Well I really liked the book, no matter how many minor faults there were. I didn't really like the epilouge, though.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Thread starter Aeolus
- Start date
I loved the book up until the chapter "King's Cross". It was exciting, many things were happening every few chapters, and the Snape thing was really sweet. I felt that the end of the book could've been improved, however. It did feel very rushed and tacked on. Many things weren't explained very clearly, such as why the Avada Kedavra didn't kill Harry, why Neville could pull the sword out of the sorting hat and why the Avada Kedavra rebounded on Voldemort. I know you can find an explanation for them if you think hard enough, but all the same, it was confusing and many people, myself included, took a while to understand @_@. Anyway, then Voldemort just... dies. It was sort of anticlimatic. I liked learning about Dumbledore's history, though. It just made him seem more human.
The epilogue also was NOT good. Rose and Hugo are the worst names ever (I didn't mind Albus Severus :P). That's a minor complaint though. Anyway, she left so many questions unanswered. I know she gave interviews later, but I don't understand why she couldn't just have included it in the book. I mean, she's spent all this time developping all these characters and all she gives us is a like 6-page epilogue which explains virtually nothing...
Another complaint I have is the deaths. The only death which I felt was written well was Fred's. It was just really sad (maybe that's because I love Fred though). The others I didn't really like that much... I mean, Hedwig and Moody get a few lines. Dobby's was OK I guess. Lupin and Tonk's deaths I felt were rather unnecessary. She'd taken all this time to develop them (esp. Lupin) and suddenly they're just dead >_>.
FINALLY, I felt that JKR's romances were sort of awkward. I found both Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione's relationships a little unnatural (and Ron yelling "HERMIONE! HERMIONE" in Malfoy Manor irritated me somewhat). I'm ranting about the book too much though; I love Harry Potter. As I said, I found it really good up to the King's Cross part (one of my favourite moments was when Petunia wrote a letter to Dumbledore and got rejected from Hogwarts... it was so heartbreaking). I just wish she could've ended the series off a little more nicely =/.
The epilogue also was NOT good. Rose and Hugo are the worst names ever (I didn't mind Albus Severus :P). That's a minor complaint though. Anyway, she left so many questions unanswered. I know she gave interviews later, but I don't understand why she couldn't just have included it in the book. I mean, she's spent all this time developping all these characters and all she gives us is a like 6-page epilogue which explains virtually nothing...
Another complaint I have is the deaths. The only death which I felt was written well was Fred's. It was just really sad (maybe that's because I love Fred though). The others I didn't really like that much... I mean, Hedwig and Moody get a few lines. Dobby's was OK I guess. Lupin and Tonk's deaths I felt were rather unnecessary. She'd taken all this time to develop them (esp. Lupin) and suddenly they're just dead >_>.
FINALLY, I felt that JKR's romances were sort of awkward. I found both Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione's relationships a little unnatural (and Ron yelling "HERMIONE! HERMIONE" in Malfoy Manor irritated me somewhat). I'm ranting about the book too much though; I love Harry Potter. As I said, I found it really good up to the King's Cross part (one of my favourite moments was when Petunia wrote a letter to Dumbledore and got rejected from Hogwarts... it was so heartbreaking). I just wish she could've ended the series off a little more nicely =/.
Hmm, yeah, that's a good point, whoever said that. I really thought and wish that Dementors had played a larger role. Seems to me that just having them near would be enough. Even a boggart or two would have been good tactical weapons for Voldemort (assuming he trusts them to be around him enough). Surely Voldemort and the Death Eaters could have come up with some way to prevent the Dementors from being driven off by a patronus. Some sort of shield charm, maybe? Or just wait until a few guys die to send them in, as people will have a hard time thinking of a happy memory with their friends lying dead around them.
Phew there's a lot here to address/comment on so I'll do my best.
EDIT: wow I just posted a Jumpman like wall of text.
