It's not a spoiler if I say that it exceeded my expectations, right?
I could have done without the token kiddy chapter (the names, wtf? Rose??) in the end, but JKR wins forever for page 502 and for Snape.
Yes, there were several shouts of I KNEW IT!
Though, damn. I had been prepared to see Snape die, but Fred? Ouch. Probably good we never saw a reaction from George. The rest of the Weasley's reactions were breaking my heart enough as it were.
And, oh, Dobby. Yes, I welled up there.
And oh, Tonks and Lupin. I'm sorry that I didn't cry over you, for I really liked you. But everything was happening so fast that the moment to slow down and mourn we had for Fred and Dobby wasn't there.
Hedwig. :o(
The parallels to the NS regime were pretty obvious this time, weren't they? Well done, though.
And because I'm shallow, I cannot get over that Ron gave Harry a book with sex tips for his birthday. BOYS.
And, ladies, admit it: Who of us wouldn't want Hermione's handbag? I adore you, JKR, I really do.
Ron and the locket had a bit of Frodo and the ring, hadn't it? It nearly killed me seeing him leave, and I all but turned to mush at his return, and his bravery with the sword. Such a bundle of insecurities. Oh, Ron.
OMG, Neville: Vive la resistance! (How hard did I love Neville?)
McGonagall!
Molly!!!
In conclusion, what I liked best about the book: No more black and white. Instead, shades of grey as far as you could see. Excellent.
Should add: I succumbed and took the day off and read, beginning to end, without even glimpsing at the end. It amuses me that I finished precisely at midnight, to someone having fireworks in the area.
And, lo and behold, some papers and websites (sites of e-mail Providers) are already giving away the end. Do they not realise how fucking uncool that is?
I could have done without the token kiddy chapter (the names, wtf? Rose??) in the end, but JKR wins forever for page 502 and for Snape.
Yes, there were several shouts of I KNEW IT!
Though, damn. I had been prepared to see Snape die, but Fred? Ouch. Probably good we never saw a reaction from George. The rest of the Weasley's reactions were breaking my heart enough as it were.
And, oh, Dobby. Yes, I welled up there.
And oh, Tonks and Lupin. I'm sorry that I didn't cry over you, for I really liked you. But everything was happening so fast that the moment to slow down and mourn we had for Fred and Dobby wasn't there.
Hedwig. :o(
The parallels to the NS regime were pretty obvious this time, weren't they? Well done, though.
And because I'm shallow, I cannot get over that Ron gave Harry a book with sex tips for his birthday. BOYS.
And, ladies, admit it: Who of us wouldn't want Hermione's handbag? I adore you, JKR, I really do.
Ron and the locket had a bit of Frodo and the ring, hadn't it? It nearly killed me seeing him leave, and I all but turned to mush at his return, and his bravery with the sword. Such a bundle of insecurities. Oh, Ron.
OMG, Neville: Vive la resistance! (How hard did I love Neville?)
McGonagall!
Molly!!!
In conclusion, what I liked best about the book: No more black and white. Instead, shades of grey as far as you could see. Excellent.
Should add: I succumbed and took the day off and read, beginning to end, without even glimpsing at the end. It amuses me that I finished precisely at midnight, to someone having fireworks in the area.
And, lo and behold, some papers and websites (sites of e-mail Providers) are already giving away the end. Do they not realise how fucking uncool that is?
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 01:05 am (UTC)No more black and white. Instead, shades of grey as far as you could see.
JKR must have done something really right, because the whole black and white/shades of grey didn't occur to me. Oh, I was still very much "Can Draco and Snape be evil, please?", but what she wrote was right and I didnt' ever doubt what she was telling me. I will admit that I hoped that Skeeter books was a load of lies, and I'm glad we found out the truth. (I suspect that I may be blinded by 6 books worth of "Dumbledore's good", thus I'm willing to overlook a lot, ie the extent to which Skeeter's book was 'true'.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 01:38 am (UTC)I have that?
Back to sleep, omg.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 03:59 am (UTC)I can't wait to see this on film.
::weeps for Fred::
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 07:16 am (UTC)Though, man, Harry: 5 kids? You and Ginny really had fun in bed, eh? ;o)
And, yes. I kept thinking the same thing: This movie will be awesome. Though I have serious problems to imagine what they would cut out to turn it into a film. The wedding, maybe. Just, please, not Ron's running off. Or Dobby's death. Or the kiss.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 07:20 am (UTC)It was quite the ride, wasn't it?
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 09:29 am (UTC)What also bothered me a bit about the end was that we didn't get to see how they all looked like now.
But, nah, ignoring the epilogue, because the rest of the book made me too happy to gripe.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 09:32 am (UTC)I'd have loved to find out what happened to Luna.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 09:35 am (UTC)Hugo is such a dog's name over here, which makes it even worse. ;o)
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 12:24 pm (UTC)I would have been quite happy with evil Snape. That said, I like what she did. I don't think I could have coped with Snape alive and good (ie us knowing he was good) at the same time, but I can do Snape-redeemed-after-death perfectly happily, apparently.
Draco? Well. I never much cared about him, actually.
*loves you and clings to your sanity* You may be the first person I've ever met with that opinion! Thank god I am not alone. *g*
It was quite the ride, wasn't it?
Totally!
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 12:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 12:46 pm (UTC)My next thought was that I'm sure the fanficcers will LOVE filling in all that 19 years' gap. ::twitch::
In film I think the wedding would either get cut or be somehow put earlier in, they could cut a lot of the early stuff...The campout stuff could get collapsed. They could snip a lot of the Grimmauld Place and even Lupin's appearance...
BUT OH MY GOD. The stuff in Malfoy Manor? Holy shit, that's going to bring the house down. And then the end when it's a war zone...
THE kiss was a long time coming. i will enjoy watching that.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-22 02:45 pm (UTC)Luna!!!!!
Amen for the shades of grey - I guess JKR felt compelled to tack on that epilogue to appease the "It is a kids book!" crowd. Scorpius? Please, tell me I am not the only one who had bad crossover ideas at that point.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 07:54 pm (UTC)An adorable beaded Bag of Holding? Yes, please!
fred-george comment!fic
Date: 2007-07-25 07:59 am (UTC)He'll reach out if there's no one around, until his fingertips meet cold resistant glass, meet his reflections', and he'll smile.
He'll look into his reflections' eyes and smile.
And he knows it's not the same, but sometimes he likes to pretend.
Re: fred-george comment!fic
Date: 2007-07-26 09:52 am (UTC)*whimpers* FRED! GEORGE!
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 03:55 am (UTC)