Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucien21
I still think she doesn't write death scenes well. They are always emotionless and more like passing comments. I nearly missed Lupin and Tonks dying in the battle at the end.
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Hey, me too! I didn't realize they'd died until Harry reflected on it afterward. But I thought it was just me.
Anyhow, awesome book. Awesome
series!
There were two problems I had with it. First, the middle did drag on too much. I like that she had one last little drama between the three of them before the end. But much too long. Half the fun (or more) of these books is being there with them, the reader being the fourth member of the group. And as that fourth member, I felt left out not knowing what the heck they were filling up their time with. I mean, they were out there for
months, doing
nothing. Didn't they have books to read, or games to play, or spells to practice, or potions to brew, or anything I can vicariously join in on? No, they just
sat there for months, waiting for their brains and muscles to go numb from disuse. That section was a misfire.
Secondly, I thought the retcon about the Cloak was awkward. If in any of the past books anyone had expressed that this Invisibility Cloak was better than most, I'd have no problem here. But that never happened. All that has been said is that these cloaks are really expensive; you'd think if this specific one were also a one-of-a-kind legendary artifact Harry would've known something was up. And it didn't seem to fit the logic of the fairy tale as well as the wand or the stone.
Otherwise, great book. I hope kids will still be reading this series centuries from now. To bring back so many characters and plot points and themes and fit them into such an easy-to-follow story is no small feat!
What delighted me most (as a fan of exploration games and the like) was seeing how much of the
world of Harry Potter was brought back. I always figured Hogwarts would play a crucial part in this last story, but I never thought she'd fit in the Room of Requirement and the Forbidden Forest and the Shrieking Shack and another Common Room and Dumbledore's office and a final confrontation in the Great Hall and even the Chamber of Secrets! (Sort of.) The whole book she kept me waiting to return to Hogwarts, and she kept pushing it farther and farther into the book, and then they came back and it was like a roller-coaster ride of old memories! What glee I was in those whole last few chapters, and non-stop!
Really, think about how many locations she fit in without the story getting awkward for it, because it's kind of incredible. Privet Drive, the Burrow, the Ministry, Sirius's house, the Lovegood house (that ceiling was so adorable!), the forest from the World Cup, the Malfoy manor, Godric's Hollow,
Gringotts and Hogwarts. That's a lot o' places!
And so many characters! She even found a way to fit in Sir Cadogan! Xenophilius was great. And good ol' Aberforth! And Viktor Krum and Griphook and Dobby (Poor guy. But what a fitting end!) and
all the Weasleys (I especially loved how they repeated the joke that introduced them!) and Firenze and Bane and Trelawney throwing crystal balls and Neville's Gran and Cho Chang and Lee Jordan. Sure, lots of characters only got little cameos, but still!- that's
cool.
Out of curiosity, is there anyone here who
didn't like the book? I don't mean that you have a few criticisms, or even many criticisms, I mean that you didn't like it. Is there such a person? Because really, this ending was so fitting to the series that I can't imagine anyone who's read this far not finding it a treat.
