Did you REALLY like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

Question

I am not saying it's rubbish or anything, but don't you think the book was a bit too fast, harsh and small? This was the last book and JKR could have easily made it about a 1000 pages. It was as if she was in a hurry to finish the book. Hedwig, Harry's faithful owl is blasted and dead in the first 30-40 pages. MadEye, the BEST Auror of the Ministry is killed like a gibbon, virtually without a fight, by Voldemort. And in Hogwarts, Snape dies within 2 lines after being bitten by a snake (now that's outrageous to kill a prince like that!!) I was expecting him to die fighting Voldemort or Harry (in case he WAS bad). Lupin and Tonks die unnoticed, and JKR very cruelly rips apart the Weasley twins by cutting off George's ear and then killing Fred. And to add to all these, Voldemort dies without a fight, surrounded by his enemies like vultures surround a dead body. What's the use of describing a person as the darkest wizard if the only time he really shows his power is against Dumbledore in

Order of the Phoenix! Again, after all this is over, there is NO mention of very important characters like McGonagall, Luna LoveGood, Kreacher, Dean Thomas, Cho Chang.......
The only thing that touched my heart was the valiant death of Dobby...sad he had to die...:-(

Anyway, do you think JKR did justice to the series that she so craftfully constructed for 17 years?

Mindy: It's NOT a spoiler..and I am not saying that I didn't like the book...but she could have done with killing the important characters with a bit more dignity

hazeltin4: Snape was not only 'Prince', but also a 'prince', in his acts too....

Answer 1

I agree that all the deaths were harsh..
But since I follow Jo's press statements closely , I have to say that there is symbolism in every death..
For instance , the death of Hedwig was to indicate that the innocent were not spared during war..
And personally for Harry,It indicated that it was time for him to step up...

The book was fast,definitely..
Some loose threads are still left...
But no worries , Jo's writing a "wizarding world encyclopedia"...


The Lupins not getting a death scene was really cruel though...
I knew they were goners the moment Remus named Harry Ted's godfather..
Somehow, it hit me...

Snape-the tragic hero..
However great a wizard he maybe , I think magically Voldemort is much greater...
And I also get the feeling that Snape didnt want to save himself..

Fred!!
I am heartbroken about his death...
I cant imagine the magical world without fred!!

Voldemort's death was caused by a rebound curse..
I guess it just shows that you dont need AVADA KEDAVRA anyone to win...
Harry would've never been able to actually use the killing curse on someone...

Dobby's death too was heartwrenching..

But the fact remains that the magical world was in a state of war..
And in war, people die..

Answer 2

I liked the book but wished the epilogue was longer. I wanted to know what happened to all the characters that had become a part of my life since book one. Who was headmaster? What did everyone do for a living afterwards? What was Hagrid doing? Where did the older Malfoys go? What happened to the Dursleys? Did George keep the shop running without Fred?

She mentioned in the epilogue that Lupin's son was teasing some cousin (who she says in an interview was Bill and Fleurs oldest son). That's not mentioned in the eiplogue either. The epilogue itself could have been 2 chapters.

I was surprised that Snape died so quickly. I thought he might say something to Harry other than "take it". However, death is not always dignified. She got me with Hedwig dying. I never saw that coming. Nor Dobby. What ever happened to Kreacher? I'm sure he became Harry's house elf but I'm just guessing.

One above answer asks what was the sense of making Teddy Lupin an orphan. Was JKR suppose to put out feelers to all her readers and get percentages on who should be killed and not killed and write it that way? She is the one writing the book not us. They are her characters and hers to play as she sees fit. When you have a good vs evil situation and war, lots of people die so why say it's morbid? And as far as Mad Eye getting killed, just because he was the greatest auror alive does not mean he cannot die. Heck, look at people in real life that come face to face with danger every day and fall in the shower and die.

Answer 3

Finally, someone who gets it!!!!!!

I agree 100 percent with you. It was the 7th book for crying out loud. Too many lose ends weren't tied up. The book raised more questions than it answered.

Just because Harry, Ron and Hermione live at the end, doesn't mean the book was great!

As I have been saying all along, there were too many unnecessary deaths throughout the book. Too many bad guys survived vs. the good guys dying. It made the book quite morbid.

And Mad-eye Moody, the greatest auror that ever lived dying? I agree with you.

And two of the most loveable characters, Fred and George Weasley, throughout all the books being ripped apart like that? Why?

And why make an orphan out of Teddy Lupin? Wasn't Harry being one bad enough? Where was the sense in that?

Dobby was nothing but great to Harry. Why not kill off Kreacher, who was serving another master in book 5 and who lied to Harry about his godfather, Sirius, who eventually died trying to save Harry?

Kudos to your observation. It was on the money. JKR cheated us with this book. And after all the money and time we put into reading the HP series, I thought she could have made the final book a lot longer too.

It's ridiculous that fans have to listen to her in interviews explain stuff that should have been in the book. This simply shows that the book wasn't written all that well.

Answer 4

Yes, I agree with you. I liked it, but I think she could have written it so much better!! When I finished reading it I thought:"What happened to her??" I mean, sure there were brilliant moments in the book, but others just seemed so unrealistic and way too convinient for the plot.

Many things were not well explained or completely left aside: like 'the power he not knows' It was supposed to be love, right? But instead we got 'the super wand and the super dumb Voldemort'. If she didn't even do justice to Voldemort, who was the most evil character, of course she didn't do justice to Snape either...it was sooo lame and...corny. Everybody was expecting this big secret about Snape, this big finale and instead we got the usual soap opera situation....

And don't even let me start with the epilogue! I still can't believe that was the thing that kept her writing all these years. I mean, Come on!! We didn't lean what happens to the other characters like Luna, George, etc, etc. We don't even know what the trio does for a living. Those thing were important for the fans.

Anyway, in my opinion, yes the book was good, but not good enough.

Answer 5

I have to agree with you. Dobby and Hedwig were uneccessary deaths and separating the Weasley twins was bogus. It did seem like she was in a hurry to finish the book especially since she killed so many characters. Personally, I thought it was a bit boring throughout the book. It was mostly just them moving from place to place without any luck finding the Horcruxes. However, the greatest twist of all time was when Harry saw those memories of Snape and then found out that he was the last Horcrux. Props to J.K. Rowling for that one!

Answer 6

Um, no. I hated the book. I thought it was the worst piece of drivel I've read in a looong time. In fact, I dedicated three posts to my complete and utter disappointment in JKR's latest and final installment on my blog at jpcurlylocks.blogspot.com. Feel free to check it out. It is a very detailed account of the frustrations I encountered while reading Deathly Hallows. Anyway, I think you might enjoy my blog.

Answer 7

I did enjoy the book i have to agree with a few of the comments on here about it being rushed and the way the main characters were treated.

Im just wondering how they going to spoil it when they make the film to this - they have spoilt all the rest of the books

Answer 8

Yea, it felt rushed. Her writing was crap, too. I couldn't care less about the deaths or injuries, but I think if the book was longer she would have time to develop the plot rather than making it seem like, 'oh look, Hermione has a brilliant method that is saving the day. How did she get it? Well, I dunno, but whatever."

It wasn't BAD, it was just disappointing. A poor finish after all the excitement.

Answer 9

I strongly agree with the death of Voldermort. It was all very anti-climatic. And yes for the main characters who were killed she could have written in the fights that killed them.

Answer 10

All of that is explained in the book very clearly, as to why it all happened. Maybe you read it too fast. Between the pensive and Harry's experience in the deathly hallows with Dumbledore, it is all explained. And -- Snape was not a 'prince," he was a "Prince." His family name was Prince on his mother's side.