Oh man, I have been totally crap about updating this site. June, you say? No, no, I didn’t go an entire month without an update, did I? Well, I certainly didn’t go an entire month without reading. And I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear about the crazy Harry Potter obsession that was happening in this house. And I mean for weeks before Book 7 was released. We re-read books 1 through 6. Yes, yes we did. We obsessively discussed Snape’s true intentions. Was he evil? Was he good? Was he evil? We pondered who would die and who would live, and whether Rowling would really do the unthinkable and kill off Harry himself. Yes, we were much like many, many other people in this country. In fact, when I perused the HP websites on the interwebs, I felt very comforted that I was actually much less crazy than many other fans.
So what did I think of the final installment? I thought it was freaking awesome, that’s what! I was seriously bummed that I finished reading it in less than 24 hours and I had to go back and re-read immediately, because I just wasn’t ready to be finished with it yet. Was I disappointed? Not at all. Ok, hardly at all. Really! Hardly at all!
It’s almost blasphemous to say anything negative about J.K. Rowling in this household, and I honestly did think Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the best, most engaging, edge-of-your-seat exciting, moving, awesome of the books. What was I disappointed about? I’m not even entirely sure. Maybe it’s actually just lingering sadness that it’s over and there are no more books to come. I guess I just wanted more answers, as I always do. I wanted to know why the prophecy existed at all. I wanted to know why Harry was the chosen one. I wanted a bigger picture of the wizarding world and the invisible forces that make it work, because, well, I guess that’s just the kind of person I am. And considering those are the kinds of answers you never get in real life, either, I shouldn’t really expect them of a fake world.
The epilogue I thought was a bit unnecessary, but everyone else I’ve talked to wanted to know what happens next, so I guess I’m alone in that one.
Oh, and I’m still confused about the whole elder wand ownership thing. I believe I might have to go back and check out the end of Book 6 yet again for a very close reading of wand-related details.
Overall, yes, I was very happy with this end to the decade-long saga of Rowling’s money-making. I’m sad that it’s over, but I certainly don’t want to see any more books in this series, or books about the next generation of wizards or anything of the sort. I mean, I think it would be great to see more books by Rowling generally, I just hope they’re about something different. And I’ve been having a damned hard time finding other things to read that satisfy me in quite the same way. Ahh well. I guess I just have to get through this period of mourning before I’m reading to move on.