Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Okay - I've tried to be really patient in posting this, but I want to get it out there. I finished the book over a week ago, so I'm going to write about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I hope that anyone who reads this has already finished the book. I'm going to try not to include any huge spoilers, but take this as a warning. DON'T READ ANY MORE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE BOOK SPOILED!

First up, my overall reaction to the book was very good. I thought it was a very appropriate ending to the series. In my opinion, it did slow down a little in about the 2nd quarter while Harry, Hermione and sometimes Ron were trying to figure out what to do and traveling from place, but after that it really picked up. The final battle sequence was great and really seemed to capture the action and bring everything towards closure. Even the ultimate showdown and Harry's actions that led up to it were really interesting and exciting. When it came to deaths in the book, I was a bit surprised by who was chosen, but I think it worked well with the plot.

My biggest complaint about the whole book was the Epilogue. I did not felt like this section was necessary, and it didn't answer very many questions for me. I would have rather learned more about the events that directly followed the big battle, and where everyone ended up going from there. In thinking about it, I feel that the Epilogue was really put in to satisfy those people (and kids) who needed a truly "happy ending" sequence. Its not a huge complaint, but J.K. Rowling has a lot more information and thoughts on the characters (see this chat transcript that can be found on both MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldren), and I would rather have read some of those details instead of the distant future scene we got in the book.

Overall, it was a great ending to a great series, and I know I will miss reading new adventures about the boy wizard. Maybe after things in my life calm down this winter I'll go back and read the whole series in order. I feel like I'll pick up a lot of new and interesting details and links between all 7 books.

What did you think?