"Deathly Hallows" was 700 pages of disappointment...?

Question

I read the book, the whole wretched thing...I thoroughly enjoyed the bit about Snape and Lily...but that was it. I think I wasted the recent hours of my life....So many lose ends, so many things that contradicted other things, not only from other books, but within this book itself...I would hate this book if it were not for the single chapter "The Prince's Tale"...but one out of 36...?
Does any one else share my feelings? I would love to get your opinions on this! If anyone is of the same mindset as me, please, go ahead and vent, and share your sinking feelings of disappointment:
[e-mail]
I would love to discuss it further.

But now, tell me your initial thoughts; love it, hate it, confused, how do you feel about the final Harry Potter book?

Answer 1

The new book does tie up a few loose ends but it doesn't live up to the hype.

It's poorly written and seems rushed, once you read it and compare it to her past books you'll realize her writing style changed too much and she tried to answer every single question with a simple sentence.



It would have been better if she expanded the book by 200 pages to clarify the details and add more elements of surprise, sorrow and distress.



Also, she made a few mistakes that will surely resurface as the days pass. And some scenes simply leave you scratching your head.



-applecore

Answer 2

The only chapter I liked was The Prince's Tale.



I sort of liked The Dursleys Departing, though I wish there were more about the Dursleys. They deserved a mention in the epilogue at least.



I admit that I couldn't put the book down, but that's true to the bibliophile in me for any book. The truth is in this: it was like I wasn't reading Harry Potter anymore - but that's understandable. Rowling did her best to leave behind memories from the previous books and I rather liked that. I take it that it means no matter where you go in life, no matter how you much you mature--you'll always be the same person and to stay true to yourself, your friends, and family. The message behind this reminds me that both Harry and Rowling may have changed, but we mustn't forget their past.



I was kind of disappointed in the 7th book. I always thought she first jumped the shark in the 5th book, because that was when the movies came out and she stopped writing for books and started writing for movies. My only favorite books in the Harry Potter series are Books 1, 2, 3, and 4 because those all came out and were written before the movies. The 5th book and onward should have been where everything was suppose to start tying up, if she had planned things out. But it was like she never had a "plan" for anything. It was like she was improvising the whole time, trying to be all "mysterious" so that people would buy the books. Until the time came to draw a conclusion-she couldn't do it as good as she hoped because there wasn't a plan. In book 7, she really jumped the shark.. at least 5 and 6 still had a bit of her in them. But this 7th one doesn't sound like her. It might have even been ghostwritten. Or maybe she did it on purpose. Or maybe this book is a fake. Who knows? I've read earlier that she suffered major writers' block while writing this and it shows. The writing is horrible, not at all what you'll expect from the author of Goblet of Fire and previous. Spelling, grammar, and other inconsistencies. It's like she had run out of ideas, she didn't know if her fans will like the ending she originally thought of and tried too hard to please them by going online and using the most popular theories. Most fans aren't complaining because she did it for them but to the fans who like the books for what it's worth - it's shameful. Come on, what's with all the naked Harry scenes? Daniel Radcliffe in Equus all over again?



It would have been better had she took her time, and it also would've helped had she ignored the movies' influence as well.

Answer 3

Spoiler warning



I agree that the last book was extremely disappointing. No twists that fans hadn't already anticipated (I had expected that RAB would not be Regulus Black because it was so obvious. Harry being the horcrux as well as Snape being good were other plots that had already been widely discussed ). She has delivered far better surprises in earlier books - Sirius being good in the third book, Moody being the impostor in the fourth and Dumbledore dying in the sixth.



Too many inconsistencies, unanswered questions, convenient one-line explainations to inconsistencies (why were Ron and Hermione able to open the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve the fangs - only the Heir of Slytherin should be able to do it, not speaking Parseltongue), people dying needlessly and by the hordes and worst of all, Voldermot seemed impotent and stupid, chasing after Harry, no longer the dreadful mysterious character that arose in the fourth book. I expected a more plausible explaination to Petunia's readiness to take Harry in after his parents death. The part about the Ministry of Magic and the infiltrations and their Muggle policy was quite annoying. The epilogue was almost fake.



