Posted by blood roses at 2:32pm Jul 23 '07This post contains spoilers of the last Harry Potter book, including how the series ends. If you don't want to know, stop reading here! I'm also going to ask that if anybody replies to this post with spoilers of their own, please indicate that there are spoilers in the title of the post, so nobody will accidentally click on it on MRPs and be spoiled. Thanks =)
Now here's some time for anybody who doesn't want to be spoiled to leave
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Alright! So! What did everyone think? I enjoyed it... it was a satisfying conclusion to the series as far as I'm concerned. A few things I have comments on:
The ending. Of course. Honestly, I didn't think for a second Harry, Ron or Hermione would die. So when it looked like Harry really was going to, I was very surprised. And then he... didn't... and while the explanation made sense and all, I think his sacrifice would have had more meaning if it had actually... happened. And to have Harry "move on" to the next stage and have Ron & Hermione marry and have a son named Harry would have been a good ending I think. So I was a little disappointed but at the same time, kind of happy Harry got to have a long and happy life.
Snape... when I finished Half Blood Prince, all I had to say was: "There had BETTER be a good explanation for why Snape killed Dumbledore and why Dumbledore trusted him in the first place, or these books are dead to me!" We got one, and that was good. I do wish it had been a little less cliched than romantic love, but it did make sense and explain everything. And I am glad Snape turned out not to be evil, because one of the things I like about these books is that people aren't always what they appear, and a person can be deeply flawed but still choose good. I also thought it was interesting that all through the books Harry has worshipped his father, but it was really his mother who was the better and stronger person... once again, people are not always what they appear!
I also would have appreciated a little more resolution on Malfoy's charcter... the whole climax of HBP was seeing which side Malfoy would choose, but Snape took that choice away from him, and I was hoping he'd get it again in this book. But he didn't really, so it kind of ends without us knowing what he would have chosen if it came down to it. I did like that even Malfoy's parents were not just monsters but human in that they loved their son and cared more about his welfare than power of their own.
I also thought victory would cost Harry more in the sense of losing more friends/loved ones... I thought maybe Hagrid, or Neville or Luna. I guess Lupin was a big one, but we didn't see much reaction to that. And why didn't Harry or Ron have any children named Fred?
I guess that's all I have to say for now. I read it pretty fast because I really wanted to know what happened... I'm planning to re-read the other books and then read book 7 again more slowly, maybe I'll have more thoughts then =) Please share what you think!
Now here's some time for anybody who doesn't want to be spoiled to leave
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Alright! So! What did everyone think? I enjoyed it... it was a satisfying conclusion to the series as far as I'm concerned. A few things I have comments on:
The ending. Of course. Honestly, I didn't think for a second Harry, Ron or Hermione would die. So when it looked like Harry really was going to, I was very surprised. And then he... didn't... and while the explanation made sense and all, I think his sacrifice would have had more meaning if it had actually... happened. And to have Harry "move on" to the next stage and have Ron & Hermione marry and have a son named Harry would have been a good ending I think. So I was a little disappointed but at the same time, kind of happy Harry got to have a long and happy life.
Snape... when I finished Half Blood Prince, all I had to say was: "There had BETTER be a good explanation for why Snape killed Dumbledore and why Dumbledore trusted him in the first place, or these books are dead to me!" We got one, and that was good. I do wish it had been a little less cliched than romantic love, but it did make sense and explain everything. And I am glad Snape turned out not to be evil, because one of the things I like about these books is that people aren't always what they appear, and a person can be deeply flawed but still choose good. I also thought it was interesting that all through the books Harry has worshipped his father, but it was really his mother who was the better and stronger person... once again, people are not always what they appear!
I also would have appreciated a little more resolution on Malfoy's charcter... the whole climax of HBP was seeing which side Malfoy would choose, but Snape took that choice away from him, and I was hoping he'd get it again in this book. But he didn't really, so it kind of ends without us knowing what he would have chosen if it came down to it. I did like that even Malfoy's parents were not just monsters but human in that they loved their son and cared more about his welfare than power of their own.
I also thought victory would cost Harry more in the sense of losing more friends/loved ones... I thought maybe Hagrid, or Neville or Luna. I guess Lupin was a big one, but we didn't see much reaction to that. And why didn't Harry or Ron have any children named Fred?
I guess that's all I have to say for now. I read it pretty fast because I really wanted to know what happened... I'm planning to re-read the other books and then read book 7 again more slowly, maybe I'll have more thoughts then =) Please share what you think!
added on 2:43pm Jul 23 '07:
Oh! And I forgot to ask, what was the substance coming out of Snape at the end? (Is that a stupid question?) And what happened to it... Harry put it in a vial and then I didn't see it mentioned again.
Harry Potter discussion thread! (SPOILERS) - blood roses