HP7
I suppose it's safe to post this now. Either you've read it, you're reading it now, or you're waiting in line for it, so. : )
Obligatory Warning, just in case: DON'T CLICK IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DH! SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!
SPOILERSS!!!
There.
what I didn't like:
1. Harry/Ginny. I really wished she wouldn't, but she did. I see the "Lily is like Ginny" logic. Very cute, whatever. I'll live.
2. DRACO + RECEEDING HAIRLINE = IMPOSSIBLE. Absolutely IMPOSSIBLE. I don't like what she did with Draco. I mean, I'm glad she didn't kill him off with the rest of his Evil Slytherin Brood, but she subjected him to every last indignity, after EVERYTHING the poor boy went through. He's rescued by Harry from his own mess, he is described as "screaming like a girl," he is rescued again, and then punched in the nose. Not okay. (I have a terribly soft spot for Draco. Protective and soft.)
3. Okay, and this is my biggest gripe: What she did with Slytherins in general. Why is Slytherin evil???? Why do AAAALL the Slytherins leave to fight with Voldemort? (It says the Slytherin table was empty at the Great Hall when people were staying back to fight.) I thought she was the one talking about not discriminating and whatnot. I hate that the only Slytherin she saved in the end was Snape, who deserved every honor, and though I suppose we can assumed he received it at some later unmentioned point left out of the book, I didn't really get a sense of that, even when Harry used it as bait against Voldie. Basically, she didn't didn't give second chances to anyone. If they were evil, they were evil/neutral until the end.
Exhibit A -- Dumbledore's "perhaps we sort to early" comment. So Sevvy's goodness should've landed him in Gryffindor, what?!
B -- Epilogue: as parting words to his child Ron says something like, "Get with a pureblood, and your grandfather will kill you." It was said it jest, I know, but has anyone else noticed there isn't one celebrated Pureblood marriage? I mean, Luna is randomly paired with Dean when I can't imagine anything wrong with Luna/Neville.... They're all non-pureblood pairings: Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Remus/Tonks, Bill/Fleur (1/4 Veela, I suppose the closest we'll get), Dean/Luna.
4. WHAT ABOUT THE DURSLEYS??? All of Dudley's tremendous effort to reconcile... completely wasted! TELL US WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DURSLEYS!
5. The names in the epilogue. Rose? Hugo? I suppose that's for the R in Ron and H in Hermione?? WTF? And ALBUS SEVERUS? I hated it until it put the AS in ASS. Since then, I've hated it less, but even so... you have got to be joking me. [edit: okay, I get it -- important people, but still, unfortunate name.]
6. FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!
7. Deux ex machina. Or, Destiny, a.k.a. The Authoress Always Wins.
Uh. Probably there's more, but that's all I can remember right now.
What I am torn about:
1. Severus Snape. The Snape/Lily theory was so popular, say, six years ago that I'd stopped waiting for it after book four and forgotten all about it. It was kind of a shock to see it come back into my life. I want to like it, and I secretly think I do, but I'm still not really sure. I wish there had been MORE for Severus, and I mean in realtime LIFE, not in memory. But I guess that can't be helped.
2. Remus/Tonks. I can't stand Remus/Tonks much more than I can tolerate Harry/Ginny, but they both died. That sucked.
What amazes me:
1. Harry dies and comes back to life. It's like the most convoluted AU revision of the Jesus story I have ever read in my life. Seriously, if I only had... around seven words to describe the series now, it would be: most popular Christian allegory of all time. C.S. Lewis is weeping in his grave.
2. Harry likes Draco's wand. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that will never grow old. I can see that she did TRY sort of in her own way to please all the shippers, but I will always believe she didn't try hard enough with Draco. But really, she gave us Harry/Hermione moments, Harry/Luna moments (again!), this wonderful hint of Harry/Draco (truly, more than what we could have hoped for), and even spatterings of Harry/Ron and Harry/Dumbledore, if you really want it that way.
3. Neville Longbottom is my hero. He was amazing, and his grandmother, too. Just amazing... just....!!! I can only desecrate his moment with my insufficient words.
4. Luna always says the most perfect things ever. I've quietly shipped Luna/Harry since OoTP because she is so wise and amazing, but I knew it wouldn't happen because (1) Ginny is the reincarnation of Lily, conveniently enough, and (2) Luna is too busy being Hermione's exact counterpart. I love that Luna is the Faith to contrast Hermione's Facts, but I wish Rowling didn't make her so completely crazy-sounding to pull it off. I guess she had to make it obvious, though, and I can see how it might have been the only way.
5. The Resurrection Stone moment. Perfect.
6. "NOT MY DAUGHTER, BITCH!"
7. Kreacher's berserk battle-cry. Kreacher in general, and how he's good to Harry Potter out of a kind of touching loyalty to Regulus and not because he suddenly saw the light and decided to join the Harry Potter Fan Club.
