my review
Well, I loved it...
as much as you can love anything that kicks you in the gut every 75 pages. John was anxious for me to finish so I would stop boo-hooing every half-hour. Seriously, I started with Hedwig (I can't handle pet death), accelerated to shaking shoulders with Dobby (horrible combination of pet-like and family-like death), and went to shuddery inhalations for Fred (that one hurt. I love Fred & George and the added tragedy of George losing his identity as an identical twin was awful--JKR really, really twisted the knife with each death). I was in full blown sobs by the time Snape died because I knew we were seconds away from a big revelation of his goodness but to show him as a kid just sharpened the whole thing to chest-pain level weeping--and then after the big Lily background (good call to those of you who called that!) you go back and see that his last action in the world is to want to see Lily's eyes as he dies. Jaysus. Each added twist (Remus, Tonks, Colin Creevey!?!) set me off again. I knew it was going to be hard to read, but in years past, neither Sirius nor Dumbledore got more than a 10 minute cry and a day of feeling kind of mopey (even though I love Dumbledore to bits). This time I actually got that horrible haze-y death-in-the-family feeling that is still persisting. When I gave the book to John to read and went back to check things in 1-6, I'd start crying again! I hate to admit it, but I'm misted up now. I'm really not that big of a softie.
Overall, the glory of the book, for me, was all the wonderful background information that poured in from every direction. There were so many questions that I'd forgotten I had until I found them being answered and then some...JKR giveth and she taketh away. The pace was breathtaking--who'd have thought I would brush past Wormtail's or Bellatrix's deaths with no time or energy to cackle? Actually, I did get one great cackle out of Molly Weasley's onslaught...Gary Glitter was playing in the background for that one.
The epilogue is controversial it seems--but I've seen much worse. There are so many where they catalog the major life events of your favorite characters like they're ticking off a check list. This one just gave you a little glimpse and it left you wanting more (Was George okay? Who was Headmaster? Who was MOM? Was Harry an Auror?). And frankly, I don't care how wonderful fanfic is, there's something nice about knowing what the author has pictured for her characters' misty future--but hey it came with the consolation prize of being able to ship all those kids.
I wish it wasn't over, but I'm glad it ended so well. And it really was a gift to experience the first literary phenomenon ever to create a billionaire author--in real time. I managed to avoid every spoiler for DH and never even thought about skipping ahead, so I got the full experience. And anyone who buys their book next week, next year, or next century can't experience the exquisite curiosity about the ending that I've had since I was 24 years old (I started just a week or so before book 3 came out, I believe) because Harry's fate will be as well known as Old Yeller's or Frodo's or Cinderella's--people in the bus station ten years from now will lean over and say confidentially and annoyingly to newly minted 9 year old HP fans "Snape is good, ya know." But not us. We got to walk the path without knowing what was around the bend. Thanks for that, universe.
as much as you can love anything that kicks you in the gut every 75 pages. John was anxious for me to finish so I would stop boo-hooing every half-hour. Seriously, I started with Hedwig (I can't handle pet death), accelerated to shaking shoulders with Dobby (horrible combination of pet-like and family-like death), and went to shuddery inhalations for Fred (that one hurt. I love Fred & George and the added tragedy of George losing his identity as an identical twin was awful--JKR really, really twisted the knife with each death). I was in full blown sobs by the time Snape died because I knew we were seconds away from a big revelation of his goodness but to show him as a kid just sharpened the whole thing to chest-pain level weeping--and then after the big Lily background (good call to those of you who called that!) you go back and see that his last action in the world is to want to see Lily's eyes as he dies. Jaysus. Each added twist (Remus, Tonks, Colin Creevey!?!) set me off again. I knew it was going to be hard to read, but in years past, neither Sirius nor Dumbledore got more than a 10 minute cry and a day of feeling kind of mopey (even though I love Dumbledore to bits). This time I actually got that horrible haze-y death-in-the-family feeling that is still persisting. When I gave the book to John to read and went back to check things in 1-6, I'd start crying again! I hate to admit it, but I'm misted up now. I'm really not that big of a softie.
Overall, the glory of the book, for me, was all the wonderful background information that poured in from every direction. There were so many questions that I'd forgotten I had until I found them being answered and then some...JKR giveth and she taketh away. The pace was breathtaking--who'd have thought I would brush past Wormtail's or Bellatrix's deaths with no time or energy to cackle? Actually, I did get one great cackle out of Molly Weasley's onslaught...Gary Glitter was playing in the background for that one.
The epilogue is controversial it seems--but I've seen much worse. There are so many where they catalog the major life events of your favorite characters like they're ticking off a check list. This one just gave you a little glimpse and it left you wanting more (Was George okay? Who was Headmaster? Who was MOM? Was Harry an Auror?). And frankly, I don't care how wonderful fanfic is, there's something nice about knowing what the author has pictured for her characters' misty future--but hey it came with the consolation prize of being able to ship all those kids.
I wish it wasn't over, but I'm glad it ended so well. And it really was a gift to experience the first literary phenomenon ever to create a billionaire author--in real time. I managed to avoid every spoiler for DH and never even thought about skipping ahead, so I got the full experience. And anyone who buys their book next week, next year, or next century can't experience the exquisite curiosity about the ending that I've had since I was 24 years old (I started just a week or so before book 3 came out, I believe) because Harry's fate will be as well known as Old Yeller's or Frodo's or Cinderella's--people in the bus station ten years from now will lean over and say confidentially and annoyingly to newly minted 9 year old HP fans "Snape is good, ya know." But not us. We got to walk the path without knowing what was around the bend. Thanks for that, universe.