Deathly Hallows
Overall, I think this was the best book. Seeing as most of my complaints are about the Epilogue, that says a lot for the rest of the book. These comments start in order then jump around. I'm tired of not having finished it, but I just want to post it. I can always say more later.
*Was I the only person disappointed that the person in the cage was no one we'd ever heard of before?
*Dudley being reasonable towards Harry was an unexpected touching moment. Of course, we never hear if Voldemort finds them and kills them or not, but I like not knowing.
*The 7 potters was a good idea because it kept Voldemort away from the real Harry, but I'm not sure about the pairings. Hermoine still can't see a Thestral, so she should have been with Hagrid, especially to make up for his not being a properly educated wizard. Harry should have been on a broom to take advantage of his flying skills. Also, in case his protector was killed, he wouldn't be in such a defenseless position. Nevertheless, the chase was exciting and stunning when Hedwig died. It made me think more of all the stuffed owls they had at Davis-Kidd than the ones the other Harry's had. And then the wait for everyone to get back was tremendously suspenseful.
*I was really disappointed by the epilogue. First, nineteen years is a bit long. While it was nice to confirm that Harry and Ginny got married and had kids as did Ron and Hermoine, you basically expected that from how the book ended. Really touching, although bad for the kid was naming their second son after Dumbledore and Snape. What I really want to know is what they are doing with their lives. Did Harry or Hermoine become Aurors? Did Harry, Ron, or Ginny go on to become a professional Quiditch player? The one person we did find out about was Neville. While I wouldn't have been surprised about this back in the earlier books, after the events of the
last 3 books, especially standing up to Voldemort, it's kind of a disappointment. Not that there's anything wrong with teaching, but he's moved beyond just being good at herbology. OTOH, I think Hermoine would make an excellent Minister of Magic or Hogwart's Headmaster. How is George getting on without Fred (good fan fic by )? If not Hermoine, who is Minister of Magic? And then as asked, what happened to Hermoine's parents?
*While Neville standing up to Voldemort and Nagini was a high point in the book, I was really disappointed that he didn't get to avenge his parents. And with "Gran" there, it would have been a nice twist for her to have done it, or perhaps both in tandem. But it didn't really make sense to me for it to have been Mrs. Weasley to kill Bellatrix, especially as B.L. seemed to be the only Death Eater killed. I can understand how she'd want to defend Ginny after Fred died, but Bellatrix didn't kill Fred or attack Mr. Weasley at the ministry or take off George's ear, nor was she all that fond of Sirius.
*While I was thrilled to be right about Snape, I don't like how he died without Voldemort knowing he had been betrayed. At first, I thought it was completely contrived that Nagini killed him instead of using AK, so that he had time to give his memories to Harry, who just happened to be there. Now, I've since read that it made some sense since Voldemort believed Snape was the master of the Elder wand that Voldemort couldn't kill Snape with it, but still extremely lucky that Harry happens to be there. So Snape dies believing that Harry is walking to his death, which is what Snape has been risking his life for 17 years to prevent. J.K. Rowling kept Snape's loyalty a mystery throughout 7 books, would it have been too much for Snape to have revealed his true loyalty himself earlier in the book? Perhaps he dies to save Harry at the Malfoys, but leaves a clue for Harry as to the whereabouts of his memories. And then Harry puts off finding, then viewing it until close to the end.
*I was surprised by the reveal that calling Lily "Mudblood" was Snape's worst memory, not being embarrassed in front of her. Some morning show (Today/Early Show/GMA) had a trivia question related to that in the run-up to the film or book. I wonder if they had the right answer.
*While there was some involvement from foreign wizards, I was really disappointed by the lack of foreign wizards helping to defeat Voldemort. Outside of the wedding, there was no one but Fleur. While Krum's observation about Lovegood's necklace was important, I expected Krum to lead some Durmstrang students or his parents or someone in the battle. Perhaps, coming to Harry's rescue somewhere in Europe as the trio searches for the Horcruxes. Instead we just see Voldemort abroad through Harry's visions.
*The second biggest shock may have been when Bathilda Bagshot turned into Nagini. I'm expecting some hugely important piece of information to be revealed and out of nowhere Harry's under attack.
*The biggest had to be that Harry was Horcrux and had to die. Well, he really isn't a Horcrux as that would involve some magic that wasn't done, but the result is the same. I was so sure that he wasn't and that he'd take down Voldemort in a fair fight and then you'd have some disgruntled Death Eater take a shot at Harry. But then it was with too much left in the book for him to stay dead. I don't really understand how his blood in Voldemort kept him alive. Do they not have blood transfusions? Or was it that the curse just didn't work because Harry was the wand's master? But it was effective in killing the Voldemort part inside Harry.
**JK Rowling has since addressed some of the questions about the epilogue, but I was more disappointed to find out that Tonks and Remus died as a trade-off for Mr. Weasley not dying in book 5. How does that make sense? Just so you can have an orphan and then find out he turned out alright in the Epilogue?