I just finished my second go at it. I guess that means I liked it!!

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, and I give it a thumbs up. Much better than the last two, more dynamic, lots of action and a few surprises.

Regarding the deaths in the book:

There were a few points which stood out for me, the first being the, to my mind, unnecessary killing off of Hedwig. I understand why it happened, but believe it was overdone throughout the rest of the story. After all Harry didn't interact with Hedwig that much in the other stories other than in general to apologise to her for putting her in her cage, and fretting when she'd been too long delivering messages and what not. I felt his reaction to her loss took over too much book space, however the death occured just to make such a point so I can excuse it.

The situation surrounding the death of Mad-Eye was built up in such a way that there was never any question of what was going to happen. Out of the potential targets next to Hagrid he was the most obvious to choose. This was a death which didn't affect me at all.

The weakest death-scene has to be Fred's. I felt that a little more suspense, or a more meaningful end would have been better - had he been battling a major character as a distraction while Harry needed the coverage most, taking a fatal blow instead of some other major character, or something dramatic and more flamboyant I think it would have worked better, and was an opportunity for another heart-wrenching moment. He was a highly visible and dynamic character and deserved an equally dramatic demise.

Like many of you Dobby's death was the most poignant for me. The suddeness of it whilst he was performing the most heroic act of his life just felt perfectly right and provoked the most sadness from me.

As for the rest of the book:

The wandering around of Ron, Hermione and Harry was a little too protracted for my taste, but it did advance the story, just a little too slowly.

Kreacher's turnabout was a great spin, and well incorporated.

The importance of the wands and their histories also was a positive for me.

Oh I'm sure there is lots more I could say, but I'm going to re-read bits of it now to check out some details first

Congratulations all! This is a lovely thread, with your opinions so clearly put. Thanks.

I found the last book satisfying and had a good number of few moving moments. I was reading it to my little boys and had to stop and compose myself during Dobby's burial and also Harry's walk into the Forbidden forest with the spirits of his loved ones. It was clear that Dumbledore must have had a good reason to trust Snape but I didn't guess what it was so I enjoyed the process of that revelation as well as some others. The emergence of Snape's patronus in the vision was a powerful moment too.
Good job J.K.R.! The lady delivered.

I read the book twice, the first time rushing through to the end, the second time more slowly and out loud with my sister, and as much as I loved it the first time I enjoyed the second read even more. Some stuff that bothered me the first time seemed far better the second time; most importantly the ending seemed less rushed.

One thing that didn't improve was the sitting-about-the-tent scenes. I was surprised to find how little space these scenes actually take up, because in my mind they seemed to cover about half the book.

On first reading I agreed with Santana's assessment of Fred's death scene. While I had no problem with the meaninglessness of his death (that's war), I was disappointed by how fast it went by, especially since Fred & George were my favourite non-trio characters. But when I slowed down, I thought he actually got the perfect death scene. For one thing, George's earlier injury insured that his twin's death came as a shock. But that's not the important thing.
Fred & George have two major characteristics: they're jokers, and they're incredibly devoted to the family. My single favourite scene of book 1 (and one of my favourites of the entire series) is the Christmas morning scene where Fred & George come in wearing their Weasley sweaters, comment on Ron and Harry's Weasley sweaters, then force Percy's Weasley sweater over his head and march him out with his arms pinned to his sides by the sweater while telling him that he has to sit with the family at dinner because "Christmas is a time for family". Of all the Weasley siblings the twins- particularly Fred- seemed to take Percy's defection from the family the harderst (Fred makes most of the meanest remarks about him). When Percy returns, however, Fred is the first one to accept him- while Molly, Arthur, Bill, George and Ginny stand around staring, Fred makes a joke and takes Percy's hand.
In the end Fred's death is incredibly poignant: the man who values family and laughter above all else dies while fighting alongside his newly-returned brother and making a good-natured joke at his expense.

Mad-Eye Moody's death was perfect too, not because of how it happens, but because of how we learn of it. Chapter 4 ends with Hagrid lying face-down, spread-eagled in a pond after falling from the sky. Chapter 5 is called "Fallen Warrior". So we start by assuming Hagrid is dead. Then there's the relief of finding he's still alive. But wait: who is the warrior who is fallen? What follows is one of the best-written sequences in the series, a unique blend of darkness and humour. Everyone is standing around waiting for the rest of the group to return. Some have already missed their scheduled arrival time. Others arrive injured. The characters suspect someone may have died. The readers know it. The people waiting are friends and lovers, spouses and siblings, parents and children. And through all this we have Hagrid trudging about, blowing his nose on tablecloths, downing entire bottles of booze "for medicinal purposes", and repeatedly getting stuck in the doorway. While reading I kept going back and forth between fighting back tears and laughing out loud. It's an outstanding bit of literature.

