Book 7 @ MindSay 
Now that I have access to the handy toolbar I can post my review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But, to protect friends and visitors to this blog who haven't reached the end yet, I'm posting the review in white text. Highlight it to read. :)
I really loved the book. I mean, damn. After the disaster that was HBP, I lost some confidence in the subtlety of JKR's writing, but with this I gained some in her complexity. This book managed to touch back to something that happened in every single previous book. I have to wonder if she had it all planned in advance, or if she was retconning herself.
Also, she really made up for character-raping Hermione (my favorite character) in HBP. Hermione wasn't given much to do then. Her main purpose in the book seemed to be nagging at Harry and becoming stupid over Ron. I think that's what it came down to. She wasn't involved in the A-plot, so we didn't get to see her being "Hermione."
In DH, the shippy shit is put on the back-burner, thank God. Also, Hermione is intrinsic to the plot. She gets to be "Hermione" again, first and foremost and the shippy, retarded Hermione is pushed into the background. The number of things she does in DH that help in their quest and eventual defeat of Voldemort turn her back into the Hermione I loved in books 1-5.
In short, we get to see her using her brain, which is more than I can say for what happened in HBP.
I admit, I cried a few times during the course of reading the book:
- First - when Harry and Hermione are in the Godric's Hollow cemetary, standing over the graves of his parents, and Hermione conjures up a Christmas rose wreath to place over them, and Harry completely breaks down... I broke down with him. It's such a heart-wrenching scene that I'm almost afraid to see it on screen (that is, if it doesn't get cut) because I don't think any director could do it justice compared to the image in my head.
- Second - Dobby's death and funeral. Though as much as I loved Dobby, I think what his death did to Harry was what caused the river cascading from my eyes.
- Third - Fred Weasley's death. OH FRED.
- Fourth - Remus' and Tonks' deaths. Mostly Remus'. Because after being alone for SO LONG, he was finally surrounded by people who love him and didn't care what he was. And it changed him. He was happy. AND THEN THE BITCH KILLS HIM OFF. Gah.
- Fifth - the entire chapter when Harry realizes that he must sacrifice his life in order to defeat Voldemort and then walks silent and unseen out of Hogwarts to go to his death, accompanied by his parents and Marauders, dying but not quite, being carried back by Hagrid, and then that final confrontation...reclaiming the Elder Wand, killing Voldemort, and damn. It might not be the most original or least cliched ending but it is as satisfying a hero's ending as we could have hoped for.
I also liked that Dumbledore is (was) a manipulative bastard, not perfect, and still loveable in the end. And also that Snape asked Harry to look at him so that Lily's eyes would be the last thing he saw before he died.
Oh, and during the most battle-heavy scenes in DH, I couldn't help but think of the poor special effects guys at Warner Brothers for when it comes time to make the DH movie. Shall we tot up the number of huge action set pieces in this book and count the number of cast members? Haha.
And the shipping, always the shipping. I made my peace with R/Hr and H/G in the canon long ago so I enjoyed most of the R/Hr stuff and was glad it wasn't overdone. But that will never stop my opinion that the R/Hr and H/G pairings were the EASY decision and H/Hr would have been the RIGHT one. ;) In the end, though, it was just so satisfying how Trio it was. It was all them, going through hard things and happy things, fighting and loving and winning and losing and sticking. Each of them had their shining moments, their moments of bravery and despair and confidence. Very satisfying.
Also? Neville for the motherfuckin' WIN.
So, yeah. That's my official opinion, not that anybody really needs it. I just want to put it out there: I liked the book. :)
And now it's time to leave! Hooray!
Edit: A side note for anyone wanting to remain unspoiled - steer clear of the comments to this entry. :)
iFeel: 
happy
iTunes: keyboard clacking
Anyway, not being able to move all morning/afternoon has allowed me to gather my thoughts on "The Deathly Hallows." I'll have to post them tomorrow, though, because I don't have the little menu of posting options on my screen here (a Mac thing, perhaps?) and want to post it in white text to blend in with the background. I don't want to spoil anyone, as I do still have a few friends who read this blog and who haven't yet finished the book.
Dad's 50th birthday is coming up, so I'll be hanging out with him, Diane, and my brothers this weekend to celebrate. I finally came up with a gift that I know he'll like, and I'll of course be playing up the fact he's turning 50. I made calls to the boys earlier to guage their interest in the idea, and I think we have a winner. They and Mom are coming up Friday evening for an all-you-can-eat crab fest in Valley Forge, so we'll have time to plot further then. :)
In the meantime, I'm going to finish watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind and see if I can keep some dinner down. One good thing about being sick is that it's a great excuse to lay around and do nothing but watch movies all day. So far I've watched Dirty Dancing, The Last Unicorn (both are favorite "sick movies" of mine), The Secret of Nimh, and now Close Encounters. Quite the spread, haha.
iFeel:
marginally betteriTunes: "It's better than Goofy Golf!"
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