Besides Jo shooting H/Hr down with a bazooka and disregarding their relationship in depth, the crapilogue, some loopholes, and unanswered questions I kind of liked it at least.

For one I thought that the background story of Dumbledore was quite interesting. I could never imagine a young Dumbledore or a Nazi-like wizard who was friends with a Dark Lord. So that was an interesting read.

And then...I also liked the Snape background story too. It was bittersweet but at least something ended with a strong final note.

I actually really enjoyed DH. It's my second favorite next to OOTP and its just above GOF for me. The book was not perfect as I think we've all agreed, but as the conclusion to an eight year journey I've spent with Harry and friends, I felt quite satisfied.

Things I loved about DH:
-Harry and Hermione's relationship: Even if they didn't get together, they had some truly beautiful moments. Here are my favorites:

• Hermione's Harry you look so tasty line
• the countless number of times the held hands
• Harry finding it impossible to picture a stupid Hermione in chapter two or three
• the way Harry and Hermione discussed the sword with such excitement in ch. 15, excluding Ron. of course it's this interaction that prompts Ron to leave
• even though Harry was so angry with Ron, he cared enough to put blankets over Hermione as she cried
• the whole graveyard thing. so touching. it seemed as though they could read each other's minds. Harry was wishing he had brought his parents something and then Hermione conjures flowers. and the way they walk out together. i so hope its portrayed in the film.
• the fact that Hermione is the one Harry shared Godric's Hallow with. not Ron, not Ginny, just Hermione.
• how sad Hermione was that she broke Harry's wand but how he reassured her that he knew it was an accident
• how as she left him alone, she brushed his hair with her hand. i honestly choked up. such sweet goodness.
• the fact that Ron feared Harry and Hermione getting together. he saw it too people.
• there's much more but its a long list.

What else I liked:
-How Duddley thanked Harry for saving his life and didn't want to leave him.
-Neville and Luna's characters. i adore them. i do wish neville killed bellatrix in the end, but mrs. weasley's "you bitch" line was rather amusing. i liked it.
-fred and george's "holey" jokes
-lily's letter and how harry shared it with hermione. we don't really find out if he ever showed it to ron.
-Everything about Snape and Dumbledore's back stories. Particulary Snape. I always knew he was in love with Lily. His memories was probably my second favorite chapter next to Godrics Hallow. I was in tears. And I understand why Harry named a son after him because I think he realized that all the animosity Snape showed him was always about James, not really Harry. And I think we can all agree, James treated Snape horribly and I think Harry realized that. I loved how young Lily called Snape her best friend. I love how Snape kept the second page of Lily's letter and tore the pictures so he could look at her. at first I didn't understand why Snape asked Harry to look at him while he took his final breath, but it made me cry to think that it was because he wanted to see Lily's eyes one last time. Of course he had to die before Harry realized he was good.
-I loved how Kreacher accepted Harry and treated him with such care before they left Grimmauld place. I loved how Kreacher led the house elves during the battle.
-i like Malfoy's mom. she totally saved Harry's butt when she told Voldemort Harry was dead
-I liked that Harry called Voldemort by his real name. Dumbledore used to do that.
-I really liked the kids' names. Albus Hugo and Rose are my favorites. Lily and James was expected but sweet. Rose and Hugo would totally be Hermione's kids' names. I loved little Albus, since he's the only one we really got to know. I really liked Harry's intereaction with his son. so sweet. It would be interesting to see fanfictions written about the children.
-In the end I accepted Ron and Hermione, and believe me, i used to gag at the mere thought of them together. he finally matured and i found their relationship charming. My heart broke when Ron left. And I'm so glad Hermione didn't welcome him back with open arms. He deserved to have the crap kicked outta him. he was a jerk.

what i didn't like/made me cry:
-naturally, harry and ginny. all we really know about Ginny from this book is that Harry thinks she's beautiful.n we aren't given the opportunity enough to understand her character and know her the way Harry supposedly knows her. Maybe if we were given that opportunity, their pairing might make more sense. the fact that she hardly had any page time softened the blow a bit.
-Remus and Tonks dying together. the image was horribly tragic.
-Dobby and Hedwig's deaths were so unexpected. I probably cried over Dobby and Hedwg more than any other death, except Snape.
-what happed to Luna??? did she end up with Neville? that would've been cute. one sentence mentioning her whereabouts would have been nice in the epilogue.
-i agree, the epilogue is probably the weakest part of the book, but i think thats partly because there was so much hype about it. i enjoyed most of it, except that lily, james, and albus were Ginny's children, but so much more could have been said. i felt the last sentence was a good, clean ending though.