I guess I'll start by addressing the whole Elder Wand/Voldemort unsuccessfully killing Harry thing. Harry willingly came to Voldemort and willingly sacrificed himself. It's clearly what Harry wanted to do. This allowed Voldemort to use the wand on its owner because Harry was allowing it. This is why later the wand simply destroyed Voldemort. This act of self sacrifice also protected Harry much like how his mother's love protected him as an infant which is why it destroyed the Horcrux part but not Harry himself. The "purgatory" that Harry converses with Dumbledore in seemed to me to be sort of a dream that was occurring while Harry was knocked out. As was mentioned before a good hunk of the explanations was all information that could have been pieced together or perceived truths believed by Harry's subconscious. The small creature was the part of Voldemort inside of him. Was it necessary? No but I guess JKR wanted to show that Harry really did have another part to him.
As for using guns... it's a fictional novel. One, it won't make sense for a story based on magic to use conventional and everyday weapons. We the readers want to see spells cast not guns shot. If we wanted that I'm sure we could go read some other book. Second, magic does a lot. At times JKR uses it as an all encompassing excuse but I think it's fairly safe to assume magic can be used to defend against weapons like that. Arguably the bow and arrow weapons could be enchanted but then that makes me wonder why there aren't enchanted guns. We have flying motorcycles and cars why not like heat seeking bullets? Third, another reasoning behind the lack of conventional muggle weapons is strait up tradition. Guns were something invented by muggles to fight each other. Wizards traditionally used wands to do this. It could be considered tainted, less honorable, whatever. It's like how, for the sake of example, in the Last Samurai the rebels refuse to use guns to fight the new regime. It's a magical war, the good guys are going to be honorable and fight the wizarding way.
Deaths of main characters.. well for starters I think a lot of the suddenness of certain characters dying was to abuse the shock value that everyone loves but also to simply follow how "war" deaths are. If you're going to get blasted any minute by Avada Kedavra you're obviously not going to sit around for 20 minutes mourning. I'm mainly referring to the deaths of Lupin and Tonks here. I was very disappointed to see them go but at this point in the book Harry is extremely rushed. People are fighting and it's all on him essentially to securely put an end to it. These books are called "Harry Potter" so they're obviously going to follow Harry. There was no time for details at that point in the story and it would have been silly to randomly throw them in later. I would have liked more development but I don't fault her on it. In general, some people had to die to make it a bit more believable but obviously not any of the main core because younger kids do read these and also because JKR is/was following the standard theme of hero triumphs over evil.
The romances were indeed very awkward but you have to remember these are 16 and 17 year olds who don't have a heck of a lot of experience with genuine romantic relationships from what we've seen. Ginny has had a lot of boyfriends but that doesn't mean she truly cared for them in the same way she does for Harry. Ron, Harry and Hermione have had very few actual romantic situations in the whole series so it makes sense for them to be awkward. Especially Ron and Hermione. It seems sudden but sometimes that's just how it is. I believed it, expected it and was in general satisfied by it. The romances are there as a side plot anyway. If you're reading Harry Potter solely for romance you're reading the wrong series.
My main gripe I think with this particular novel stems from the "doing nothing" parts like camping and sitting around sulking. I blame all of this on the fact that Harry is not at Hogwarts. The other novels had them doing things because they were at school. There was always something happening or some detail that could be explored in the magical world. It could be a bit cliche of me to demand that true seventh year but I feel it would have made for a more eventful middle than camping. Yes they are on the run but there was too much emphasis placed on the hiding.
I too felt that the Gringotts heist was a bit unbelievable. It is the second safest place in the world and if it was as easy as Harry and co made it look then I'd really have my doubts about keeping anything there. Any average magician could use a polyjuice potion and bribe a goblin for information about the insides of the vault. It just seemed lacking in ingeniousness but a lot of Harry's success stems from simplicity. The resistance put up by the bank was really weak as well. JKR made it a point that goblins don't give two shits about wizard affairs so why would the "stress" of Voldemort's power affect their ability to do a job they pride themselves on?
