The Deathly Hallows
So yeah, while I doubt there's anyone left on LJ who hasn't read book seven, I'll be courteous enough to put up a spoiler alert.
Originally I hadn't planned on getting book seven right away. Despite the insanity HBP brought on over a year ago, I was no longer dying to know if Snape had truly betrayed the light, or if Dumbledore was really dead, or if Harry was a Horcrux... etc.
Back in February I had the choice of whether or not to pre-order DH. Obviously I chose nay. For months I watched as everyone around me slowly lost their minds in anticipation. And while the world went crazy on the 21st, I was still reeling over movie five.
Well, that resolve died quickly. I was visiting my aunt (whom I got addicted to Harry Potter) and of course she was in the middle of reading book seven. I had a sudden change of heart and knew that there was no way I could allow her to finish the book before me. So that one night I stayed with her, I was up for 12 hours straight reading the book.
It's taken me nearly 2 weeks to assimilate all the information and gather my thoughts. And while the world will continue spinning whether or not I post them, I just have to, as they say, put the pen to the paper.
First off, I liked the book. Let me just say that. It was a page turner for me and I enjoyed reading it. But of course there were plenty of things that didn't quite bode well with me.
Positives:
1) I loved, loved, LOVED the focus on the trio. I am not ashamed to admit that I was near tears when Hermione and Ron insisted on joining Harry's Horcrux crusade in HPB. I felt in so many ways that it all came down to the friendship between those three. In some ways they reminded me of the brothers in the Deathly Hallows tale. Each bringing something different to the table. And even though Ron left (and I know there are Ron haters out there who will never let him live it down) the most important thing is that he came back. Almost immediately. If there's one thing JK does that I admire, is her ability to bring out the humanity (stomach turning as it can sometimes be) in her characters.
2) I loved the near death experiences. Just when I thought the woman couldn't go any further. I mean, an old lady possessed by a giant snake, robbing Gringotts and escaping on a fucking dragon! How awesome is that? I felt like she really lived up to her tradition of placing Harry and everyone else in dangerous situations that seem impossible to escape.
3) and did she ever pull on the heart strings this time around. I mean, damn! Right away, she starts killing characters off in ways that leave you with no closure. Hedwig hit me hard. All I could think was, what the hell did that poor, beautiful, loyal owl ever do? And Harry being so helpless and unable to do a thing about it. That ambush chapter made me realize just how serious she was this time around. No one was safe. I cried over every death, and nearly every near death. I was scared for everyone. I mean, I knew people were going to die, and I thought I was ready for it. Apparently not. Everyone I thought I could spare, as soon as they were in danger, my heart was in my throat. I realized I wasn't ready to lose anyone. I cried over Hagrid... twice. Once when I thought he was dead and again when I saw he was okay. I even cried over Mad Eye... didn't expect that. Dobby literally brought on a river and a much needed break from reading while I hosed down my aunt's couch. And of course, who DIDN'T cry over Fred? I knew a Weasley was gonna get it (statistically how could they not) but I was rooting for one of the elder brothers. The only consolation... Fred died laughing. If that's not poetically beautiful, I don't know what is. So yeah, JK got me emotionally with this book more than any of the others.
4) History lessons are always wonderful. Unraveling the mystery that was Dumbledore was cool and of course we've waited ages to find out Severus' whole story. And I'd always wanted to know more about Grindlewald.
5) The battle at Hogwarts. After this long in fandom, it almost seems cliche but I found it fitting. I thought the secret tunnel was pretty cool. There's so much about Hogwarts that would take a lifetime to figure out. But one of my all time favorite things was seeing what had been happening at Hogwarts behind the scene. It always feels as though Harry is in this war alone and to see the fight going on elsewhere... It really brought the point home. And hooray for Neville! Finally come into his own. Despite reading dozens of Hogwarts battles in fanfiction, this one really stood out, made my heart pound. I thought it was beautifully executed. A good payoff to a long wait.
6) the final confrontation. It wasn't what I expected and I give JK props for that. I mean, nearly every hopeful writer out there has had a go at their version of the light/dark showdown. How does one take out the Dark Lord? After all this buildup, JK really had her work cut out for her to make this live up to all the hype. And I felt she delivered in her own tell tale style. So kudos to her.