I immensely enjoyed DH. It was wonderful to get to know the characters of Dumbledore and Snape so well.... it made me understand. I finally understood the hateful potions professor. I finally understood how Dumbledore had also made huge mistakes in his life, just as you and I do. Godrics Hollow's graveyard scene was beautiful, no mistake about it... I just want to cite it.

Hermione had taken his hand again and was gripping it tightly. He could not look at her, but returned the pressure, now taking deep, sharp gulps of the night air, trying to steady himself, trying to regain control. He should have brought something to give to them, and he had not thought of it, and every plant in the graveyard was leafless and frozen. But Hermione raised her wand, moved it a in a circle through the air and a wreath of Christmas roses blossomed before them. Harry caught it and laid it on his parents' grave.
As soon as he stood up he wanted to leave: he did not think he could stand another moment there. He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore's mother and sister, back towards the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate

I can finally accept the fact that R/Hr happened... Ron did really grow... finally. Though there were moments where I could kill him. (when he wears the locket) Do not get me wrong, I accept it, I still don't really like it and still prefer H/Hr above all.
H/G is a different story. I didn't see any interraction between them... no growth. However I did enjoy how Harry talks to Albus Serverus: "...you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.

It was a fabulous book for me, besides the H/G.

I really liked HD, especially after the horrendous experience of HBP. Compared to that, it was well written, lacked most of the boring teenage drama, there was much less superGinny in it and the people were more in character. But what I loved about it was the sense of camaraderie, that all people came and fought together for a seemingly lost cause. I also loved the decoration of Luna's bedroom.
So, apart from the sickening epiloge, which was totally pointless and didn't agree with the whole story, it was a great book, imo.

Just remembered a tiny little something about the final battle that I was absolutely thrilled about...

OLIVER WOOD CAME BACK!!! Wooo!!!

He was one of my favourite side characters in the first three books (not to mention the best looking character ever in all of the movies!) and I never ever expected him to make a reappearance. That made me feel really good inside, reading that.

Thanks JK for bringing back my Oliver.

I found the book to be good but it certainly her best work and I do think that HBP and DH will drag down the overall rating of the series.

The worst thing I didn't like was the romance. I think JKR did an extremely poor job in the romance and it gave me the taste of bad fanfiction.

Overall I'd give the book a 3/5.

I will say right off that I lost two nights of sleep because 1.) Harry Potter is over 2.) the book ended on a R/Hr note and 3.) how Rowling had to basically shred apart the character of Ron to make the R/Hr work
It was only last night after a ferocious debate in my head did I finally accept that it really is Ron-Hermione and Harry-Ginny. I didn't like it, but that's the way it is. still, I thought the book was great....no that's an understatement...it was fantastic.
R/Hr moments made me retch, but that's not the main point of the story (thankfully). Can anyone forget the moment where everyone of the DA returned to fight? I mean, even Cho returns, and I was like, "wtf is she doing back?" Heck, even the house elves run around with knives...that's priceless. And most memorable may be when Harry verbally jousts Voldemort, and Voldemort knows its the end.
but before you all kill me for declaring me for not being a true H/Hr at heart, let me give you all my theory as to why the Harry Potter series (and particularly why DH) worked out to be R/Hr
1.) based on what I have observed in fanfiction, H/Hr is cute, but it interferes terribly with the storyline. Harry needed to focus on the Horcruxes and Deathly Hallows, and any romantic distractions (even Ginny) would have dragged the plot line down.
2.) Harry and Hermione have a complex and dynamic friendship, and they are so close that even Ron mistakes their friendship as something potentially more.
3.) by marrying into the Weasley family, Harry is now related to Hermione, and also at the same time he is related to the wizarding family that he has long viewed as his "own".
4.) and Ron and Hermione are still the most important to him, as evidence: they are the only one to hear the full story of what happened with Snape, and Harry's "temporary death". Not even Ginny hears this
5.) R/Hr keeps the trio together, Ron is not the third wheel. Harry will never be the third wheel simply because Ron and Hermione look up to him (and to some extent awed by him)

This is actually something I've been thinking a lot for the past few days. H/Hr simply did not "fit" DH at all. If she had made the book H/Hr, I wouldn't have complained, but it would have taken up way too much page-time when there were more important things going on. The only way H/Hr would have been truly justified is if Harry's romantic love played a part in the downfall of Voldy. And we all know that it absolutely didn't...