Overall I was satisfied with the novel but it just didn't have that same spark that the series used to have for me. Maybe it's because I'm older and have read more things to compare it to now or maybe I just keep wanting bigger and grander when the series sort of plateaued. Either way, I was enamored by the earlier novels and just didn't feel that way as much when reading this one. I was still addicted and finished in two days but it wasn't the same "magical" (lol) experience of back then. There were highs and lows and I still enjoyed it and it's probably the best of the series alone for the closure it gives.
The epilogue sucked.
EDIT: wow I just posted a Jumpman like wall of text.
I guess I'll start by addressing the whole Elder Wand/Voldemort unsuccessfully killing Harry thing. Harry willingly came to Voldemort and willingly sacrificed himself. It's clearly what Harry wanted to do. This allowed Voldemort to use the wand on its owner because Harry was allowing it. This is why later the wand simply destroyed Voldemort. This act of self sacrifice also protected Harry much like how his mother's love protected him as an infant which is why it destroyed the Horcrux part but not Harry himself. The "purgatory" that Harry converses with Dumbledore in seemed to me to be sort of a dream that was occurring while Harry was knocked out. As was mentioned before a good hunk of the explanations was all information that could have been pieced together or perceived truths believed by Harry's subconscious. The small creature was the part of Voldemort inside of him. Was it necessary? No but I guess JKR wanted to show that Harry really did have another part to him.
As for using guns... it's a fictional novel. One, it won't make sense for a story based on magic to use conventional and everyday weapons. We the readers want to see spells cast not guns shot. If we wanted that I'm sure we could go read some other book. Second, magic does a lot. At times JKR uses it as an all encompassing excuse but I think it's fairly safe to assume magic can be used to defend against weapons like that. Arguably the bow and arrow weapons could be enchanted but then that makes me wonder why there aren't enchanted guns. We have flying motorcycles and cars why not like heat seeking bullets? Third, another reasoning behind the lack of conventional muggle weapons is strait up tradition. Guns were something invented by muggles to fight each other. Wizards traditionally used wands to do this. It could be considered tainted, less honorable, whatever. It's like how, for the sake of example, in the Last Samurai the rebels refuse to use guns to fight the new regime. It's a magical war, the good guys are going to be honorable and fight the wizarding way.
Deaths of main characters.. well for starters I think a lot of the suddenness of certain characters dying was to abuse the shock value that everyone loves but also to simply follow how "war" deaths are. If you're going to get blasted any minute by Avada Kedavra you're obviously not going to sit around for 20 minutes mourning. I'm mainly referring to the deaths of Lupin and Tonks here. I was very disappointed to see them go but at this point in the book Harry is extremely rushed. People are fighting and it's all on him essentially to securely put an end to it. These books are called "Harry Potter" so they're obviously going to follow Harry. There was no time for details at that point in the story and it would have been silly to randomly throw them in later. I would have liked more development but I don't fault her on it. In general, some people had to die to make it a bit more believable but obviously not any of the main core because younger kids do read these and also because JKR is/was following the standard theme of hero triumphs over evil.
The romances were indeed very awkward but you have to remember these are 16 and 17 year olds who don't have a heck of a lot of experience with genuine romantic relationships from what we've seen. Ginny has had a lot of boyfriends but that doesn't mean she truly cared for them in the same way she does for Harry. Ron, Harry and Hermione have had very few actual romantic situations in the whole series so it makes sense for them to be awkward. Especially Ron and Hermione. It seems sudden but sometimes that's just how it is. I believed it, expected it and was in general satisfied by it. The romances are there as a side plot anyway. If you're reading Harry Potter solely for romance you're reading the wrong series.
My main gripe I think with this particular novel stems from the "doing nothing" parts like camping and sitting around sulking. I blame all of this on the fact that Harry is not at Hogwarts. The other novels had them doing things because they were at school. There was always something happening or some detail that could be explored in the magical world. It could be a bit cliche of me to demand that true seventh year but I feel it would have made for a more eventful middle than camping. Yes they are on the run but there was too much emphasis placed on the hiding.
