![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I am grinning from ear to ear. Totally loved it. Am absolutely in love with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I figured it out about halfway through the book, but that could not prevent me from laughing, crying and totally reveling in this book. It started off with a bang that swept me up and kept me going all the way to the very end. It totally satisfied the fangirl in me and was, in my opinion, a perfect ending to this awesome series.
I can't say that I am totally coherent yet. But I'll leave my impressions of the book.
First of all: Not My Daughter, You Bitch!
I think I nearly broke something laughing. What an awesome, rousing charge. Go, Mrs.Weasley!!
I loved that this book was an epic and that it tied into bits and pieces of all the books. I'd read that Rowling knew exactly how everything was going to turn out when she wrote the first book, and I think that you can see that. It really has been a set-up. I need to go back and read all the books in order, together, I think to get a better picture because unlike many people I've never gone back to re-read them. The idea always made me ansty for the end of the series so I left it alone.
In a way, it reminded me of Star Wars and how the hero's journey must come to end and everyone has a part to play. I was terrified that Harry would die, but then I got to the part in Godric's Hollow and realized that it would inevitable. When Harry relived the moment Voldemort's attack I realized that he himself was the last Horcrux and that he would have to die. There was no other way that the book could end with Voldemort's defeat and Voldemort had to be defeated. This is a series, after all, about the eternal battle between good and evil. It's also a children's series and an epic in the most traditional sense. Good had to win out. I also realized that there had to be seven Horcrux's it made a sort of sense. Seven books, seven Herculean tasks for Harry to complete. His own death being the final and most difficult.
I am, of course, ecstatic that Rowling was able to revive him because I couldn't figure out exactly how that could happen, but it made sense considering the connection between them.
I loved that Dumbledore turned out to be such a grey character. All of the characters, really, were flawed and that is what, I think, attracts people to the series. The heroes, although not evil in the manner of villians, are conflicted as all people are. No one is all good and we all lust after things we do not have.
Random Points:
- Dudley. Dude, I was shocked!!
- OMG! Hedwig!!!!!!!!
- Hermione getting tortured! I thought for sure that was it and that she was going to die. I really wasn't sure that Rowling would let all three of our heroes get out of this alive.
- Snape's patronus. Since the scene in Half Blood Prince when Harry saw Snape's memories I knew that Snape loved Lily. Seeing that relationship from the ground up was heartbreaking. Snape protecting Harry because she was Lily's son was so sad and true and real. He didn't really care about Harry except that Harry belonged to Lily. So poignant it set me to tears.
- Loved Ron storming out because that was such a Ron thing to do and we've seen him do it before in Goblet of Fire. He's so jealous and insecure. I loved him anyway, although I was terrified that he was going to die while we weren't watching.
- Luna!! LOVE!! I need a Luna icon now because she is totally made of awesome. Her and Dean. EEEEEEEE!!!! <3 Dean taking her hand and leading her off to battle. Coaxing Harry through the Patronus Charm. Her and Harry at the very end and the way that she distracted everyone so that he could slip away. OMG! How much do I adore Luna!
-Neville. Dude, seriously. What can I say. He's like my hero. His Gran, OMG! How awesome!! I can totally picture this severe little woman taking down Dawlish and making a run for it. Maybe they could get Judi Dench for the movies. And Professor Longbottom! YAY!!!
- Voldemort flying without a broom was SCARY, man!
- George and his dumb joke about being holey. How much did I cry over Fred, though. That broke something in my chest.
- Both Remus AND Tonks dying seemed a little overkill, but I think Rowling wanted to make it really personal. Colin Creevy dying hit me like Fred's death, out of the blue and totally knocked me off my bed. I keep seeing him with his camera, young, very, very young.
- Loved the talking Patronus's.
- ADORE Hermione, still. She's my number one girl, I tell you. That brilliant, brilliant girl. Although, she was way too weepy in this book. I don't remember her crying all over the place in previous books. That used to be Cho, but well, maybe I'm forgetting.
- Kreacher! Who knew?! Kreacher doing a 180, leading the house elves in battle. I totally cheered.
There was so much that I dug in this book. It was packed with near misses, daring escapes, adventures left and right. The only other beef besides Hermione's weepiness that I can think of was the intensity of Harry's feelings for Ginny. That relationship always seemed like such an eleventh hour romance to me. But those are minor details. Maybe later after I've re-read the book I'll find things that I didn't like, but right now? Right now I am high as a fucking kite.
Oh, wait -- I thought the Epilogue was a little overkill, BUT it totally satisfied the ten year old fangirl in me to see everyone living happily ever after. And that they had named all of their children after the people who had died. Albus Severus Potter, OMG!!!
So, Loved it. That's me. LOVED Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Perfectly, beautifully ended. Oh, and I totally guessed that the eyes in the mirror were Aberford. I knew he head to show up at some point. I don't think it really fit that he was the bartender at the Hog's Head. I mean, no one EVER noticed that he had Dumbledore's eyes? Harry was stupidly gallant at times -- Moody's eye, Professor McGonagall -- but that makes sense because that is who Harry was. He was his mother's son and I love that it came down to that. In the previous books it was so much about James Potter. I love that in the end it was about Lily.
So, yeah. Loved it.
ETA: Brief and articulate predictions for Deathly Hollows by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shoshanapnw. This is a book blog and I read through some of the other reviews and really enjoyed them. Finding articulate, objective people in fandom is not an easy task, so I've friended this one because I am ever in need of a good read and intelligent discussion about it.
I can't say that I am totally coherent yet. But I'll leave my impressions of the book.
First of all: Not My Daughter, You Bitch!
