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It's really hard to decide how I feel about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Before, whenever I finished a Harry Potter book for the first time, I came away feeling, above all other reactions I had to the contents of the book, even including sorrow over the deaths of Sirius Black and Dumbledore, satisfied. I had seen Harry through another year, and no matter what had happened I knew I could look forward to more adventures in Hogwarts, more fantastic creatures and fascinating spells to imagine. In a year's time, maybe more, I could read along and enjoy what was, essentially, an extension of my childhood. I may have started at age twelve or thirteen, a little late for the "children's book" bandwagon (which I'd hopped off of a few years ago anyway), but I did grow up with Harry Potter.
Tonight, however, when I read that last page and lingered over the extra illustrations in the back of my copy, even read the blurb on the author and the illustrator and what exactly had gone into my special edition, I couldn't help feeling a little emptiness mix with that satisfaction. The story is over, and while I'm pleased with its conclusion, I'll never again wonder what the next story will bring. There will be no more sleepless nights spent devouring the newest book, no pressing need for me to forego sleep and hygiene and even food to find out what happens next. (Well, okay, I cheated a little this time and went to sleep at 3:30 AM, but I'd been up since 6:30 AM and didn't get home until 1:30 AM.) And that was part of the adventure itself, because even at my most voracious there aren't that many books which have me clinging to every page. I'm really going to miss that.
Yeah, okay, enough of the flowery "Woe, my childhood has left me!" stuff. I'm not going to go into detail about everything, or even most of the events, because I'm rather bad at that. My brain likes to attach itself to the parts I really liked and gloss over everything else, chronology be damned. So I'm just going to list what I liked and/or disliked, why, and they'll be listed as I think of them.
Neville: <3<3<3 Kicked total ass. He's been my favorite character since OotP, maybe even GoF, and it's really not hard to see why. Like I said before, if he was a real person I'd be utterly in love with him. I will always, now and forever, be a Neville fangirl.
Snape: I knew it. I totally knew it. While I'm not a huge fan of him, I still like him as a character, so it was relieving to know that I was right about him. And his love for Lily explains so damn much. I think I foresee a new ship for me to fangirl.
Draco: I'm not sure whether I'm more relieved that he turned out to be, if not a good guy, then a somewhat decent person in the end, or that he and Harry apparently gained sort of a cool respect for each other, rather than becoming friends. It would have been an insult to the character, I think, for that to happen.
Dudley: I "aaaaaaaaw!"-ed. That was really sweet.
Tonks and Lupin: Well, Lupin was an ass for the first half of the book. There is absolutely no denying that. He really could not have convinced me that he felt anything toward Tonks except annoyance. But he got better, at least. And it really saddened me when he and Tonks died. I liked them - maybe not so much as a couple, but they were great characters, and I'm going to miss them.
Mrs. Weasley: Kicked more ass than anyone else in the book. I <3 her almost as much as I <3 Neville.
Aberforth: Just plain awesome, man.
Fred: NOOOOOOOO. D:
The epilogue: Well, I thought it was really cute. And I liked that they gave Albus the middle name Severus, and that Harry told his son that Snape was one of the bravest men he'd known. Some people might think it's hokey, but I think it was just fine.
My overall reaction: <3 this book SO HARD. It rocked, and there's no convincing me otherwise. I missed the "year at Hogwarts" setting, but the fact that they returned there for the final battle cheered me up.
Tonight, however, when I read that last page and lingered over the extra illustrations in the back of my copy, even read the blurb on the author and the illustrator and what exactly had gone into my special edition, I couldn't help feeling a little emptiness mix with that satisfaction. The story is over, and while I'm pleased with its conclusion, I'll never again wonder what the next story will bring. There will be no more sleepless nights spent devouring the newest book, no pressing need for me to forego sleep and hygiene and even food to find out what happens next. (Well, okay, I cheated a little this time and went to sleep at 3:30 AM, but I'd been up since 6:30 AM and didn't get home until 1:30 AM.) And that was part of the adventure itself, because even at my most voracious there aren't that many books which have me clinging to every page. I'm really going to miss that.
Yeah, okay, enough of the flowery "Woe, my childhood has left me!" stuff. I'm not going to go into detail about everything, or even most of the events, because I'm rather bad at that. My brain likes to attach itself to the parts I really liked and gloss over everything else, chronology be damned. So I'm just going to list what I liked and/or disliked, why, and they'll be listed as I think of them.
Neville: <3<3<3 Kicked total ass. He's been my favorite character since OotP, maybe even GoF, and it's really not hard to see why. Like I said before, if he was a real person I'd be utterly in love with him. I will always, now and forever, be a Neville fangirl.
Snape: I knew it. I totally knew it. While I'm not a huge fan of him, I still like him as a character, so it was relieving to know that I was right about him. And his love for Lily explains so damn much. I think I foresee a new ship for me to fangirl.
Draco: I'm not sure whether I'm more relieved that he turned out to be, if not a good guy, then a somewhat decent person in the end, or that he and Harry apparently gained sort of a cool respect for each other, rather than becoming friends. It would have been an insult to the character, I think, for that to happen.
Dudley: I "aaaaaaaaw!"-ed. That was really sweet.
Tonks and Lupin: Well, Lupin was an ass for the first half of the book. There is absolutely no denying that. He really could not have convinced me that he felt anything toward Tonks except annoyance. But he got better, at least. And it really saddened me when he and Tonks died. I liked them - maybe not so much as a couple, but they were great characters, and I'm going to miss them.
Mrs. Weasley: Kicked more ass than anyone else in the book. I <3 her almost as much as I <3 Neville.
Aberforth: Just plain awesome, man.
Fred: NOOOOOOOO. D:
The epilogue: Well, I thought it was really cute. And I liked that they gave Albus the middle name Severus, and that Harry told his son that Snape was one of the bravest men he'd known. Some people might think it's hokey, but I think it was just fine.
My overall reaction: <3 this book SO HARD. It rocked, and there's no convincing me otherwise. I missed the "year at Hogwarts" setting, but the fact that they returned there for the final battle cheered me up.