I too felt that the Gringotts heist was a bit unbelievable. It is the second safest place in the world and if it was as easy as Harry and co made it look then I'd really have my doubts about keeping anything there. Any average magician could use a polyjuice potion and bribe a goblin for information about the insides of the vault. It just seemed lacking in ingeniousness but a lot of Harry's success stems from simplicity. The resistance put up by the bank was really weak as well. JKR made it a point that goblins don't give two shits about wizard affairs so why would the "stress" of Voldemort's power affect their ability to do a job they pride themselves on?
Overall I was satisfied with the novel but it just didn't have that same spark that the series used to have for me. Maybe it's because I'm older and have read more things to compare it to now or maybe I just keep wanting bigger and grander when the series sort of plateaued. Either way, I was enamored by the earlier novels and just didn't feel that way as much when reading this one. I was still addicted and finished in two days but it wasn't the same "magical" (lol) experience of back then. There were highs and lows and I still enjoyed it and it's probably the best of the series alone for the closure it gives.
The epilogue sucked.
Wow, did I misread, thought that guy was asking why the Death Eaters didn't use guns =/
For some reason, after rereading it, I expected something to happen when Ron destroyed the locket and it said "For a moment, Harry thought he saw a glint of red in Ron's eyes" or something like that, hmm, maybe this could be why Ron was speaking Parseltongue?
For some reason, after rereading it, I expected something to happen when Ron destroyed the locket and it said "For a moment, Harry thought he saw a glint of red in Ron's eyes" or something like that, hmm, maybe this could be why Ron was speaking Parseltongue?
I think that this book did what i needed to do to the series. The series was drawing to a close and J.K.Rowling (sp) wrote a book that tied up most, if not all, major loose ends from the previous books. It also developed more character traits of the previously ignored characters. I think she was drunk/high when writing the epilogue though. When i finished it all i could think was, "i dont care how many kids they had, wtf happened to the rest of the world". seriously. She created an EPIC world in these seven books but throws away the oportunity for a great ending with some crappy okimdonewhateverpaymekthxbai kind of ending. I think she could continue to make loads of money her now well developed fan base by writing books about other events in the wizarding world. I dont think she would even need to write them as a series. It could be one book per story. I would absolutely buy a book retelling the founding of hogwarts. I think she would even rewrite the final book telling the story of the people who did go to hogwarts the 7th year.
- pewpewlazerzman
PS: first person to say QFT gets an internet cookie.
- pewpewlazerzman
PS: first person to say QFT gets an internet cookie.
I don't understand the people who are saying that the romances were bad. Ron's and Hermione's has been built up from day one, and when it comes to Harry and Ginny, you have to keep in mind that everything she writes about them isn't ALL that happens. Keep in mind that he's spent a shitload of time with the Weasley family, which means he has interacted with her a LOT more than what we directly read about. It's not like he woke up one morning and decided "I love Ginny" just because he passed her in the hall at Hogwarts a couple times.
Agree on your first point, strongly disagree on the second.
Just because there was regular interaction, that alone doesn't justify the emergence of a relationship.
There was very little progression in Harry and Ginny's relationship until book 6, in fact, starting with Book 3, the general trend was to create distance between the two.
I feel that in the case of the main character, the progression from "friends" to "lovers" has to be clearly and directly shown, and I do not feel it was shown - at least not to the extent that R + Hr was.
Just because there was regular interaction, that alone doesn't justify the emergence of a relationship.
There was very little progression in Harry and Ginny's relationship until book 6, in fact, starting with Book 3, the general trend was to create distance between the two.
I feel that in the case of the main character, the progression from "friends" to "lovers" has to be clearly and directly shown, and I do not feel it was shown - at least not to the extent that R + Hr was.
Well, that's just not how teenage love works.
Oh wow, you couldn't be more wrong man. Relationships don't need to be justified, they just... happen.
Oh wow, you couldn't be more wrong man. Relationships don't need to be justified, they just... happen.
I read this entire topic and I never noticed my main gripe. This may be a result of my information-gathering, but...
