InstaRxns: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
So, wow. That was amazing and epic and I can't believe I finished it, already.
Anyhow, I came into the book with not many expectations: I wanted Mad Eye Moody to be awesome and I wanted a Weasley to die, though not Percy, Arthur or Ron, to ruin the Big Happy Weasley family (although, clearly, that didn't work out too well in the epilogue, ugh) and fulfill Molly's boggart.
And I got what I wanted. The kickass awesomeness throughout the book is undeniable. (Moody! Percy! Neville! Kreacher! Because I am eleven, the plethora of penis jokes!)
- So many fanon things (guesses, whatever) in the book, I kept going, "Didn't I read this somewhere... online?" Like: Voldemort personally tempting Ron to the dark side by playing up his always second best insecurities, the whole R.A.B. thing (KREACHER ILU), Neville turning out to be the better (although recognizing that Harry's the more traumatized) of the two potential Boys Who Lived, Mundungus Fletcher being the thief of the R.A.B. locket, Narcissa secretly being the balls behind the Malfoy machinations.
- Opening up the world so much more: all the theoretical magic stuff, with the elemental rules of Transfiguration and Wizard fairy tales and the visit to the Ministry of Magic, the histories of Dumbledore (yay) and Snape (er). So much to play with.
- I think a lot of people will not be happy with the "And then they went camping and were underground for about sixteen chapters" part of the book (I know I stopped around 225 and looked at the book and was like, "But where's the fighting? I want the fighting, now."), but I thought it was lovely (I also expected it to be the thing the book opened with, but it wasn't, and that was great, too.), in a The Year That Never Happened/Martha Jones, You're a Savior of the People kind of way.
- Luna Lovegood, ftw. She's not sure about the sun robes' appropriateness for the party! She's an artist! Harry thinks she's pretty, in an abstract sort of way! (Although JKR later specifies it's affection and not anything that could damage the H/G bleh.) Also, Dean/Luna, kind of ew. I'm glad it happens offstage.
- McGonagall charging with school desks! Trelawney lobbing crystal balls! Oh dude, it was like the Season 3 finale of Buffy -- everyone bands together and destroy a giant snake and the centaurs and HOUSE ELVES (Beauty and the Beast flashbacks) joining in and GIANT SPIDERS in the hallways and poor Lavender Brown, getting assaulted by Fenrir (who was a pretty nifty (totally psychotic) character). (Lavender Brown = the new Harmony?)
- No, Snape, no! Senseless death and major EW to the Lily love. Why is that these redhaired women are the defining loves for the orphan boys of Hogwarts?
- The epilogue is pretty much one big FAIL and I will be plugging my ears and going, "La la la la la, no, Harry met someone new, Ginny is not Harry's first and only love, the One Big Happy Weasley Family plan is bullshit and also kind of creepy."
Anyhow, I came into the book with not many expectations: I wanted Mad Eye Moody to be awesome and I wanted a Weasley to die, though not Percy, Arthur or Ron, to ruin the Big Happy Weasley family (although, clearly, that didn't work out too well in the epilogue, ugh) and fulfill Molly's boggart.
And I got what I wanted. The kickass awesomeness throughout the book is undeniable. (Moody! Percy! Neville! Kreacher! Because I am eleven, the plethora of penis jokes!)
- So many fanon things (guesses, whatever) in the book, I kept going, "Didn't I read this somewhere... online?" Like: Voldemort personally tempting Ron to the dark side by playing up his always second best insecurities, the whole R.A.B. thing (KREACHER ILU), Neville turning out to be the better (although recognizing that Harry's the more traumatized) of the two potential Boys Who Lived, Mundungus Fletcher being the thief of the R.A.B. locket, Narcissa secretly being the balls behind the Malfoy machinations.
- Opening up the world so much more: all the theoretical magic stuff, with the elemental rules of Transfiguration and Wizard fairy tales and the visit to the Ministry of Magic, the histories of Dumbledore (yay) and Snape (er). So much to play with.
- I think a lot of people will not be happy with the "And then they went camping and were underground for about sixteen chapters" part of the book (I know I stopped around 225 and looked at the book and was like, "But where's the fighting? I want the fighting, now."), but I thought it was lovely (I also expected it to be the thing the book opened with, but it wasn't, and that was great, too.), in a The Year That Never Happened/Martha Jones, You're a Savior of the People kind of way.
- Luna Lovegood, ftw. She's not sure about the sun robes' appropriateness for the party! She's an artist! Harry thinks she's pretty, in an abstract sort of way! (Although JKR later specifies it's affection and not anything that could damage the H/G bleh.) Also, Dean/Luna, kind of ew. I'm glad it happens offstage.
- McGonagall charging with school desks! Trelawney lobbing crystal balls! Oh dude, it was like the Season 3 finale of Buffy -- everyone bands together and destroy a giant snake and the centaurs and HOUSE ELVES (Beauty and the Beast flashbacks) joining in and GIANT SPIDERS in the hallways and poor Lavender Brown, getting assaulted by Fenrir (who was a pretty nifty (totally psychotic) character). (Lavender Brown = the new Harmony?)
- No, Snape, no! Senseless death and major EW to the Lily love. Why is that these redhaired women are the defining loves for the orphan boys of Hogwarts?
- The epilogue is pretty much one big FAIL and I will be plugging my ears and going, "La la la la la, no, Harry met someone new, Ginny is not Harry's first and only love, the One Big Happy Weasley Family plan is bullshit and also kind of creepy."