Negatives:
1) Undeveloped Slytherins. This was a real disappointment for me. Originally I thought JK was a genius in the way she developed Severus Snape's character. His ambiguous, dark, straddling the fence nature. I identified with Harry's confusion. I mean, I loved Snape as a character, but there was always the question of trust. And Snape became more and more fleshed out with every book. Draco had become tiresome for me in the way he never seemed to grow or change as a person until book six. Seeing Malfoy crying in that bathroom, stressing out over Voldermort's orders, his wand trembling on the Lightning Struck Tower... incredible. I was looking forward to seeing that further developed. Unraveled if you will. So to have JK simply take such potential and literally toss it out the window or simply kill it off was more than disappointing. I never imagined that she would have so little respect for her own characters. I mean, even Wormtail got more play than he deserved. And I can't help but wonder if it was because he was a Griffindor. In this book I felt as though JK's natural prejudice came out. She had a real chance to show the reality of a Slytherin and chose to turn them all into a cartoon, a stereotype. I mean, are you telling me not ONE Slytherin stayed behind to fight AGAINST Voldermort? She doesn't treat any of the other houses with such a bias, one sided view. It annoyed me and I lost a bit of respect for her as a writer. I also felt as though her killing off Snape in such a pointless and cold venture was her way of flipping off all the Severus lovers out there, whom she doesn't understand. It just felt as though she refused to humanize them or reflect any positive light on them whatsoever.
2) The Deathly Hallows. Interesting on their own but... paired up with Horcruxes (a complication I never welcomed) they were a bit much. I was like, come ON! No more, please. And in a book as complicated and action packed as this one, it was unnecessary. It actually showed just how much JK wasn't wanting to end this series with her need to fit in everything possible. It was just too much.
3) Harry and Ginny. Now this has absolutely NOTHING to do with my own preferences of lovers or anything. I love Harry/Ginny as much as I love Harry/Ron or Harry/Severus. They're all fun. No what I didn't like about them in this book is that there wasn't enough story developed for them. It felt extremely rushed. Again showing JK's need to put everything in this one book because she was ending it. The development between the two of them in the last couple of books was really cute. But this time around it was simply squashed in where ever JK had room or had a chance to remember them. Sort of the problem film makers had with Aragorn and Arwen in the LOTR movies. How to keep the audience still rooting for the main couple when the couple is constantly apart. I know what she was trying to do but it just got messy. She would have been better not ending the series (though killing Voldermort was a good move) and continuing the other plotlines that were squished into DH... much to their detriment.
4) The epilogue. If nothing else, this proved more than ever that JK did not want to end this series. It felt contrived and more cliche than any fanfic I've ever read. It was too fairytale that these school sweethearts got married, had kids and then got together to ship them off to Hogwarts every year. Come on! There was so much sugar I felt literally nauseous. I could have done without it. It kinda ruined the end for me.
So yeah. I enjoyed the book and am truly sad to see such an awesome series come to an end. Now that I've said my shpiel, i can go on with my life. lol.
PS. Thank God for fanfiction
Originally I hadn't planned on getting book seven right away. Despite the insanity HBP brought on over a year ago, I was no longer dying to know if Snape had truly betrayed the light, or if Dumbledore was really dead, or if Harry was a Horcrux... etc.
Back in February I had the choice of whether or not to pre-order DH. Obviously I chose nay. For months I watched as everyone around me slowly lost their minds in anticipation. And while the world went crazy on the 21st, I was still reeling over movie five.
Well, that resolve died quickly. I was visiting my aunt (whom I got addicted to Harry Potter) and of course she was in the middle of reading book seven. I had a sudden change of heart and knew that there was no way I could allow her to finish the book before me. So that one night I stayed with her, I was up for 12 hours straight reading the book.
It's taken me nearly 2 weeks to assimilate all the information and gather my thoughts. And while the world will continue spinning whether or not I post them, I just have to, as they say, put the pen to the paper.
First off, I liked the book. Let me just say that. It was a page turner for me and I enjoyed reading it. But of course there were plenty of things that didn't quite bode well with me.
Positives:
1) I loved, loved, LOVED the focus on the trio. I am not ashamed to admit that I was near tears when Hermione and Ron insisted on joining Harry's Horcrux crusade in HPB. I felt in so many ways that it all came down to the friendship between those three. In some ways they reminded me of the brothers in the Deathly Hallows tale. Each bringing something different to the table. And even though Ron left (and I know there are Ron haters out there who will never let him live it down) the most important thing is that he came back. Almost immediately. If there's one thing JK does that I admire, is her ability to bring out the humanity (stomach turning as it can sometimes be) in her characters.
2) I loved the near death experiences. Just when I thought the woman couldn't go any further. I mean, an old lady possessed by a giant snake, robbing Gringotts and escaping on a fucking dragon! How awesome is that? I felt like she really lived up to her tradition of placing Harry and everyone else in dangerous situations that seem impossible to escape.