... Snape's death sucked to me. Not the aftermath, that was cool, but the way it was done... to see such an important character just be dead because Voldemort was like "oh hey, bye :O"... I think part of it was that I got spoiled earlier, I knew Snape was going to die, and I just expected more out of it, I dunno.
Agreed with everyone who said the camping parts dragged.
The second half (aside from my first gripe) was just great though. I love how they ramped it up, and kept things interesting. Dumbledore's backstory was great I think, Dumbledore was always my favorite character and after all the ruckus about his past... he still definitely is, by a long shot. The parts with Snape's memories was great, I love backstory, especially on a neat character like Snape, who I have much respect for now. If only he'd gotten a better death...
... Snape's death sucked to me. Not the aftermath, that was cool, but the way it was done... to see such an important character just be dead because Voldemort was like "oh hey, bye :O"... I think part of it was that I got spoiled earlier, I knew Snape was going to die, and I just expected more out of it, I dunno.
Agreed with everyone who said the camping parts dragged.
The second half (aside from my first gripe) was just great though. I love how they ramped it up, and kept things interesting. Dumbledore's backstory was great I think, Dumbledore was always my favorite character and after all the ruckus about his past... he still definitely is, by a long shot. The parts with Snape's memories was great, I love backstory, especially on a neat character like Snape, who I have much respect for now. If only he'd gotten a better death...
I felt Snape's death showed how severely Voldemort was messed up. Like..We knew he just killed for fun, and didn't care, but Snape was one of his most trusted assistants(or so he thought). He just killed him like it was nothing, later to find out, in vain.
The stuff about Albus in this book was really awesome. I kept expecting things, and they were all different. However, I hated the big deal about his sister. The part at Knights Crossing were sweet, I didn't find it so confusing.
I used to hate Snape, but now I have a much deserved respect for him. Who knew?
The camping parts did drag on, but I suppose you'd have to have something in between. If you notice, at each different one something amazing happens. Imagine if that all happened in one chapter called "Camping"...Wouldn't that just be too much for one afternoon? I mean...Getting attacked by Nagini, finding Gryffindors sword, Ron leaving-then coming back, and much more...It would be ridiculous.
That would be insane.
I think Snape died the way he did to make us care about him even more. Him getting sicked on by Nagini on a whim with no chance to defend himself made it all the more tragic.
And I thought the camping parts were really fun.
Hermione: Harry, does your scar hurt?
Harry: No.
Ron: Shut the %*&$ UP! RAWR!
Heh, I guess I enjoyed it because I myself would love to do something like that.
I'm dissapointed Dobby and Fred/George (cant remember) died. I liked those two characters. And what was she thinking when she killed off Colin Creevy? Colin Creevy? We dont see him since Book 2, and the next moment he ends up dead just because she wanted another person to die off. LAME!
And I thought the camping parts were really fun.
Hermione: Harry, does your scar hurt?
Harry: No.
Ron: Shut the %*&$ UP! RAWR!
Heh, I guess I enjoyed it because I myself would love to do something like that.
I'm dissapointed Dobby and Fred/George (cant remember) died. I liked those two characters. And what was she thinking when she killed off Colin Creevy? Colin Creevy? We dont see him since Book 2, and the next moment he ends up dead just because she wanted another person to die off. LAME!
I forgot he even died. I don't know why she included him...Maybe to make it more epic?
Epic? I wouldn't call it that. It was like "Harry sees Neville carrying a dead Colin Creevy in his arms. 'Oh bugger' Harry says."
I dont even think he said anything about Creevy, actually. Not even an "Oh bugger"... He just kind of notices him, but ignores him and talks to Neville. The only reason I can see her killing him off is to make Neville look more like a hero carrying his corpse. It was the only pointless death in the book, in my opinion.
Oh, and some people were asking how the sword went back into the Sorting Hat after Griphook stole it. This is just a guess, but Griphook could have been killed by Voldemort. He killed a whole bunch of people when he discovered his Horcrux was stolen.
And I do have a question. Did gathering the three Hollows really bring about immortality, or was that something the wizards exaggerated? Or will we never know the answer to that?
