Reviews: July 2007 Archives

I bought it Saturday Night and finished it Sunday.

I was not disappointed in the ending at all...I thought it was an absolutely perfect ending for the series. I don't understand the disappointment of some readers...the ending was exciting and excellent.

The mid-parts of the book were a bit long as the main three, with various and sundry helpers, search for the Horcruxes...search - trouble - search - yikes - search - RUN - search - capture...escape...search...etc...for what takes months and months in real time. Somewhat conveniently Voldemort is out of the country on a search of his own. Perhaps seven Horcruxes was too big a number. We had already seen 2 destroyed...the diary and whatever blackened Dumbledor's hand, so 5 more needed to be accounted for...including a search for what had destroyed Dumbledor. This took a bit too long.

Several characters were given the opportunity to destroy the Horcruxes, but at the end of course, it came down to Harry and Tom Riddle.

There were several sub-arcs. The Deathly Hallows turns out to be percolating thru the books since the beginning, and the final key to Riddle's eventual fate...and Harry finds out more about his ancestors thru the Hallows. Love matches are made and finalized. Dombledor's history is reveled. Honorable characters commit betrayal, several formerly evil characters are saved thru feelings of remorse and love, neutral characters take sides, secret histories are reveled. Some well known characters don't make it, some gentle characters exhibit extreme violence when pushed too far, and some timid types reach the summit of bravery and honor. I don't recall any loose ends other than no further exploration of Snape's last admonition to Harry to speak his curses without actually saying them. Some people are complaining about the epilogue...I would have been disappointed not knowing the fates of those who survived that last battle.

I liked it very much. Your mileage may vary.

Many horrible spoilers after the jump...