![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Spoilers, obviously, so it's all behind the cut. I'd read all the spoilers beforehand, though I didn't read the actual epilogue or carpet!book before, but honestly, I loved a whole lot more than I disliked. And I didn't really hate anything.
Okay, I'm going to start with the things I loved, because honestly, there's a LOT, and it mostly seems to involve minor characters (I know, surprise, surprise, right?):
* The Wedding. So obviously I squeed a little bit over the visual of Charlie as best man (and then singing with Hagrid, OMG!). And Lee dancing with Ginny made me happy too! One thing I think JKR does really well is bring her minor characters into the background in these little moments and make them memorable.
* The Regulus stuff. Okay, this probably gets split between love/hate (see below for my feelings on all the fandom staples that made it into her plots), but most of all, I loved it. And we'll pretend it's perfectly normal for the bedroom to be intact after all that time. I just love brave!Regulus sacrificing himself like that, and there is so much room there for really good character development fic.
* ETA: I can't believe I forgot this!
thenotoriousso4!!!! How canon is your Remus now? OMG!
* Mundungus Fletcher. I really liked The Bribe. I love Mundungus's characterization, and Harry's realization that he's actually getting somewhere. It's good to see Harry finally doing something that's actually productive after book after book where he constantly does the wrong thing.
* The DEs running the Ministry of Magic. I really liked Harry, Ron and Hermione sneaking into the Ministry with all the DEs running around and popping up here and there. And Harry being all calm and explaining Hermione's trouble with casting her patronus to Mrs Cattermole as they're trying to leave the Ministry.
* That "Erecto!" is an actual spell. Why yes, I am 12.
* I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I really loved the scene right after Ron destroys the locket, when Harry tells him he's only ever loved Hermione like a sister. I thought it was sweet and genuine.
*LEE!!!!!!! and his radio show. Um, yeah. That made me happy.
* Fenrir wanting Hermione is all kinds of dark, wrong hot.
* Luna. Obviously. I always love Luna.
* Aberforth. OMG, how I loved Aberforth.
* Neville. Oh, Neville! So hot in this book! And then Lee's back! Yay, Lee!
* Harry being gallant in McGonagall's honor! "He spat at you," said Harry. ♥
* Percy being good. If there was one character I was actually fearful for, it was Percy. And he was just so adorably bumbling about the apology. And his joke! OMG! Even if Fred did die right after it!
* Snape/Lily. Although, this is another love/hate, because some of those memories felt exactly like I was reading mediocre fanfic.
* With the exception of one line (see below), I really did like Molly killing Bellatrix. I love the opposing archetypes there, and I don't mean the mother vs. chick who's probably eaten her fair share of children thing. But in canon, the mention of the Prewetts seems to suggest that Molly came from a decently respectable family, and obviously so did Bellatrix. Neither of them is a young woman anymore, and I just loved the showdown between the two of them who'd both clung to those ideals they'd chosen so steadfastly. (Let's pretend that last sentence actually resembles something grammatically correct, k?)
* Neville killing Nagini. OMG, go Neville!
* I loved it that Harry gets a real showdown with Voldemort in the end and verbally pwns him. It's about time after 7 books!
* And I know everyone hates the epilogue, and that it is reminiscent of fanfiction, but (and this is obviously just because of my rp affections) I love Harry having Fabian Prewett's watch there at King's Cross. And I also really liked what Hermione and Ron named their kids.
Things I didn't like:
* The obviousness of the Regulus stuff. I really wish JKR had come up with a better way to sign off that note to Voldy than R.A.B. (Really, she's so fond of code names, couldn't she have come up with something?) That would have been so much cooler if all of fandom hadn't seen it coming from miles away.
* Hermione being so shrieky. Okay, JKR, it's obvious you think that every female character is prone to fits of hysteria and shrill panic just by virtue of being a girl, but my god, take it down a notch, all right? And while we're at it? WTF was with Hermione's shaky hands? I suppose it's a good thing she's a witch and not a surgeon.
* Lines like this: "Harry looked too, and rage reared in him like a snake." Reared like a snake? Um... Okay.
* The whole thing with the locket breeding evil thoughts. It felt a bit like a heavy handed homage to LOTR, and didn't really fit so well.
* The Dumbledore family history felt... well, kind of unnecessary to me, I guess. (I also got the slightly creepy vibe that JKR is a closet VC Andrews fan.)
* Suddenly there are more ways to beat death than POTC canon has.
* Pettigrew's death was one of the most anti-climactic moments ever.
* Why did it feel like Mad Libs every time Harry's scar hurt? "Pain _____ Harry's head like a ____."
* Remus's & Tonks's deaths. It seems so strange that they just randomly died offscreen without anything else said about it. And Colin's death was very random too. It would have worked better if more named students had been snuffed.
* Molly quoting Ripley from Aliens. (see above)
* The Elder wand stuff got really confusing. I was trying to imagine reading the book from a 10 year old's point of view, and I couldn't help but think that there had to be a simpler way to get from point A to point B.
Things that amused me:
* Harry and Snape having complimentary patronuses.
* The seemingly abundant cock/wand metaphors.
* AS/S. Just the fact that people can now claim to ship ASS makes the world a funnier place.
And I'm sure there's a lot more (I have a lot of Dumbledore thoughts I'd like to sort out). Those were just my first impressions. Overall, I'm glad that I had the chance to read all the negative first, because I think I was prepared for something much worse than what I found when I opened the book. Overall, I really, really enjoyed it.