Dare I say it, in the context of this book, H/Hr would have been almost as pointless as H/G and R/Hr were.

Plainly, this wasn't a book (or series) about romance. Romance was just a cute little diversion. 'Nuff said.

I enjoyed reading the book

There were many things that I liked in the book and a few things that I didn't. On the whole the book was fast paced and exciting. I really enjoyed reading it but what I didn't like was ofcourse the romance.

Also I was disappointed that Luna was hardly there in the book! but I loved Nevill's character. I think his character was really really well written.

Rowling is a good writer but when it comes to writing romance, she doesn't do a good job of it. I'm not saying that because it didn't turn out to be H/Hr in the end but because of the way H/G was written. I just could never connect with that pair.

Anyway.....I loved reading the book but there were a few things that I wish she had written better. Other than that.......good job!!

Libra

I don't hate it. I think without the shipping stuff, this would have been my preferred book of the series. The action is bloody brilliant. The problem is, the shipping stuff is there, and an Harmonian can't be pleased with it, can he now?

I always thought, since HBP came out, that I'd be able to suffer R/Hr, but the problem with that ship is that it brings H/G as a consequence, because we already knew it wouldn't be H/L, so if it wasn't H/Hr it would be H/G...and I totally despise the redhead girl, so I can't stand it.

Plus, of all the occasions she had to kiss Ron, she chose the one where he acted Harryish, thinking about the Elves and saving them...so why not kiss Harry when he was gentle to Kreacher, turning the elf's attitude toward them all? Why not kiss Harry when he buried Dobby even as more than an equal? After all Harry had never openly laughed at S.P.E.W....

In general, I wouldn't be raving about the book, but I do acknowledge that the book had really good moments of action and suspense. There were a lot of questions answered, but there were quite a few left dangling. The HG romance SUCKED (really hate that pairing in the first place). RHr was handled MUCH better than I expected--possibly because I don't hate the pairing, just that it gets in the way of mine. I didn't mind reading the RHr parts at all. There were inconsistencies, flubs, Deus ex Machina, etc., but I'll live. The epilogue was crapilogue.

While I'm critical of this book, I can't say I hate it. There were parts I enjoyed, and all I really had to do was let it be. There were parts that were brilliant--parts that I actually love.

It's not my favorite book in the series, but I couldn't hate it for the world--and I especially won't hate it for shipping.

I didn't hate the book; but I was kind of disapointed, I was hoping for some better ending, and not just shipping-wise. The action scenes were great and even for us harmonians it had some pretty nice moments. For me what really sucked was the epilogue and I think that if it hadn't been there I would've liked the book so much more; another thing that creeped me out was that for R/Hr to work Ron had to take traits of Harry's personality (which in the back of my mind kept me thinking that JKR tried really hard to make them work).

As for how Harry killed Voldie... I would've liked so much better a duel than the whole technicality over who was the master of the Wand. Yet I think that it had some really good parts but the romance really ruined it for me. I don't hate the book, it's not my favourite of the series and it probably never will but it's actually quite good.

The ships just one in a sea of things wrong with this book - obviously a large of group of Harmonians are going to dislike it due to shippings. But there's a hundred poor things about this book and they've been discussed in length on dozens of threads thus far.

I also think that to truly love a book, you have to enjoy the whole thing, flaws and all.

From what I've heard (and I haven't read it yet) - the book has brilliant moments and the story is interesting - it's just not executed in the best way, most glaringly, the relationships between the main characters.

Perhaps if it had turned out H/Hr, we'd all be praising JKR to the heavens but if it was executed poorly, we'd probably be nitpicking her as well.

I loved it. I don't even mind the epilogue anymore - though I so wished for more details. JKR never reveals all though. lol I don't think it should have been read first and all on its own. It makes more sense at the end of the story where it belongs.

I loved that she included so many truly sweet moments for Harry with Hermione and with Luna, instead of just Ginny. There was something for all of the main 'couples' fans root for, and in the genuine way this time instead of the teasing, confusing ways of book six. It's made very clear that he loves and likes Luna, even if it's not in the romantic way. And the Godric's Hollow scenes with Hermione are some of the most romantic ones in the whole series, (even though technically they're not).

I also have to say I loved what she did with both Dumbledore and most especially Snape. The Prince's Tale is probably my favorite chapter. Close competition coming from the one after it, of course.

The whole thing was just such an exciting tearjerker! lol I loved how the action really got to move around now that they can apparate. So fast-paced. So moving. So funny in places. Plenty of surprises and plenty of satisfaction at seeing things I'd guessed at or hoped for - but never exactly as she wrote it so it still was new and fresh and engrossing to read.

