Obligatory Reaction Post

[akeyoftime]

Well.

I confess, I cried, but not a lot. It wasn't really a have-a-good-sob book; there was too much action to really stop and indulge in such things.

I literally stopped reading and logged online to yell at Myriam when I found out that Harry was Horcrux after all. I... really hadn't thought that would happen.

Neville! Love! You did so well! I was also pleased to see more of Luna and to meet her dad. (I read the passage in which Dean takes Luna's hand and immediately thought of the shippers. Someone's going to read into that. I also thought of the shippers when Harry confessed to loving Hermione... like a sister. I could hear the collective Harmonian moan.)

19 Years Later was the single biggest piece of fannish garbage I have seen since I stopped reading Dragonlance spin-off novels. I mean, it's alright when it's from the fans, really, because sometimes fanfiction is indulging in fun and fantasy, but from the author herself? Lily, James, and Albus Severus? I'm still trying to wrap my head around *Severus*, because his actions weren't that endearing, not from where I'm standing. And it is just me, or do Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione seem to have failed to mature emotionally in those intervening 19 years? Maybe part of it is a reader bias, since I expect the younger mindset, but the characterization was extraordinarily weak.

Poor Tonks family and Lupin. Especially Teddy and Andromeda, who had to go on without the rest of them.

Ginny's role (or rather, non role) in the book is faintly disturbing. I was so impressed with her for stepping up and kissing Harry on his birthday, but after that, Ginny was just sort of... there. Did anyone else notice that the children are all named after the people who were significant in Harry's life? Where are her loved ones, the names she likes?

Also, not at all shocked that Snape was in love with Lily. I'm pretty happy with his ultimate character resolution. In a way, it's fitting that he was really neither a good or a bad guy (we've always known Snape to be self-serving), but JKR got a little carried away with the theme. Snape felt remarkably out of character and even as if he were a little stupid. And Snape is most definitely not stupid.

I was glad to see Percy back, but I still think his siblings treated him pretty poorly in the first place and I'm not happy that that is being ignored. He put up with a lot of crap from them and it was all brushed off as normal sibling rivalry, when it was often more along the lines of bullying.

... and Slytherin still gets the short end of the stick, because they are all EVIL, you see. Why should any of them stay behind and fight, even just one? It's because Slytherins are never ever nice people. (I get it, they're largely from pure-blooded families who would at least sympathise with Voldemort, but I'm really tired of seeing Slytherin house members painted with the same heartless brush.)

All of this isn't to say I didn't like the book. I could generally appreciate how the dark the book was and going further into Dumbledore's backstory (and stripping away even more of his shiny awesome layer) was enjoyable.


There may be more later, when it's all digested a bit.

Comments

[neonanightshade.livejournal.com]

I thought the end felt sort of like "yes, in fact, I will be writing another book, and it'll be about the kids", but I'm not sure.

[akeyoftime.livejournal.com]

God, I hope not.

Granted, they could actually become properly interesting in a book of their own, where there would be room to flesh their personalities out (and I admit, it would be endearing to see Neville in a teaching role), but I think I'd rather take a pass.

I've heard rumours that she's planning on doing a sort of encyclopedia, which will explain the fate of a lot of the characters as well as general background information, but I don't know if it's true.

[user-lain.livejournal.com]

Apparently she wrote the end before she wrote the actual series and I guess she insisted on keeping it.

[i-paint-the-sky.livejournal.com]

I agree that Snape doesn't always act the smartest in the flashbacks but uh...he did become a Death Eater, so maybe it took him awhile to come into his intelligence/mature and stop doing the stupid boy thing.

Yeah, I was annoyed that all of Slytherin house left, that was so stupid. Though at least the Malfoys had some stuff going on to negate a bit of the evilness.

[akeyoftime.livejournal.com]

I thought the kid scenes were fine, it was really the later stuff. Maybe stupid isn't the right word - he just seemed a lot blinded by his ongoing obsession with Lily and it was frustrating to see all that intelligence and calculation disappear.

[i-paint-the-sky.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, he has a history of letting his emotions get the better of his logical judgement, at least where any of the Potters are involved.

[akeyoftime.livejournal.com]

You know, you make an incredibly valid point.

Maybe Snape isn't entirely as controlled as I give him credit for.

[i-paint-the-sky.livejournal.com]

I think he usually is, or he at least has the capacity to be, but you definitely don't see it all the time.

[yubsie]

One Slytherin staying behind would have been really powerful, shame it didn't happen. :p

The kids had such badfic names. But, well, the epilogue could have been worse. *points to icon*

Poor Teddy. :(

I want a book about what Neville, Luna and Ginny were doing at Hogwarts. Because the little bits we hear about sound AWESOME.

[akeyoftime.livejournal.com]

James and Lily I could work with, especially since they're his dead parents, you know? But naming the kid *Albus Severus*? *shudders* Hugo and Rose sat funny too, but at least they were normal names.

That would be an AWESOME book.

Perhaps there will have to be fanfic.

[yubsie]

Hugo makes sense when you consider his mother is named HERMIONE. :p And Rose works fine enough. Poor Albus SEverus. Even if it did give us AS/S :p

She TEASED us with it, I tell you!

[akeyoftime.livejournal.com]

Mostly, Rose is distracting, because it makes me think of Doctor Who, my number one fannish obsession. In case you hadn't noticed all the posts about it. *coughs*

Well, she's always enjoyed dropping hints and being cryptic, hasn't she?

[coin.livejournal.com]

You bring up a good point about Ginny... I agree, actually. And I love Percy. And I also agree about Slytherin. XD

[briseis09ii.livejournal.com]

I thought generally the book was pretty good.

It was nice to finally see where Snape was coming from even though it was for selfish reasons. And he does admit that he did come to "care for the Boy" ~ and I'm sure that was really hard for him to admit.

All the other stuff too ~ I definitely would have loved to see more of, but again ~ it is like that with all of the other stories ~ JK gives us merely a glimpse but doesn't expand. Which I think is too sad because I think it would have helped us understand a lot more.

I agree that the epilogue was a bit too sappy. I mean really ~ I was expecting a lot more of something a bit more exciting than that. It was so teeny bopperish and Albus Severus got me mixed up a bit. I like Albus ~ but Severus? There would be so much more to prove than mere memories for me to name my child after someone who made my life living hell without explanation. And I would have liked to see what happened to the others too ~ Luna, Neville, Dean ~ the whole lot of them. Not just Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron. It would have been better that way.

The two things that annoyed me greatly in the book was how stupid Harry could be sometimes ~ well, he did lack some common sense. I felt like he wasted a lot of time trying to figure out what he was supposed to do that it all came rushing in by the end of the book.

And then, JK Rowling leaves us with more questions. It seems like another book should be written. But, I don't know ~ I only felt this way.

Other than that ~ I did love the book like the others. A few iffy moments, but hey! No one is perfect and it isn't easy writing a book so kudos to JK Rowling for giving us this awesome adventure.

I'm afraid I'm in the depths of despair because...well, I think I will write about it in my own post.

Loves.

Huggles.