I dont even think he said anything about Creevy, actually. Not even an "Oh bugger"... He just kind of notices him, but ignores him and talks to Neville. The only reason I can see her killing him off is to make Neville look more like a hero carrying his corpse. It was the only pointless death in the book, in my opinion.
Oh, and some people were asking how the sword went back into the Sorting Hat after Griphook stole it. This is just a guess, but Griphook could have been killed by Voldemort. He killed a whole bunch of people when he discovered his Horcrux was stolen.
And I do have a question. Did gathering the three Hollows really bring about immortality, or was that something the wizards exaggerated? Or will we never know the answer to that?
I believe Hedwig's death was pretty pointless also. It didn't add or take away from the story at all, and actually probably made it easier for Harry later on, when they were camping. It would be annoying to have to tend for and feed another thing, when it was so hard for just them.
I believe the sword appears for those who truly need it. Even if Griphook died, that wouldn't explain how it would get into something like the Sorting Hat. Perhaps lying on the ground beside him or something, which it would've probably been looted, but not by Neville, or anyone at Hogwarts. It could be a generic hero-like thing, where it just appears. but I don't know.
I don't think we'll ever really know. Maybe it meant that if you used the properties of each of them, you'd be invincible. Seeing as the Wand beats everything, the cloak perfectly disguises you, and the stone...well, the stone really doesn't help anyone, but maybe it could also ressurect yourself, IF you happened to die?
Because Harry is a Horcrux, hence, Voldemort can destroy the horcrux, and not kill Harry.
Snape's death felt rather unfitting to me as well. However now I feel that the way he died was important to the plot. He would've never had the chance to give Harry his memories had he been Avada Kedavra-ed.
Agreeing that Snape's backstory rocked. Snape had been a cool character all through the series (imo being harsh on the lead character doesn't change that), but the rather touchy backstory was something I did not expect. I loved it.
Dumbledore's backstory was kinda :justin2: but I like how Grindelwald was portrayed in the book.
The epilogue was fine, I only expected a couple more chapters before it and 'The Elder Wand'. :O
There were quite a few things I didn't like about this book, so I'm just gonna put it out there.
-For one, I didn't like how the final battle between Harry and Voldemort, which was 7 books in the making, turned out to be a literal 2 line fight. His end was fitting, I'll admit (died the same way he "died" last time he tried to off Harry), but it was just...anti-climatic.
-There were numerous things that just didn't sit well with me pertaining to the characters. Obviously Ron's usefulness is one (let's get serious, he hasn't done anything significant for plot since he won the Chess match in book 1), but that's obvious. I -hated- how she (Rowling) basically did a 180 with the Malfoys. They were established Death Eaters and for 6 books, Lucius has acted like a pompous evil person. But, all of a sudden, they lose their dedication to Voldemort and start acting all scared of him. Lets not forget that in Book 4, Lucius was all over Voldemort and praising him, as was Draco. Same in book 5 (although the failure at the Ministry was...bad). But then she turns Draco "good" as evidenced by the epilogue and tries to make the family likable. You can't spend 6 novels making characters into loathsome bad guys, only to try and make them "good" for the finale.
-Speaking of the Weaselys, I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that Molly offing Bellatrix was just plain wrong. Rowling had previously stamped Neville all over her death, given that Bellatrix did break his parents (she evened threatened to go after the grandmother in Book 7, I think) and tortured him briefly (in Book 5). But one missed Killing Curse towards Ginny erases all of that history. Neville got a lot of respect in Book 7 and I thought it would've been his moment to truly shine killing Bellatrix. But instead, he kills the snake. Important, yes. But not what he was "meant" to do in my opinion. After all, he deserved it. Another death that I didn't like was Lupin's. No explanation. The least they could've done a Lupin and Greyback werewolf fight (and there was enough history between the two to warrant it, too). Snape's death left a lot to be desired, as well. He was the most complex character in the series by far -- to see him knocked off like that was very unfitting to his character. Granted, dying like that was pretty much the only way that could've satisfied the "Harry has to see him to get the Pensieve shit," but I'm sure something more befitting to Snape's excellent character could've been thought up of.