3) and did she ever pull on the heart strings this time around. I mean, damn! Right away, she starts killing characters off in ways that leave you with no closure. Hedwig hit me hard. All I could think was, what the hell did that poor, beautiful, loyal owl ever do? And Harry being so helpless and unable to do a thing about it. That ambush chapter made me realize just how serious she was this time around. No one was safe. I cried over every death, and nearly every near death. I was scared for everyone. I mean, I knew people were going to die, and I thought I was ready for it. Apparently not. Everyone I thought I could spare, as soon as they were in danger, my heart was in my throat. I realized I wasn't ready to lose anyone. I cried over Hagrid... twice. Once when I thought he was dead and again when I saw he was okay. I even cried over Mad Eye... didn't expect that. Dobby literally brought on a river and a much needed break from reading while I hosed down my aunt's couch. And of course, who DIDN'T cry over Fred? I knew a Weasley was gonna get it (statistically how could they not) but I was rooting for one of the elder brothers. The only consolation... Fred died laughing. If that's not poetically beautiful, I don't know what is. So yeah, JK got me emotionally with this book more than any of the others.
4) History lessons are always wonderful. Unraveling the mystery that was Dumbledore was cool and of course we've waited ages to find out Severus' whole story. And I'd always wanted to know more about Grindlewald.
5) The battle at Hogwarts. After this long in fandom, it almost seems cliche but I found it fitting. I thought the secret tunnel was pretty cool. There's so much about Hogwarts that would take a lifetime to figure out. But one of my all time favorite things was seeing what had been happening at Hogwarts behind the scene. It always feels as though Harry is in this war alone and to see the fight going on elsewhere... It really brought the point home. And hooray for Neville! Finally come into his own. Despite reading dozens of Hogwarts battles in fanfiction, this one really stood out, made my heart pound. I thought it was beautifully executed. A good payoff to a long wait.
6) the final confrontation. It wasn't what I expected and I give JK props for that. I mean, nearly every hopeful writer out there has had a go at their version of the light/dark showdown. How does one take out the Dark Lord? After all this buildup, JK really had her work cut out for her to make this live up to all the hype. And I felt she delivered in her own tell tale style. So kudos to her.
Negatives:
1) Undeveloped Slytherins. This was a real disappointment for me. Originally I thought JK was a genius in the way she developed Severus Snape's character. His ambiguous, dark, straddling the fence nature. I identified with Harry's confusion. I mean, I loved Snape as a character, but there was always the question of trust. And Snape became more and more fleshed out with every book. Draco had become tiresome for me in the way he never seemed to grow or change as a person until book six. Seeing Malfoy crying in that bathroom, stressing out over Voldermort's orders, his wand trembling on the Lightning Struck Tower... incredible. I was looking forward to seeing that further developed. Unraveled if you will. So to have JK simply take such potential and literally toss it out the window or simply kill it off was more than disappointing. I never imagined that she would have so little respect for her own characters. I mean, even Wormtail got more play than he deserved. And I can't help but wonder if it was because he was a Griffindor. In this book I felt as though JK's natural prejudice came out. She had a real chance to show the reality of a Slytherin and chose to turn them all into a cartoon, a stereotype. I mean, are you telling me not ONE Slytherin stayed behind to fight AGAINST Voldermort? She doesn't treat any of the other houses with such a bias, one sided view. It annoyed me and I lost a bit of respect for her as a writer. I also felt as though her killing off Snape in such a pointless and cold venture was her way of flipping off all the Severus lovers out there, whom she doesn't understand. It just felt as though she refused to humanize them or reflect any positive light on them whatsoever.
2) The Deathly Hallows. Interesting on their own but... paired up with Horcruxes (a complication I never welcomed) they were a bit much. I was like, come ON! No more, please. And in a book as complicated and action packed as this one, it was unnecessary. It actually showed just how much JK wasn't wanting to end this series with her need to fit in everything possible. It was just too much.
3) Harry and Ginny. Now this has absolutely NOTHING to do with my own preferences of lovers or anything. I love Harry/Ginny as much as I love Harry/Ron or Harry/Severus. They're all fun. No what I didn't like about them in this book is that there wasn't enough story developed for them. It felt extremely rushed. Again showing JK's need to put everything in this one book because she was ending it. The development between the two of them in the last couple of books was really cute. But this time around it was simply squashed in where ever JK had room or had a chance to remember them. Sort of the problem film makers had with Aragorn and Arwen in the LOTR movies. How to keep the audience still rooting for the main couple when the couple is constantly apart. I know what she was trying to do but it just got messy. She would have been better not ending the series (though killing Voldermort was a good move) and continuing the other plotlines that were squished into DH... much to their detriment.
4) The epilogue. If nothing else, this proved more than ever that JK did not want to end this series. It felt contrived and more cliche than any fanfic I've ever read. It was too fairytale that these school sweethearts got married, had kids and then got together to ship them off to Hogwarts every year. Come on! There was so much sugar I felt literally nauseous. I could have done without it. It kinda ruined the end for me.
So yeah. I enjoyed the book and am truly sad to see such an awesome series come to an end. Now that I've said my shpiel, i can go on with my life. lol.
PS. Thank God for fanfiction