The Ninja Reader

Well, it's here folks. The final showdown, at least for me. The final review and the finish to my self-imposed Harry Potter summer challenge. Much like many people, I read the whole series, only in my case, it wasn't in preparation for the movie. Rather, it was me finally coming back to finish what I started ten years ago with these books.And what's the final verdict?It wasn't so bad.*total outrage*Yes, yes, I imagine you expected me to spew venom all over the place, or, maybe you didn't and are now sniggering at my having fallen, once again, under Rowling's spell.To both camps: KEEP YOUR SHORTS ON, I'm not finished.Yes, it wasn't so bad. For instance, we finally, finally, finally see some character development in Harry, and even the Ron/Hermione romance wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. SNAPE! NEVILLE! DRACO! Those three alone are enough of a motivation for anyone to read the series. In fact, I'd like to point them out as examples of how to write good male characters. Alyson Noel, take note!And yes, I was also very much emotionally vested in these characters. I loved all of them, and how wonderfully they interact. I was pleasantly surprised with Percy, who experienced some very impressive character development, as well as Dumbledore, who finally got knocked off his pedestal and was shown, rather, like a character and not some flawless Yoda-like saint. That said, there are shortcomings in this book. In fact, some of its greatest strengths are also its greatest weaknesses.#1 HarryAlright, so we finally get to see the Boy Who Lived to Be a Pain in the Arse to evolve into a character. I loved how Harry grew more responsible in this book, and how he learned that sometimes you have to do what you have to do. My question, though, is this: Why did it take him six and a half books to get there? I know he grows throughout the series, but it's only in this one where he drops the whining and mans up. In a way, throughout the series, he's very much a child, even with all the ordeals he has experienced.#2 Ron/HermioneI still maintain that Hermione is a superior character to both Harry and Ron. I mean, for the love of God, she removes herself from her parents' memories just to keep them safe, and doesn't break down, even when she's being tortured . Not to mention the dozens of times she has saved everyone's lives, and how she focuses on the bigger picture instead of on her own feelings when the situation calls for it. Rowling really worked on making the romance between Ron and Hermione more believable in this book, but much like Harry, it comes about six and a half books too late. And don't tell me Ron was a prat to her because it's in the character of teenage boys and they bonded through trauma - if that's the case, then explain the epilogue (which I will get to in a minute).#3 DumbledoreSo in book 6 we were seeing the cracks in Dumbledore's saint-like image, but it's not until book 7 that we get a glimpse of the man that he really was. I loved this development, as it showed a lot about his motivation and past.As for the matter of Dumbledore's homesexuality... I admit I was sceptic when I heard it first. Now that I read the book, I think I kinda see it. There is definitely something there, and I can also see it couldn't really be obvious - at the time, it was very unlikely that Dumbledore could have acted on his feelings, and then afterwards... yeah.Now that I read it, I realize Rowling couldn't have elaborated on that aspect of Dumbledore because that's not the point of the series. The point of the series is the power of love and humanity over evil, not the romantic subplots. Although, again, that doesn't fit in with the epilogue, which I will get to... eventually.#4 The Amount of Hammy Deaths in the BookWhere do I begin with this? Okay, you know how Mockingjay is sometimes referred to as 'tragedy porn'? Well, this book borders on it. I mean in the first fifty pages, the owl dies. THE OWL DIES! Right after Harry gives her a nice tour down memory lane. I mean, poor Hedwig! Um, not that one, but... actually... yeah, poor Hedwig. And that's not even the worst of it. The battle for Hogwarts, in its own right, is as horrible as it comes. The deaths of so many wonderful characters Oh, Lupin! Oh, Tonks! Oh, Colin!!! Oh, FRED! alone are enough to bring tear to the eye. A friend of mine accused me once of wishing some character or another had died in the place of another, and I guess that's not wholly fair because even the most annoying ones shine during the battle. But... some of those deaths were so grisly, and then followed by a moment that was supposed to be... cute? One moment, we have Lavender being savaged by a werewolf, and in the next, Treloni is killing Death Eaters by tossing spheres! What. The. Fuck! How is this even remotely acceptable? What was Rowling going for with this? I've heard people say that the series grew with the books, but this? Are we trying to write REALISTICALLY here? Because... um...#5 The PlotholesRowling's clearly not squeamish about killing off her characters. And she's not afraid of making the series dark. So why the hell is Harry alive? There was this huge buildup towards a heroic sacrifice which would save the whole world, and then we get this ridiculous cop-out that is so convoluted I'm not even going to try and get in to. Of course, it allows us a whole chapter where Dumbledore's ghost explains everything to our clueless hero, who, instead of letting his feelings run free and telling him to go fuck himself, forgives him nicely and goes back to the land of the living. And so on, and so on. If I went back to explain every plothole of this book, we'd be here till tomorrow. My point is, this victory seems to be based on quite a lot of nice little conveniences. I mean, how nice of Harry to explain how he's won to Voldemort right before he kills him, or that his self-sacrifice (even if he never died) protected the whole frickin' school!#6 The EpilogueHow many people have complained about this? Can't count? Neither can I? So we get this victory which came along through the bloody sacrifice of so many, and then, nineteen years later, our heroes are living the dream, with children and white picket fences? Really?Say what you will about the ending of Mockingjay, but at least it was sensitive to the trauma of war and the horrors the heroes went through. The Deathly Hallows is a tale of pain and loss which ends with an overly cute pink bow on top. Like Severus Lawliet said in her review, where's the emotional scarring? Hermione was tortured in the same manner as Neville's parents. Did Bellatrix just not have enough time to scar her permanently? I realize that all this makes me look like a... rather unpleasant person. Yeah... But I just don't get what Rowling was going for with this book. Did she want the series to grow from one genre to another, like her characters? From a fun children's book to a dark, fantasy epic? Is the story really that realistic? Dragons and goblins and magic aside, I mean. I see the merits of her book. I'm just saying that if she went through the trouble of setting up a tragic ending, maybe she should have gone through with it. So that was the end of my little HP challenge. What do I think of the series as a whole? Decent. I'm sure it'll go down as a children's classic. And, as with most classics, it's best not read too much into it.Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go read some happy endings.SnapeLupin and TonksDraco and Hermione