Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (by J.K. Rowling)

In deference to my paranoia about spoilers, Ian went out and got me a copy at midnight. He came back with it at around one, and I began reading. I had the entire next day set aside for the Potter, so I figured I wouldn't try to skim the whole thing, I'd just read until I was exhausted, then sleep, then wake up and finish it in the morning. (I think this is what happened with Half-Blood Prince.) Yet somehow, I never felt even the smallest bit tired once I started reading, and I stayed up all night finishing it, which I haven't done in years and years. I finished it at seven in the morning.

I am so glad I was unspoiled. If you haven't read it, don't read on.

This might be the best book in the series. It's really dark and really unpredictable, up until the end when all the big reveals turn out to be exactly what most fans expected (Harry is a horcrux, Harry lives, Snape is good). However, by the time I got there, I had decided Snape must really be evil, and that Harry was going to die, so that was pretty amazing. I can't believe she got me with those. I also did not predict the "Dumbledore magical terminal illness" thing with the hand, so that was an added twist to the Snape/Dumbledore thing. I also loved how much payoff there was from the previous books. I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff, but there seemed to be a ton of references to the first book in particular, and a ton of clues that had been planted throughout the series.

The deaths. I was so sad when she killed Hedwig. I've been terrified of that since the first book. I also was afraid she'd kill a Weasley twin, and thought I was safe once George lost an ear because isn't that bad enough? But no. Oh god, poor George. I would have liked a sentence about George's reaction to Fred's death, even though I'm sure it would have gutted me. Remus and Tonks I thought got short shrift, dramatically. (Perhaps they were "the two I didn't expect to die" that Rowling was talking about.) They died but there's no real dramatic impact, except seeing Remus with Sirius and James in the Resurrection Stone sequence. And Harry didn't adopt the baby, which I thought was certain to happen. So who raised him, I wonder? I bet we'll find out eventually (in an interview or some such). [ETA: This was obviously Tonks's mom. Poor Andromeda: her husband, her daughter, and her son-in-law all died.] And killing little Colin Creevey—who I guess turned out to be the Gavroche of the series—was just cruel. My heart is going to break every time I read about him in the previous books. Way to twist the knife there.

Neville, McGonagall, and Molly Weasley all kicked ass. I loved Neville's standing up to Voldemort and being the one to kill Nagini. I had wanted him to kill Bellatrix, but this was better, because Molly Weasley got to kick some ass. (Incidentally, didn't you expect Ginny to do something a little more magically spectacular? I sure did, especially after the most recent movie.) And did you notice: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all destroyed Horcruxes. Pretty cool. And I loved Harry standing up for McGonagall when that guy spit at her. That was awesome.

Most emotional moments for me were when I thought Harry was going to his death; when Harry was standing at his parents graves talking about how they didn't know or care that their son was there, and he wished he were dead; when Dumbledore called Harry a "brave, brave man"; and oddly enough, when Dobby died. He was among my least favorite characters, but his last words, and Luna's speech, and Harry's epitaph really got to me.

Other minor things I liked: Dudley's change of heart, getting to see the Ravenclaw tower (and the Ravenclaw door knocker; Ravenclaw has always been my favorite house). The backstory of the Gray Lady and the Bloody Baron. I go back and forth on the applauding headmaster portraits, which I immediately envision set to a cheeseball musical cue by John Williams—but I think it was an earned moment. Also Harry calling Voldemort "Tom" at the end. I'm sure I'll think of more. (ETA: Harry recovering and burying Mad-Eye Moody's eye.)

Things I didn't like: the SPEW plotline kind of came to nothing (although I loved Kreacher leading the elves at the end). Grawp was totally extraneous. Although I adored Dumbledore's dark past (and Harry's frustration at Dumbledore never actually giving him the vital information he needed) and I loved that Grindenwald played a huge role, the whole Nazi parallel thing was a little weird. I guess the whole idea is Voldemort is really really evil, but the whole Muggle holocaust thing seemed a little heavy-handed to me. Like really, a pile of bodies? Muggle registries? But I have a feeling I'll come around to it; Voldemort is, after all, super evil. However, Umbridge should have painfully died. Boo to an alive Umbridge. Also, Mundungus being the traitor in the Order was really obvious. Like, he's been stealing Harry's shit, and is obviously shady, so why trust him at all?

The weakest bit, I thought, was the epilogue. It seemed like it came straight out of fanfic with the "Albus Severus" (puh-leeze) and the couples so neatly paired off. I didn't mind the pairs themselves—I wasn't super invested in Harry and Ginny, as it turned out, and I would have enjoyed the romantic twist of Harry ending up with Luna, just so I could be more surprised—but the writing seemed weak compared to the rest of the book. I don't know; maybe there were too many kids or something, or not enough from our principals, but I wanted to get more hints at how the wizarding world was doing, not just how many babies Ginny and Hermione had popped out. Knowing Neville was a professor was nice; more clues like that or subtle references to the other characters would have been better. Maybe a longer, meatier epilogue that focused on more than just the kids. But I did think the Ron and Hermione romance throughout the book was handled really well, and Ron's fears coming out of the horcrux were very cool. Ron and Hermione both kicked ass in this book in general, and their kiss in the Room of Requirement was awesome.

So overall, I am extremely satisfied; it is an excellent ending to the series. Ian is racing through the book right now, and he has been just as caught up in it as me. I have a feeling our house is going to give it two thumbs up.