed in the Border's for the entire night. I could not join in the Ball area because I had not pre-ordered my book and I had not gotten there in enough time to get a blasted wristband. If I had KNOWN they would've started early, I could've been there early. Oh well, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I hung around a while with someone who was determined to try to find her way into the Ball. If I hadn't been in such bad graces with my boss, I could've done EVERYTHING because the ball coordinator is one of her contacts. I decided, since she had been giving me the cold shoulder all day, I wasn't going to even attempt to go near her. Too bad. STILL had fun anyway! I ended up knitting for about and hour or so too, not my own, trying to tempt people to buy Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel. Very nice projects and a Molly Weasley sweater using knit and crochet, very nice. I ended up buying the book myself.
Finally, around 2:00am I am not really certain which, I left for home with my brand new copy of The Deathly Hallows, my poster and my glow-stick Wand. I had gotten everything I came for. I was still in my work clothes, I was starting to have a scent about me and I was tired as all hell, but excited even more. I refused to crack the book until I could read it in comfort and solitude in my own living space... so I teased myself by continuing to listen to Half-Blood Prince all the way home. Getting more ideas and reinforcing many of my suspicions about characters and events that may happen in the book that was sitting in my possession.
I got home, took a shower and started reading. It was about 3am... I was only going to read a little bit because I had an appointment with an Open House on Saturday morning between 10:30am and 1pm....
As I continued reading for several more hours I realised that I should not go to sleep because I would MISS my Open House and it was CRUCIAL that I go. So I read all the way up to the time I dressed and hiked over to the Open House. It took all of an hour. I walked there, looked around, signed in, did some shopping, got back to my book in about an hour. Amazing, right?
Well, what amazed me is that I was awake for OVER TWENTY FOUR HOURS and still going! I could not separate myself from the book. As I continued reading, I did take breaks to eat (very little!), drink (just as little) and there were times I HAD to close my eyes and snoozed for a little while. Never longer than 30 minutes, it was amazing. The book had me so blasted intrigued. I was fighting dislexia, sleep and bodily objections just to get to the next page, chapter, story, whatever. In the end, I did not sleep until I had finished the entire book. There just wasn't any part of the book that was so slow that I didn't mind sleeping and waiting for the next part. I finished the emotional roller coaster known as The Deathly Hallows at 2:30am on Sunday morning. I woke Sunday at 4:00Pm and started planning my review. Wondering what I thought of the book and realised I was getting no where, so at 4:30pm I just started typing. And now it is 5:45pm and I still haven't even gotten to the non-spoiler review. So, here we go:
NON-SPOILER REVIEW
As we knew it must, Harry's final story starts at the Number 4, Privet Drive. But that is about the only given. We knew that he was coming of age, we knew that he was still at the Dursley's for the summer and we knew that he had to get someplace safe so that Voldemort couldn't just walk up Privet Drive and kill Harry.
The story from here is full and rich. The emotional content begins almost immediately and doesn't really let up until the very, very end of the book. JK Rowling promised us that there would be no need for prequels by the end of the series and she delivers. All questions, all reasons, all secrets are answered.
Yes, there were some slow parts, yes, I do think there is some parts that could've been cut down or reduced... would I change it? No. Absolutely not. All books have to have slow parts. It gives the characters and readers time to think, reason and predict.
Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Dumbledore's Army, The Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter, Oh my!
In her now traditional way, Ms. Rowling has taken us on a daring adventure. We are shocked and awed many times over, she pokes a little fun at the debates her books have created, she gives nods to the fandom communities, and twists our feelings around and around until we are about ready to snap.
If you have not READ any of the entire series, do not read this book until you have at least read the Half-Blood Prince! If you have read the entire series, this is a must read!
I bow to JK Rowling and Her Masterful Plan (TM). In my opinion, this story lives up to all the hype surrounding it. The story is as shocking as it is satisfying. Way to go, Ms Rowling. You deserve every penny of your fortune.