And I'm hitting post now because with all the interruptions in my house, it's taken me all day to get this post up!
Okay, I'm going to start with the things I loved, because honestly, there's a LOT, and it mostly seems to involve minor characters (I know, surprise, surprise, right?):
* The Wedding. So obviously I squeed a little bit over the visual of Charlie as best man (and then singing with Hagrid, OMG!). And Lee dancing with Ginny made me happy too! One thing I think JKR does really well is bring her minor characters into the background in these little moments and make them memorable.
* The Regulus stuff. Okay, this probably gets split between love/hate (see below for my feelings on all the fandom staples that made it into her plots), but most of all, I loved it. And we'll pretend it's perfectly normal for the bedroom to be intact after all that time. I just love brave!Regulus sacrificing himself like that, and there is so much room there for really good character development fic.
* ETA: I can't believe I forgot this!
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
* Mundungus Fletcher. I really liked The Bribe. I love Mundungus's characterization, and Harry's realization that he's actually getting somewhere. It's good to see Harry finally doing something that's actually productive after book after book where he constantly does the wrong thing.
* The DEs running the Ministry of Magic. I really liked Harry, Ron and Hermione sneaking into the Ministry with all the DEs running around and popping up here and there. And Harry being all calm and explaining Hermione's trouble with casting her patronus to Mrs Cattermole as they're trying to leave the Ministry.
* That "Erecto!" is an actual spell. Why yes, I am 12.
* I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I really loved the scene right after Ron destroys the locket, when Harry tells him he's only ever loved Hermione like a sister. I thought it was sweet and genuine.
*LEE!!!!!!! and his radio show. Um, yeah. That made me happy.
* Fenrir wanting Hermione is all kinds of dark, wrong hot.
* Luna. Obviously. I always love Luna.
* Aberforth. OMG, how I loved Aberforth.
* Neville. Oh, Neville! So hot in this book! And then Lee's back! Yay, Lee!
* Harry being gallant in McGonagall's honor! "He spat at you," said Harry. ♥
* Percy being good. If there was one character I was actually fearful for, it was Percy. And he was just so adorably bumbling about the apology. And his joke! OMG! Even if Fred did die right after it!
* Snape/Lily. Although, this is another love/hate, because some of those memories felt exactly like I was reading mediocre fanfic.
* With the exception of one line (see below), I really did like Molly killing Bellatrix. I love the opposing archetypes there, and I don't mean the mother vs. chick who's probably eaten her fair share of children thing. But in canon, the mention of the Prewetts seems to suggest that Molly came from a decently respectable family, and obviously so did Bellatrix. Neither of them is a young woman anymore, and I just loved the showdown between the two of them who'd both clung to those ideals they'd chosen so steadfastly. (Let's pretend that last sentence actually resembles something grammatically correct, k?)
* Neville killing Nagini. OMG, go Neville!
* I loved it that Harry gets a real showdown with Voldemort in the end and verbally pwns him. It's about time after 7 books!
* And I know everyone hates the epilogue, and that it is reminiscent of fanfiction, but (and this is obviously just because of my rp affections) I love Harry having Fabian Prewett's watch there at King's Cross. And I also really liked what Hermione and Ron named their kids.
Things I didn't like:
* The obviousness of the Regulus stuff. I really wish JKR had come up with a better way to sign off that note to Voldy than R.A.B. (Really, she's so fond of code names, couldn't she have come up with something?) That would have been so much cooler if all of fandom hadn't seen it coming from miles away.
* Hermione being so shrieky. Okay, JKR, it's obvious you think that every female character is prone to fits of hysteria and shrill panic just by virtue of being a girl, but my god, take it down a notch, all right? And while we're at it? WTF was with Hermione's shaky hands? I suppose it's a good thing she's a witch and not a surgeon.
* Lines like this: "Harry looked too, and rage reared in him like a snake." Reared like a snake? Um... Okay.
* The whole thing with the locket breeding evil thoughts. It felt a bit like a heavy handed homage to LOTR, and didn't really fit so well.
* The Dumbledore family history felt... well, kind of unnecessary to me, I guess. (I also got the slightly creepy vibe that JKR is a closet VC Andrews fan.)
* Suddenly there are more ways to beat death than POTC canon has.
* Pettigrew's death was one of the most anti-climactic moments ever.
* Why did it feel like Mad Libs every time Harry's scar hurt? "Pain _____ Harry's head like a ____."
* Remus's & Tonks's deaths. It seems so strange that they just randomly died offscreen without anything else said about it. And Colin's death was very random too. It would have worked better if more named students had been snuffed.
* Molly quoting Ripley from Aliens. (see above)
* The Elder wand stuff got really confusing. I was trying to imagine reading the book from a 10 year old's point of view, and I couldn't help but think that there had to be a simpler way to get from point A to point B.
Things that amused me:
* Harry and Snape having complimentary patronuses.
* The seemingly abundant cock/wand metaphors.
* AS/S. Just the fact that people can now claim to ship ASS makes the world a funnier place.
And I'm sure there's a lot more (I have a lot of Dumbledore thoughts I'd like to sort out). Those were just my first impressions. Overall, I'm glad that I had the chance to read all the negative first, because I think I was prepared for something much worse than what I found when I opened the book. Overall, I really, really enjoyed it.
And I'm hitting post now because with all the interruptions in my house, it's taken me all day to get this post up!