8. And Regulus, too, why not. I always wondered how he'd gotten that locket, and now we know.
9. The fact that this book is a heaping, smelly, fertile mountain of fanfic fodder.
Obligatory Warning, just in case: DON'T CLICK IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DH! SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!
SPOILERSS!!!
There.
what I didn't like:
1. Harry/Ginny. I really wished she wouldn't, but she did. I see the "Lily is like Ginny" logic. Very cute, whatever. I'll live.
2. DRACO + RECEEDING HAIRLINE = IMPOSSIBLE. Absolutely IMPOSSIBLE. I don't like what she did with Draco. I mean, I'm glad she didn't kill him off with the rest of his Evil Slytherin Brood, but she subjected him to every last indignity, after EVERYTHING the poor boy went through. He's rescued by Harry from his own mess, he is described as "screaming like a girl," he is rescued again, and then punched in the nose. Not okay. (I have a terribly soft spot for Draco. Protective and soft.)
3. Okay, and this is my biggest gripe: What she did with Slytherins in general. Why is Slytherin evil???? Why do AAAALL the Slytherins leave to fight with Voldemort? (It says the Slytherin table was empty at the Great Hall when people were staying back to fight.) I thought she was the one talking about not discriminating and whatnot. I hate that the only Slytherin she saved in the end was Snape, who deserved every honor, and though I suppose we can assumed he received it at some later unmentioned point left out of the book, I didn't really get a sense of that, even when Harry used it as bait against Voldie. Basically, she didn't didn't give second chances to anyone. If they were evil, they were evil/neutral until the end.
Exhibit A -- Dumbledore's "perhaps we sort to early" comment. So Sevvy's goodness should've landed him in Gryffindor, what?!
B -- Epilogue: as parting words to his child Ron says something like, "Get with a pureblood, and your grandfather will kill you." It was said it jest, I know, but has anyone else noticed there isn't one celebrated Pureblood marriage? I mean, Luna is randomly paired with Dean when I can't imagine anything wrong with Luna/Neville.... They're all non-pureblood pairings: Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Remus/Tonks, Bill/Fleur (1/4 Veela, I suppose the closest we'll get), Dean/Luna.
4. WHAT ABOUT THE DURSLEYS??? All of Dudley's tremendous effort to reconcile... completely wasted! TELL US WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DURSLEYS!
5. The names in the epilogue. Rose? Hugo? I suppose that's for the R in Ron and H in Hermione?? WTF? And ALBUS SEVERUS? I hated it until it put the AS in ASS. Since then, I've hated it less, but even so... you have got to be joking me. [edit: okay, I get it -- important people, but still, unfortunate name.]
6. FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!
7. Deux ex machina. Or, Destiny, a.k.a. The Authoress Always Wins.
Uh. Probably there's more, but that's all I can remember right now.
What I am torn about:
1. Severus Snape. The Snape/Lily theory was so popular, say, six years ago that I'd stopped waiting for it after book four and forgotten all about it. It was kind of a shock to see it come back into my life. I want to like it, and I secretly think I do, but I'm still not really sure. I wish there had been MORE for Severus, and I mean in realtime LIFE, not in memory. But I guess that can't be helped.
2. Remus/Tonks. I can't stand Remus/Tonks much more than I can tolerate Harry/Ginny, but they both died. That sucked.
What amazes me:
1. Harry dies and comes back to life. It's like the most convoluted AU revision of the Jesus story I have ever read in my life. Seriously, if I only had... around seven words to describe the series now, it would be: most popular Christian allegory of all time. C.S. Lewis is weeping in his grave.
2. Harry likes Draco's wand. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that will never grow old. I can see that she did TRY sort of in her own way to please all the shippers, but I will always believe she didn't try hard enough with Draco. But really, she gave us Harry/Hermione moments, Harry/Luna moments (again!), this wonderful hint of Harry/Draco (truly, more than what we could have hoped for), and even spatterings of Harry/Ron and Harry/Dumbledore, if you really want it that way.
3. Neville Longbottom is my hero. He was amazing, and his grandmother, too. Just amazing... just....!!! I can only desecrate his moment with my insufficient words.
4. Luna always says the most perfect things ever. I've quietly shipped Luna/Harry since OoTP because she is so wise and amazing, but I knew it wouldn't happen because (1) Ginny is the reincarnation of Lily, conveniently enough, and (2) Luna is too busy being Hermione's exact counterpart. I love that Luna is the Faith to contrast Hermione's Facts, but I wish Rowling didn't make her so completely crazy-sounding to pull it off. I guess she had to make it obvious, though, and I can see how it might have been the only way.
5. The Resurrection Stone moment. Perfect.
6. "NOT MY DAUGHTER, BITCH!"
7. Kreacher's berserk battle-cry. Kreacher in general, and how he's good to Harry Potter out of a kind of touching loyalty to Regulus and not because he suddenly saw the light and decided to join the Harry Potter Fan Club.
8. And Regulus, too, why not. I always wondered how he'd gotten that locket, and now we know.
9. The fact that this book is a heaping, smelly, fertile mountain of fanfic fodder.