amazon / b&n

Since the plot of this particular book has been beaten to death, I'm not going to post a synopsis. I'll address a few things that have been said about the book, and give pretty much a general review. No guarantees there's no spoilers. With the emotions the ending of the HP series is bringing up, though, I'm glad I decided to close my comments too.

So, Deathly Hallows. I enjoyed it, and most of it made sense to me. There's been a lot going on about the deaths in this book--who died as well as how many died, the "naked scenes", and the epilogue.

Most of the deaths and how they were written in worked for me. For at least one character, death was inevitable. If it hadn't happened, I would have been disappointed because it would have revealed either a reluctance on the part of the author to do what she had been setting up for the character throughout the books. Or it would have revealed lack of a backbone as she succumbed to fan desires. However, some fans have romanticized his death to some degree, saying it showed courage, and I don't agree with that either. He saved no one. He did give Harry a gift, but I don't think it was courage that was a part of it, and I don't think it necessarily "redeemed" him the way so many think. He was always a complex character and his end only revealed that to a deeper degree.

As for the number of deaths and how they were portrayed, it was a war people. And Harry wasn't there for most of it. So, yea, a lot of "off stage" death made sense. As for who died, that characters we had come to know and love wouldn't make it through to the end made sense. See the first sentence of this paragraph. War doesn't favor only the people we don't know. Yes, I was upset at a few, and cried for one, but I also understood Rowling had to make choices that probably she didn't even like. She did what needed to be done to make the book work.

I don't understand the hub-bub about the "naked scenes". It's not like Rowling got pornographic or anything. Nothing was mentioned that I wouldn't let my children read. The big deal about it all makes no sense to me.

As for the epilogue, I think people have forgotten that these are books for older children or those on the younger end of the young adult group. You generally don't kill off heroes and keep them dead for these readers, and you almost always need some kind of "happily ever after" (or at least a happy for now) kind of ending. These are guidelines pretty much set for the genre, so I always expected Rowling to find a way to follow them even as the books got darker. This may be changing a little now days, with our kids growing up at younger ages, but it's not the norm to have books for this age range to end with the hero dead or not happy at least for the time being. I wasn't particularly fond of her last line either, but I understand WHY she did it (beyond the reasons she's mentioned in interviews) so I won't complain about it.

There have been some complaints about plot holes. I didn't see them. There have been lots of complaints about who ended up with who, which I find to be silly. This was Rowling's book to write, not anyone else's, and I think reading any book with expectations of your desires to be fulfilled will always lead to disappointment. I read without any expectations, and I think she did a great job of tying things up. She followed a single plot through the whole series while giving each book it's own story as well. I enjoyed the story, though there were places where the writing itself needed a little work. But that's been true of all her books, and she still has managed to draw me into the world of Harry every time.