Spoilers galore

[dream_labyrinth]

You have been warned








I can't fucking believe she stuck to that Lily/Severus theory! That is so absolutely not convincing enough! It definitely needs to be rectified.

Also, She could have spared that epilogue. Okay, "Albus Severus" almost made me cry again (yes, I did also cry when Tonks and Lupin died and during the scene in limbo King's Cross, even though that could have been better), but did she have to marry Hermione and Ron off?


And why, why, why did she have to kill Severus? She had just made sure he was as innocent as Severus Snape could ever be, for giving Dumbledore his word - provided we believe the Severus/Lily background - was as much as an Unbreakable Vow. I had so hoped that the silvery stuff he asked Harry to take would be a bit of his soul.
There will be portraits, though. I'm going to stick with Shiv's hope. Besides, as long as there are memories of him around, I'm sure we can come up with a way to bring him back. JKR will not thwart us!


Lucius will take some time to recover. He was getting cowardly and weak in the end, he didn't get himself out of the mess with as much style as I would have hoped. But this, again, can be used to our advantage.

All is not lost. Now we'll just have to get rid of Ron, won't we? Thank goodness she left us so much time between the end of the battle and that ridiculously sappy ending... ;-)





I've been awake for *counts* 28 hours straight. I've taken 8 hours to read. Now there's probably going to be some breakfast before I start translating. Therefore, only a few comments on the book itself, unrelated to its impact on fanfic.

I loved Trelawney during the battle. Smashing those crystals was priceless.
Ron was showing such amazing power and presence of mind I was fearing for his life. Though I figured that after Fred died, there would be no more Weasley kids on the list.
The death toll was amazing, I'd not expected that.
I'm not completely happy with the Dumbledore and Grindelwald backstory, I feel it hasn't been introduced properly into the earlier novels. That came a bit out of the blue and wasn't quite convincing in its telling.
I liked this completely confusing back and forth with the wands. Whose wand was in whose hands at which point, and what that meant for the story.
I think this books is the fastest paced of all. Emotional rollercoaster if I ever saw one.
Dobby's dead was poignant. The inscription on his grave perfect.
JKR managed to get rid of the Granger parents nicely, didn't she? She really doesn't care much about them, it seems.
The Malfoys were, in all, quite believable. Narcissa deciding her son was more important than either side winning. Draco's uncertainty and fear. Lucius, as I said, could have done with a bit more style in the end.
I'll probably let the story sink in for a while before I reread. And discuss. Every bit of it.
(The discussing is going to start immediately, I'll crosspost this to dh_oh_shit, the place to go to discuss the book, spoilers and where we do go from here.)



And just imagine a colour-changing werewolf...

Comments

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Jason will make sure Lucius has more style wen the film comes out.

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope so.
I mean, I'm glad he survived, but I was rather fond of my idea of him bribing the new Minister of Magic while the Order was celebrating and mourning their deaths.

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

And I still am angry that Snape died like that. Okay, at least he wasn't killed by Harry or by bravely taking a curse meant for the annoying Boy-Who-Still-Lives, but it was just so pointless!

[amokk]

Oh noes, an author wrote their own characters the way they wanted to!

(Sorry, I've been waiting for HP wank to explode all night. ;) )

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Pht.
Who cares how the author wrote her characters.
She writes them her way, we write them theirs.

[amokk]

Don't you mean "ours" ? ;)

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Most certainly not!
You see, we have a much better insight into the characters' minds, because we don't have to follow some Harry-centred plot if we don't want to.

[amokk]

So you are the true channel for the voices of the characters, eh?

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Could there be any doubt? ;-)

[amokk]

Apparently, yes. ;)

[annie-from-aust.livejournal.com]

It is so nice to be RIGHT. I predicted Snape would die a noble death and Pettigrew would pay back his life debt and it would be fatal. JKR was NOT KIDDING when she said DH would be a blood bath. It was really sad but beautiful how Snape's dying wish was to have Harry's green eyes look into his. But he is in a better place now and reconciled with Lily. His Patronis was sweet.
I cried buckets about Dobby. I agree about Trelawney. She was fab. Also it was fantastic when Molly took Bellatrix out and was really glad that JKR made Minerva such a feisty and powerful witch. I loved the scene where she had enchanted the desks into a stampede and was running behind yelling charge. It was weird that she took all the sting out of the Malfoys. Narcissa redeemed herself. I am glad Draco lived even though JKR was a bit mean in making him start to show signs of baldness 19 years later. LOL.
And what is with all the deaths ? Even the Sorting Hat copped it !

[faerishimmer.livejournal.com]

I'm having a brainfart moment - what the heck was the baby thing under the seats at King's Cross again?

There were so many flaws in this book - I'm still formulating some semblence of a review now even though I finished it last night!

[dream-labyrinth.livejournal.com]

Bit of Voldie's soul, I'd guess.
It looked a bit like the think Wormtail brought into the cemetary in GoF.

[faerishimmer.livejournal.com]

Yse, I thought that also, but it seemed a little bit... I don't know - she should've alluded to it a bit more clearly maybe.