I think I nearly broke something laughing. What an awesome, rousing charge. Go, Mrs.Weasley!!
I loved that this book was an epic and that it tied into bits and pieces of all the books. I'd read that Rowling knew exactly how everything was going to turn out when she wrote the first book, and I think that you can see that. It really has been a set-up. I need to go back and read all the books in order, together, I think to get a better picture because unlike many people I've never gone back to re-read them. The idea always made me ansty for the end of the series so I left it alone.
In a way, it reminded me of Star Wars and how the hero's journey must come to end and everyone has a part to play. I was terrified that Harry would die, but then I got to the part in Godric's Hollow and realized that it would inevitable. When Harry relived the moment Voldemort's attack I realized that he himself was the last Horcrux and that he would have to die. There was no other way that the book could end with Voldemort's defeat and Voldemort had to be defeated. This is a series, after all, about the eternal battle between good and evil. It's also a children's series and an epic in the most traditional sense. Good had to win out. I also realized that there had to be seven Horcrux's it made a sort of sense. Seven books, seven Herculean tasks for Harry to complete. His own death being the final and most difficult.
I am, of course, ecstatic that Rowling was able to revive him because I couldn't figure out exactly how that could happen, but it made sense considering the connection between them.
I loved that Dumbledore turned out to be such a grey character. All of the characters, really, were flawed and that is what, I think, attracts people to the series. The heroes, although not evil in the manner of villians, are conflicted as all people are. No one is all good and we all lust after things we do not have.
Random Points:
- Dudley. Dude, I was shocked!!
- OMG! Hedwig!!!!!!!!
- Hermione getting tortured! I thought for sure that was it and that she was going to die. I really wasn't sure that Rowling would let all three of our heroes get out of this alive.
- Snape's patronus. Since the scene in Half Blood Prince when Harry saw Snape's memories I knew that Snape loved Lily. Seeing that relationship from the ground up was heartbreaking. Snape protecting Harry because she was Lily's son was so sad and true and real. He didn't really care about Harry except that Harry belonged to Lily. So poignant it set me to tears.
- Loved Ron storming out because that was such a Ron thing to do and we've seen him do it before in Goblet of Fire. He's so jealous and insecure. I loved him anyway, although I was terrified that he was going to die while we weren't watching.
- Luna!! LOVE!! I need a Luna icon now because she is totally made of awesome. Her and Dean. EEEEEEEE!!!! <3 Dean taking her hand and leading her off to battle. Coaxing Harry through the Patronus Charm. Her and Harry at the very end and the way that she distracted everyone so that he could slip away. OMG! How much do I adore Luna!
-Neville. Dude, seriously. What can I say. He's like my hero. His Gran, OMG! How awesome!! I can totally picture this severe little woman taking down Dawlish and making a run for it. Maybe they could get Judi Dench for the movies. And Professor Longbottom! YAY!!!
- Voldemort flying without a broom was SCARY, man!
- George and his dumb joke about being holey. How much did I cry over Fred, though. That broke something in my chest.
- Both Remus AND Tonks dying seemed a little overkill, but I think Rowling wanted to make it really personal. Colin Creevy dying hit me like Fred's death, out of the blue and totally knocked me off my bed. I keep seeing him with his camera, young, very, very young.
- Loved the talking Patronus's.
- ADORE Hermione, still. She's my number one girl, I tell you. That brilliant, brilliant girl. Although, she was way too weepy in this book. I don't remember her crying all over the place in previous books. That used to be Cho, but well, maybe I'm forgetting.
- Kreacher! Who knew?! Kreacher doing a 180, leading the house elves in battle. I totally cheered.
There was so much that I dug in this book. It was packed with near misses, daring escapes, adventures left and right. The only other beef besides Hermione's weepiness that I can think of was the intensity of Harry's feelings for Ginny. That relationship always seemed like such an eleventh hour romance to me. But those are minor details. Maybe later after I've re-read the book I'll find things that I didn't like, but right now? Right now I am high as a fucking kite.
Oh, wait -- I thought the Epilogue was a little overkill, BUT it totally satisfied the ten year old fangirl in me to see everyone living happily ever after. And that they had named all of their children after the people who had died. Albus Severus Potter, OMG!!!
So, Loved it. That's me. LOVED Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Perfectly, beautifully ended. Oh, and I totally guessed that the eyes in the mirror were Aberford. I knew he head to show up at some point. I don't think it really fit that he was the bartender at the Hog's Head. I mean, no one EVER noticed that he had Dumbledore's eyes? Harry was stupidly gallant at times -- Moody's eye, Professor McGonagall -- but that makes sense because that is who Harry was. He was his mother's son and I love that it came down to that. In the previous books it was so much about James Potter. I love that in the end it was about Lily.
So, yeah. Loved it.
ETA: Brief and articulate predictions for Deathly Hollows by
shoshanapnw. This is a book blog and I read through some of the other reviews and really enjoyed them. Finding articulate, objective people in fandom is not an easy task, so I've friended this one because I am ever in need of a good read and intelligent discussion about it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 06:55 am (UTC)From:I can totally picture this severe little woman taking down Dawlish and making a run for it. Maybe they could get Judi Dench for the movies.
Ahaha, damn, now that's all I can picture too! Nothing says ass-kicking granny like the dame!
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 07:51 am (UTC)From:I didn't care for the epilogue. That definitly didn't feel like enough, but the rest of the book, I thought was pretty solid. It's so funny, now, going through all of the reaction. Some people are really pissed and it's kinda blowing my mind. They are ready to burn down the establishment mad.
Crazy.
I'm happy as a clam, myself. Happy as a clam.