I loved the way each of the trio (and so many others) grew up into such good and lovable adults. I think it's a great ending to the series.

Jo's done a very fine job with this 'Harry Potter' idea of hers. lol

I like the book really much, but since she gave herself the trouble of forcing RHr and H/G into the books, she could have tried harder and made a more complete epilogue. Not about the weddings, or anything shippy, but about how the Wizarding World was changing after the war. It was supposed to, after all, right?

Well, I definitely enjoyed it for the most part despite some of its glaring flaws and that horrible epilogue. It's nowhere close to being my favorite of the series, but I felt it was so much better than the drek that was HBP (although, I'm starting to like it more each time I re-read it). I had read all of the spoilers and knew what I was getting into, so I was preparing myself for the absolute worst and lo and behold, I actually liked it when I was finished and wanted to read it again. Of course, my expectations were the lowest of the low after HBP.

I have to say, it's nice being in a thread with a lot of positivity. It's really uplifting, because I felt like I was the only one who liked DH *shrugs*

I really enjoyed the last half-dozen or so chapters, when the action and drama really hit their stride. The first 500 or so pages, though, were poorly paced and--I thought--fairly boring.

I just had to reply to this topic. I've had the misfortune to be the lone H/Hr shipper amid too many R/Hr and H/G shippers (as I guess is everyone). And it always irritates when people assume the only reason I hate or like a book is because of the shipping. (But I'm in Portkey now, so Yay! ) Book 5 is my favorite book till now, but regardless of the H/Hr goodness it contained, I would have hated it if it came as an end to the series.

Deathly Hallows is a bad way to end a series, it does not tie up loose ends adequately at all. Of course, this is so that JKR can come up with an encyclopedia and everyone would still be enthused to buy it inspite of the exorbitant price. But that's not the mark of a good author/story. That is my major problem with the book - if you need questions answered, buy the next one. There's no closure. Everything happens too fast, she needs to wrap up her story in a hurry. The shipping only adds to the feeling of hurry, hurry, hurry - you might not get another chance. I sincerely feel that she could've settled the ships in the previous book. We are not fools, we'd still buy the book for the story.

While I don't hate the book just for the shipping, I would have praised JKR a little bit more if H/Hr had happened. It wouldn't be random, it wouldn't convolute the plot too much and frankly, it was the easiest to write IMO. It would also mean that the lamest cop-out in recent times wouldn't exist. Brother/sister? Seriously.

So I finished it and it wasn't so bad except for the shipping part. Though I must admit, I skipped some pages because it was dragging (hell, I skipped that whole chapter which was mainly composed of Voldiemort monologuing in Harry's head). Also, I didn't find the plotholes endearing at all.

I liked it, it left some things unanswered I wish were, and the snape memories downgraded him to a sucky character in my opinion, but overall, it's a good book.

Well, I purchased the book on Saturday and wasn't planning on reading it until I could overcome my disappointment, but when I opened it on Sunday night I read 450 pages in a matter of a couple of hours and only put it down because I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. (long sentence!)

Anyway, with that said, I loved the book. I had to clear my head of the shipping and get back to why I loved the series in the first place. I am a Harry worshipper! The first time I read the series and saw the movies I didn't ship, period. I only became an obssessed shipper after reading the series twice, seeing the movies about a million times and reading all of the amazing theories you guys came up with!

I still find myself stumped with why the most predictable relationships came to fruition. I believe many different endings were possible given the way the books were written. R/hr and H/G were simply what Jo wanted. That's fine. In my heart of hearts, however, Harry and Hermione are soulmates and I think this book showed it. I really feel that their connection is deeper than any other relationship in the series. I believe Jo wanted us to see this. I think she wanted us to see that they are truly "bonded for life". I also think Harry saying he loves Hermione like a sister was amazing. Not the "sister" part, but the love part. He admits right there that he loves her. Seriously, he could have just said she's like a sister to me and left it at that. But he says he loves her. Even if it's not romantic love, it's love. And Harry says it.

I can accept Ron and Hermione. I will never accept Ginny and Harry. Ginny was once again on the sidelines. Harry still craves the company of Ron and Hermione more than Ginny. I know people feel a romantic relationship for Harry would get in the way of the plot. I disagree. I thought, like many others, that Harry's true feelings for Hermione would surface near the end of the book (not at the beginning). Oh well!