-Now its time for minor gripes - camping was overdone and melodramatic, Ron magically learning to talk Parseltongue, etc. Also, another minor gripe I had was that the power of the Elder Wand could've been established a bit more. It can repair an un-repairable wand...why not try to use it to fix George's ear or cure Bill's Lycanthropy? Again, this isn't a complaint, it's just something I would've like to see. It seems that Harry only thinks about himself XD
Anyways, all in all, I felt the book was good. Good enough for me to say that it was worth it to attend the midnight release and spend 8 straight hours reading it. It could've been a lot better, but so can a lot of things. It's a sad thing to see the Potter series all wrapped up, though.
-For one, I didn't like how the final battle between Harry and Voldemort, which was 7 books in the making, turned out to be a literal 2 line fight. His end was fitting, I'll admit (died the same way he "died" last time he tried to off Harry), but it was just...anti-climatic.
-There were numerous things that just didn't sit well with me pertaining to the characters. Obviously Ron's usefulness is one (let's get serious, he hasn't done anything significant for plot since he won the Chess match in book 1), but that's obvious. I -hated- how she (Rowling) basically did a 180 with the Malfoys. They were established Death Eaters and for 6 books, Lucius has acted like a pompous evil person. But, all of a sudden, they lose their dedication to Voldemort and start acting all scared of him. Lets not forget that in Book 4, Lucius was all over Voldemort and praising him, as was Draco. Same in book 5 (although the failure at the Ministry was...bad). But then she turns Draco "good" as evidenced by the epilogue and tries to make the family likable. You can't spend 6 novels making characters into loathsome bad guys, only to try and make them "good" for the finale.
-Speaking of the Weaselys, I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that Molly offing Bellatrix was just plain wrong. Rowling had previously stamped Neville all over her death, given that Bellatrix did break his parents (she evened threatened to go after the grandmother in Book 7, I think) and tortured him briefly (in Book 5). But one missed Killing Curse towards Ginny erases all of that history. Neville got a lot of respect in Book 7 and I thought it would've been his moment to truly shine killing Bellatrix. But instead, he kills the snake. Important, yes. But not what he was "meant" to do in my opinion. After all, he deserved it. Another death that I didn't like was Lupin's. No explanation. The least they could've done a Lupin and Greyback werewolf fight (and there was enough history between the two to warrant it, too). Snape's death left a lot to be desired, as well. He was the most complex character in the series by far -- to see him knocked off like that was very unfitting to his character. Granted, dying like that was pretty much the only way that could've satisfied the "Harry has to see him to get the Pensieve shit," but I'm sure something more befitting to Snape's excellent character could've been thought up of.
-Now its time for minor gripes - camping was overdone and melodramatic, Ron magically learning to talk Parseltongue, etc. Also, another minor gripe I had was that the power of the Elder Wand could've been established a bit more. It can repair an un-repairable wand...why not try to use it to fix George's ear or cure Bill's Lycanthropy? Again, this isn't a complaint, it's just something I would've like to see. It seems that Harry only thinks about himself XD
Anyways, all in all, I felt the book was good. Good enough for me to say that it was worth it to attend the midnight release and spend 8 straight hours reading it. It could've been a lot better, but so can a lot of things. It's a sad thing to see the Potter series all wrapped up, though.
I think the whole point Rowling was trying to make was that love overcomes everything. Face it, Voldemort completely OWNS Harry in the magical sense. The only thing Harry was better than Voldemort in was love and unselfishness, and that last battle between them really showed it. Harry didn't even use Stupify. He used that Disarming spell. Not only that, but he actually tried to talk some sense into Voldemort to get him to repent. Having Harry and Voldemort fight would have ruined the whole theme.
That's another theme. If you treat people like crap they turn on you. The Malfoys probably never loved Voldemort. They loved themselves and, oddly enough, used him to help themselves.
But yeah, Ron is useless. All he can do is piss off Hermione which I do enjoy.
