By J.K. Rowling. It doesn’t really need more introduction for this review does it?!
I’ve finished it!!!! I can’t believe it, I’ve got my life back!!! Be warned – make sure you have some free time ahead, because once you start, you won’t be able to stop. It was an amazing book and I loved it. By far the best of all of them. J K Rowling pretty much managed to sew up everything and it was a satisfying ending. A bloody good ending actually (as long as you discount the epilogue). The pace was rushing on for a while though and I think I need to re-read it to make sure I understand it all. I think some of it went over my head in my haste to get to the end. Speaking of the end, if you can manage it; just stop reading when you reach the chapter entitled Epilogue. Just don’t read it! It’s not worth it; and I would go so far to say it spoilt it a lot and in writing this review and raving on about how much I loved this book; I am pushing the epilogue to the back of my memory. I shall explain why further down the page. But overall, it was a dam good book.
If you don’t mind getting some hints on the plot, please scroll down the page.
The stuff with Snape was handled perfectly.
Neville and the sword was brilliant.
Ok I do have some gripes because there are a couple of things she didn’t follow through with. Eg. Loads of book 4 was devoted to Hagrid going looking for the giants; there were lots of hints that it was important, and then it turns out to be completely irrelevant.
The pace at the beginning was weird with the big chase. It sort of came too quickly and then slowed right down. It just felt a bit odd.
Too many people died near the end that weren’t necessary.
Everything about the Epilogue was wrong. It was so bad, when Hubby read it on the internet weeks ago, he dismissed it straight away as a fake because it was just too awful! (I do have an excuse further down for her though)
Too many bits were unclear. She probably had them in her head, but didn’t transfer to the page particularly well. I found I had to go over a few bits to clarify things. Who exactly was the creature under the chair at the end? Did the sword come out of the hat then? Why exactly were the Hallows necessary to the story?
All the build up about Infiri ended up unnecessary.
Only scroll down further if you don’t mind reading downright spoilers!!
There is no way they would have followed an unspeaking old woman into her house, and then for Harry to go upstairs with her without Hermione. There is just no way they would be that incredibly stupid.
They knew the Horcruxes were something to do with each Hogwarts House, so why did they spend so long at the beginning of the book not knowing what to do? Surely they would set straight to work finding something that Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff might have had that was used?
Too many people died at the end. Where did the 50 dead bodies on the lawn come from? I thought it was The Order, a few teachers and a few students that were there fighting? It was like she thought it wouldn’t be realistic enough if there weren’t any deaths in the battle, but I disagree. Hardly any death eaters died, so I don’t think so many in The Order should have died either. It was just unnecessary. Especially Fred.
Percy should’ve turned up at the wedding, not at the battle – it felt false, like Rowling had almost forgot to sort him out, and wrongly chose that time to do it. Too corny.
The whole chapter with Dumbledore didn’t make a lot of sense. I’m still not clear on why exactly Harry didn’t die. If there was a bit of soul in Harry, does that mean there were actually 8 Horcruxes?
The biggest thing missing – What was it about Harry’s eyes being like his mother’s that was so important? I’m sure she’s even said in interviews that people have been right to pick up on that. If there was an explanation I missed it.
I could go on and on about how terrible the epilogue was; it was just so disappointing. I’m usually a lone voice on the rare occasions when I’m in literary occasions, speaking up for Harry Potter. But that last bit in the book makes it much more difficult to do so. It was just so sickenly corny. The names of their children – everything about it. And it didn’t answer any questions about Harry’s future really. Convenient they all had children at the same time! She should have either done an epilogue a few months or a year later; or missed it altogether and lengthened the scene at the end when Harry, Hermione and Ron are talking and Harry explains everything to the others. They could’ve just talked about what they were going to do in the future. My only excuse for Rowling is that she wrote the epilogue at the same time as she wrote the Philosopher’s stone. That first book was well and truly written with children in mind, and this bit feels the same way. The books progressed though, and it was wrong to cling to it just because she was heading for it all along. The editors should have been stricter with her and told her to scrap it!
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the book, but for big fans, there are going to be elements that are disappointing.
