escritoireazul

I waited until late morning to buy it. No midnight party for me. Book five was my favorite party, I worked at a bookstore then, and got to do the face painting, and my friends J and M were running the photography, and everyone dressed up, and it was just awesome. (Which is kind of sad, because OotP is my least favorite book.)

Last time,

thestalkycop called me when she got hers (since she's in England and all) and read to me from it while I was waiting for it to be midnight.

This time, I walked into the store and walked out two seconds later with my three reserved copies. (One for me, two for my mom, one reading copy and one saving copy. I also need to order her British editions tomorrow.) I had pretty much decided if I couldn't be in England with Sarah, I wasn't going to deal with hordes of people. Very much the right decision.

I spent a relaxing few hours reading in the sun outside on the porch swing. Good times.

The epilogue? Can you say cheesy? Oy. I really liked the ending where Harry just wanted to get some sleep much better than the nineteen years in the future. Also, I really wanted Harry to die; I have this love of stories where the hero dies at the end. You'd be surprised how rarely it happens. (I wanted Buffy to die, too. I though the end of season five was a much better series end than the actual series end.)

It felt rushed. Actually, everything felt rushed, as if she suddenly had to cram all this information into the last book because it was the last book. Which, see a comment later in here about her ability, or lack thereof, to foreshadow and plot. Anyway, the epilogue felt rushed, and unnecessary -- all those names thrown at us. Do I care about these children I don't know? No. Do I want to know what happened to all the others? Yes. Were the Malfoys punished? Who raises baby Lupin? Etc.

I really, really hated the deaths of Tonks and Remus. They were both coded so gay, and then to marry them off, procreate them off, and then kill them off -- it's hard not to read that as a statement against homosexuality, especially in the face of the push that, in order to have a happy ending, it should involve marriage and kids. (Even if marriage and kids didn't always lead to a happy ending.) I didn't mind the fact that they were together, though I do think it wasn't handled well in the writing. Their deaths weren't well-handled, either.

On the other hand, I totally believe Sirius and Remus are now reunited, and Tonks with her favorite cousin.

Snape. Eh. I don't think any better of him for changing sides just to save his precious Lily. I don't really feel he's been redeemed. More to the point, I care less about him now than any other time in the series.

Way to waste Tonks's powers. Actually, there are many things JKR brought up in earlier books and dropped. A lot of people have been praising her ability to plot and foreshadow, but I'm not impressed.

Why did people roar their emotions all the time? Did she watch Goblet of Fire one too many times?

Why is love pretty much only recognized as familial or romantic heterosexual? It's supposed to be the thing which saves people, and yet it's only specific types which are valid. Whatever.

As someone who is adopted, I'm almost offended by the idea that there is not a good reason to separate yourself (as the parent) from the child. Harry attacking Remus about not wanting to stay at home with a pregnant Tonks during a war infuriated me. Actually, so did Tonks staying at home. It's a war! They're fighters! Tonks was pretty awesome in book five, why was everything strong about her stripped away in the next two books?

For that matter, is there no birth control in the wizarding world? If so, did Tonks choose to get pregnant, in the middle of the war, knowing Remus didn't want children? Man, Tonks, what happened to you? You were so awesome in OotP.

I hate that the divide between the houses still exists. Isn't one of the lessons that they have to band together? For that matter, I'm shocked that all the Slytherines left. Come on.

Giant spiders why giant spiders oh I hate them I hate them I hate them. I can see this will be a problem if they're in the movie.

Things I loved:

Dudley! Even though she still writes fat people very badly, I did love this slight change of him. I cheered a little for him.

Lily! Her friendship with Snape, sneaking off to practice magic, the letter to Sirius, the fact we have the same birthday (minus the year, of course), just everything. She remains awesome.

Molly! Way to rock hard, Molly. Molly taking out Bellatrix is one of my favorite scenes from the whole series.

Speaking of rocking hard, Neville! Oh, Neville, you're so hardcore. The sword and killing the giant snake and, oh, yes!

Also, Neville's grandmother. Awesome lady. Telling him he's like his parents and to keep doing it -- she's smart.

The D.A. being reformed, the battle at Hogwarts, the house elves fighting -- amazing stuff.

Percy coming back, and his reunion with his family.

Harry&Ron&Hermione! I love the trio, they're awesome together, and they make a good team. I also like that they act like they're seventeen, and still stubborn, and they fight, and act stupid, and yes. I love them.

Ron/Hermione. I've loved them from the beginning, even though I also like other pairings. I can buy this one.

Viktor! Oh, man, I wanted to see more of him.

Harry's walk of death, especially the reunion of Sirius, Remus, and James. (Also, dude, James's name is really boring compared to his friends.)

Harry and McGonagall. McGonagall! The teachers going to war! The students going to war! Love, love, love.

A hero's quest twisted a little. I love quests. It was kind of like a roadtrip and they're definitely wanted people and, hey, I'm easy, I like this kind of story. (See also, Supernatural.)

Pirate wizard radio. So much love for it, and their names and yeah. Just it all.

Dean and Seamus reunited at Hogwarts. Little hearts.

Luna and her little "friends" on her walls with the portraits and oh, she's such a sweet girl.

Remus wanting to step into Sirius's role. Oh, yeah, so many hearts for them. So many.

The flying motorbike. I really love that thing.

Hagrid!

Aberforth. So awesome, aiding the underground at Hogwarts and I love the relationship between him and Albus and the family secrets and yes, that just pinged me hard. Nicely done.

The Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron. What a story. Gorgeous. More family secrets, too.

Ginny was totally going to give Harry sex before they were interrupted. I like that she's a young woman who makes her own decisions about things, even if I'm not so fond of the sex as a one-way gift thing. (Not that it couldn't be for both of them, but still.)

Riding out of Gringotts on a dragon. Holy shit, yay dragons!

Hermione. A million times Hermione, and how brave she is, and how smart! Not just book smart, though that's always there, but she knows things, she recognizes things, she knows why the situation with the Cattermoles bothers Ron so much, even when he doesn't consciously understand -- it's gorgeous, and I love her more than ever.
Okay, times I cried:

Dudley's little sentence.

Kreacher and Regulus. Oh, man, so many freaking tears.

Here lies Dobby, a free elf! More tears.

Ron: He must've known I'd run out on you.
Harry: No. He must've known you'd always want to come back.

All in all, I enjoyed it, and the series as a whole. PoA and GoF remain my favorites, OotP my least favorite, and the others all fall together somewhere in between.

So now I avoid all the wank which is sure to follow because the HP fandom is so big and split into so many factions.

I'm watching Buffy season four/Angel season one, and I'm going to bed soon. More later, likely.