Agreed, but considering we got "Not my daughter you, ____" I think that makes up for it.^_^
This is the one point I agree on, except that the entire fight was 2-3 pages, not two lines. And I didn't quite understand what was going on right when the sun goes up; why did Voldemort die when their spells hit each other? Why did the Elder wand fly into the air TOWARDS Harry? It smacked of fan fiction but whatever.
She didn't try to make the family likable at any point in the series. The closest thing was Narcissa sparing Harry, but that ties into the entire Love wins over Voldemort theme of the books. Did you miss the entire subplot where, after the failure at the Ministry, Lucius is kept in Azkaban, broken out against his will, Draco forced to attempt to kill Dumbledore, Malfoy Manor taken as the Death Eater headquarters, Lucius' wand taken and broken, Draco working as Voldemort's personal slave....there are several gigantic reasons they turned against Voldemort, but this is not an attempt to make them likable; if anything, it is atonement for them, and the only thing you could call Malfoy from the epilogue is shy and repentent for his misdeeds.
Wow, the Battle of Hogwarts wasn't intended to be the showdown where "everybody gets revenge"; Molly's killing of Bellatrix can be attributed to love of Ginny. Why should Neville get revenge on Bellatrix? The good side wasn't supposed to seek revenge like the Death Eaters would. The war wasn't supposed to be the clean, showdown-like battle you wanted, Lupin died suddenly and heartbreakingly, and that went towards the cruelty of war and Voldemort. If Neville/ Tonks had killed Bellatrix, if there was a "werewolf fight" or anything else like that it would've looked just like a bad fan fiction.
Snape was the unsung hero, a quiet crisis unheard in the roar of the deaths of the Lupins and Fred and everyone. That fit his character, but he is far from "the most complex character in the series by far"; he had a single emotion, hating Harry. "Complex"? Hardly. Meanwhile, the best part of his story was his love of Harry's mother, giving him a little extra depth to a shallow character, and gave a good reason why he remained Dumbledore's loyal servant til the end.
As far as the Tuesday Morning Quarterback thing goes, no one can really argue against the Dumbledore not telling Harry stuff thing making all the recent books irrelevant. Books V, VI, and VII are all of the format 'write 700 pages for the sake of writing a long book followed by Dumbledore having known everything.' She let things get really out of hand, and the writing suffered a lot in this book when compared to the first books, but at least it was better than book five, I suppose. The sword of Godric Gryffindor being able to move so fast is also pretty implausible, I think. Voldemort was the sickest, darkest wizard ever, and even he could not teleport instantaneously with his dark magics! Nothing, however, made this book worse than Rowling's interview where she told everything that 'really happened in the epilogue.' What the hell was that.
DoomMullet, the romances, at least to me, were completely irrelevant because she treated them like it was Puritan America, not the time which it is obviously relevant to, which is modern times. I understand that the book employs its sense of antiquity because of the whole magic being elegant idea, but in the age of casual and easy sex, these relationships are really ridiculous.
Snape's death was ridiculous. Snape is clearly stellar at both dark magic and defending himself, yet he dies like he is Pansy Parkinson or something.
DoomMullet, the romances, at least to me, were completely irrelevant because she treated them like it was Puritan America, not the time which it is obviously relevant to, which is modern times. I understand that the book employs its sense of antiquity because of the whole magic being elegant idea, but in the age of casual and easy sex, these relationships are really ridiculous.
Snape's death was ridiculous. Snape is clearly stellar at both dark magic and defending himself, yet he dies like he is Pansy Parkinson or something.
If that question gets asked one more time, I'm seriously going to slit someone's throat.
CK, I see what you mean, but like most of the people criticizing those things, you are an adult. If you were 11 years old and saying those things then... well, you just wouldn't. Us adults tend to overthink stuff as simple as a children's fantasy book.
CK, I see what you mean, but like most of the people criticizing those things, you are an adult. If you were 11 years old and saying those things then... well, you just wouldn't. Us adults tend to overthink stuff as simple as a children's fantasy book.