Another scene I really loved was the requirement-room scene with the DA members desperate to do their part. With Dumbeldore dead, Harry missing, and the cause apparently lost, kids are still willing to face danger just to send a message: "Dumbeldore's army- still recruiting". They're telling us that even against all odds there's hope, as long as a few good people are willing to go on fighting. The scene also showed how Neville, who follows right behind Fred & George in my favourite characters list, had come into his own.

I'm not a great fan of action scenes, but The Battle of Hogwarts was my favourite literary battle ever. It was a fun battle: exciting, imaginative, and filled with unintrusive callbacks to earlier books. There was so much to cheer for: the statues and suits of armour coming to life and marching off to defend the perimeter; the Headless Hunt rushing by; McGonnagall and the galloping desks; Trelawny dropping Chrystal Balls on Death Eaters' heads; Buckbeak and the Thestrals attacking a giant; and of course House Elves hacking at Death Eaters' ankles using kitchen utensils.

I loved that Molly finished off Bellatrix. Molly's always been a very capable witch, but her strengths lie in nurturing rather than in causing damage. However, look at the damage Voldemort and his followers have caused her family, which she cares for more than anything: her brothers were killed in the first war, Ginny was possessed and almost died, Arthur was almost killed by Nagini, Ron and Ginny were injured fighting at the ministry, Ron was poisoned, Bill's half werewolf, George lost an ear, Fred lost his life. Now Ginny's being threatened. Remember Molly's Bogart? The corpses of her family members? Nothing's more dangerous than mama bear when her cubs are threatened- Bellatrix never stood a chance!

While Deathly Hallows isn't my favourite among the Harry Potter books (Order of the Phoenix owns that spot) it will always have a special meaning to me because of stuff I was going through when I read it. Harry's thoughts regarding his own mortality on his trip into the forest resonated very strongly at the time, and I cried so hard I could barely see the pages. But besides being unbelievably sad, that chapter also highlights one of the underlying themes of the books: sacrifice. The seminal event of the Harry Potter saga is a mother sacrificing her life to save her son's. The final chapters of the series give us a mother throwing herself in harm's way to protect her daughter, a father dying so that his son can live in a better world, and Harry, willing to lay down his life for the sake of everyone else. It's a theme we don't often see in modern culture, but here it's just perfect.

Hmm, that Fred scene has been niggling at me, and having read your response, snm, I'm going to re-read bearing in mind your comments. Perhaps it takes that second run-through more slowly to jig it into place. On a first reading it just seemed way to abrupt and contrived to me.

I agree that the use of the Room of Requirement and Percy's appearance and return to the fold were great. I had forgotten those parts when I got typing here earlier.

snm, that was beautifully written, and a great review.

I agree with many people about Fred's death scene, the first time I read the book I skimmed a little, and had to go back and take a second look (hang on, did they just say that fred was dead)

It should've been played up a bit more. I loved the Snape chapter. It really revealed his true self, and it certainly revealed stuff that I had never thought of before.

I have to say that I was very disappointed with Deathly Hallows. I have been HP obsessed from the beginning and have never felt dissatisfied after any of the books until now.
The only death that had any emotion was Dobby. The other deaths were just a mention. No real chance for us to grieve. She could have let us witness the funerals. The epilogue was a waste of pages.
And as dumb as this is going to sound....it wasn't believable. Meaning..that the trio went through so much danger throughout the series and yet they all 3 survived. I knew Harry would, but 1 of the other 2 should have died.
I feel very unfulfilled and have even more questions than I did before I read it.
Snape was the best part of the whole story.

A true masterpiece,genius.

To anybody who has stated they were dissapointed with the latest book because the ending was "too predictable"or"not beleivable"can I remind you this is a set of books prodominantly aimed at children.Ok they are universal and may be enjoyed by adults too,but had J K Rowling killed off one of the main three characters(or Hagrid)there would have been broken hearted children across the globe and it would have spoiled the enchanting journy for millions of younger readers.I bet enough tears were shed for the house elf.
Also many people are crying plagerism.....Nonsence....In any story about wizards and whichcraft there are always going to be certain similar arcetypes that will crop up.Giants,Elfs,Werewolfs,etc and to claim J K Rowling stole any ideas from other writters is pedantic nitpicking.

The whole book was great.Especially The Last Battle Of Hogwarts.

I didn't like it. Some things happened exactly like I thought they would from book one. Others surprised me. I didn't like the Deathly Hallows though. It kinda came at me from left field. Some of the issues like the Horcruxes stemmed from earlier on in the series but it seemed like she wrote half the book then stemmed the deathly hallows because she needed to fill the book up. I also think that they found the Horcruxes WAAAAY to easily.