JK has done much better in earlier books, but failed to deliver a fitting end to this great series. To her credit though, she did her best to tie all the books in the series together, referring to several characters and instances in the earlier books, but the tie-ups are so loose, that they feel like forced attempts to be clever rather than a carefully planned plot.



I expected the treat of a lifetime, but the book was not a worthy follow-up to book 6, just wasn't worth staying up all night.



That said, JK did pull some important moral issues together, about the choices we make and the consequences of those choices. The Hallows vs Horcrux choice, the choice to treat non-wizards with respect, respect life no matter how wretched, keeping the faith and staying on course and sticking with your friends. I also like the twist about DD owning the elder wand, that was unexpected. I am going to read the book again to see if i like it better the second time.

Answer 4

I liked a lot of the book - parts. It seemed like we skipped a LOT of time doing nothing for the first couple hundred pages. I really enjoyed the hogwarts scenes - thought the battle of hogwarts will look great (if they don't ruin the eventual movie).



I liked the transformation of Kreacher, I was glad to see that he redeemed himself in our eyes and was just lonely and needed a friend. I was also glad to see tarnished up versions of some of the "Order." Also, some of the depth that was explored in some of the other characters was satisfying.



Although I will say that Draco/Crabbe/Goyle's development seemed rather rushed and how did Crabbe, all of a sudden, develop a personality???



Honestly, I would have liked to see more Dursley's. I had a feeling before reading the book that Dudley would redeem himself after the Dementors attack, and was suprised it wasn't addressed in the last book at all. I also remember JK mentioning that someone would preform magic late in life, but not Petunia and thought it might be Dudley before he died. I was wrong...but who was this character? I think i've missed it.



Overall, I liked the story a great deal. The Epilogue was - terrible...



I'm really hoping for some more satisfying books to fill in the gaps from fall of voldemort to harry is a dad. huh???

Answer 5

Personally, i think that the new book was very good. Despite the fact it opened new mysteries, it solved previous ones. For once, Harry's life isn't just at Hogwarts. I found the middle of the book quite bit long, but i loved it when the action started to heat up.

The fact that many questions remain, may not be a bad thing, cant we just ask J.K in her interviews?

In HPDH Jk put in many twists.The romantic tension between Ron and Hermione was great and the occasional spot of humor made the book enjoyable.

The fact that so many characters died, was quite sad. My favourite chapter- the last chapter. It ended how I wantedit to end- SPOILER ALERT- Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione. the comic line by Ron- "I'm World famous" really made my day.

Overall, I found the book really good but sad at times. It wasn't my favourite in the Hp series but it was close.

Answer 6

I thought Dealthy Hallows wasn't bad, I though J.K. Rowling did an amazing job when it came to tying up loose ends. I do think that Harry should have died though (a fitting end), and I didn't think the epilogue was very good it sounded weird and was really confusing...? I mean there was so many new characters jammed in one chapter I'm still confused! I think she should have left off the epilogue and I enjoyed the Lily and Snape thing too.

Answer 7

I actually really liked this book. It showed that they were going up and they were in real danger. I think you only liked that chapter because it showed snape sympathy and you're probably a snape fan. I thought it was well written, just like the others, and it had some good plots. But you gotta realize, JK Rowling was under alot of pressure with this book. She alone had to decide Harry (and his friend's) fates!! So maybe you dont agree with her choice, but she had to make one and I loved it, its was an exciting book and I read practically straight through it.

Answer 8

maybe unanswered questions are for the next book or books as jk intimated that this may now not be the last of harry potter in interviews recently contradicting what she said last year. Could be a few years though till another is written.

Answer 9

The entire series is a masterpiece. Way to go JK. Will be a classic to rival all for years!

Answer 10

i loved the part bout snape n lily too feel like readin it again n again it was kinda odd that harry didnt appreciate much wat snape had done for him all these yrs....

i really didnt expect that he loved lily sooooo much

it would have been better if fred,lupin n tonks n even snape had not died i really felt bout that

neville was awesome!!

was good to see percy bak

end was good though it did get a bit borin in between

the ninteen yrs later part could have been elaborated

Answer 11

the new book was garbage compared to the first ones.