Other than that, I found the deaths of Hedwig and Dobby very painful. Seriously guys, when Hedwig died I was really sad! When Harry buried Dobby I was extremely touched. When Fred died ..."the ghost of his last laugh etched upon his face"(pg637)...and Percy and Ron were at his side...wow

Godric's Hollow was beautiful. And touching.

I thought the scene with Bathilda was creepy. I really liked it. I also like when "...he (Harry) pulled her (Hermione) back across the bed" (pg342) Hee hee.

I love McGonnagall and how proud and supportive she is of Harry.

I thought Ron speaking Parseltongue by mimicking what Harry did to open the locket was, um, weird.

Harry thinking about Ginny's "blazing look" before he "dies" was rather strange IMO. Can someone please explain this blazing look and the ones from HBP? What does she want us to gather from this, I wonder? Just wondering what other people thought.

I loved reading about Snape and Lilly.

I loved how so many things from the other books were pieced together and we suddenly knew the whole story...

I thought Harry's journey in the last few chapters was riveting. I really did not want to put the book down.

I realize some things could have been better, but all in all, I truly enjoyed it.

I've said that I really liked the book, because really, I did. The action and whatnot was Jo's style- it's just the romance that got me- and I'm not saying that just because I ship H/Hr. I liked the story about the Hallows and the three brothers and I really liked learning more about Snape. It was a good book.

I'm absolutely agreed wtih u. It was a good read but not for the romance part, especially H/G. I liked the part about Snape's memory. And, I think Snape's devoted love is very touching.

Well, honestly, I liked the book quite a bit. But my shippy side got the better of me and I had to stop myself from vomiting in my mouth when I read R/Hr and H/G scenes. But if the epilogue and all the romance was cut out from the book, I think it was a pretty cool book.

I loved the Snape chapter, goes to show we were never really right about him since the beginning, I think I've become a Snape/Lily shipper
I kinda liked the Harry and Dumbledore part but I found it so cliched to have Harry resurrected and all that... I think I'm one of those very few people who wouldn't mind if Harry died...
The Godric's Hollow Chapter was written beautifully and all the H/Hr scenes were nice...

See? I liked a few parts of the book, I dont really hate it 100% if I read it from a neutral-shipper POV, but alas, I am anything BUT a neutral shipper. Hehehe, but the DH was a pretty good book though.. I guess..

Well, I thought I would wait a few days after reading the book to try and sum it all up...
First I really did enjoy the book. It was so much better then HBP... I think more then anything I wanted to see Harry happy in the end... After everything he's been through he deserved the chance to live a happy normal (well as normal as possible) life.... I didn't even mind the H/G in this book as much as i did in HBP... It's not that I don't like H/G (yes I rather have H/Hr) but in the last book it was too much like bad fanfiction. I think JKR needed to build it up a little more between them... She had done well with H/G in the first couple of books, but then kinda let it fall to the side (IMO). Then it was like in HBP it came back out of nowhere oh i love you i love you, and left me feeling like WTH when did Harry start having feeling for Ginny.... Now as far as Hr/R go it was still kinda blah to me (better then HBP)... Though I think it has to do more with the fact that I have a hard time liking Ron... A part of me really wants to like Ron, but then the other half wants me to smack him for being a prat.... I know a lot of people really love Ron, but most of the time (after the 3rd book) he just rubs me the wrong way... So aside from the ships the book was great... It was a good mix of light/dark, humor/grief..... I also liked that she brought back some older characters (Mmm love me some Oliver Wood)... Plus we really got to see Neville come into his own in the book, and really show that he is a true Gryffindor.... It was also nice to learn more about Dumbledore and Snape...

What I didn't like about the book... Why did she have to kill both Lupin and Tonks!!! Maybe it was the way she did it.. To me it felt like she forgot about them then was like oh crap I need to do something oh i know i just kill them... It's fine if she wanted to kill them but I think they deserved better then oh their dead.... The only really other thing I didn't like was she left so many things open... Yes we know that H/G, Hr/R get married and have a couple kids.. But what about everything else? What do they do for a living did they go back to school? What about all the other characters? How did everyone deal with the aftermath of what happened? I hate having so many unanswered questions....


CC

I was looking for another topic and saw this one and just had to add my two cents. The first thing I want to say is that I don't hate the book. I just think it's painfully average for the most part and not very well written in the end. If it had been any other book it wouldn't have bothered me so much, I would never read it again, but I wouldn't have told anyone it was bad. But it wasn't any other book it was the final installment of the Harry Potter series. Every other book in this series has had an ending with IMPACT! The kind of ending that leaves you gasping and to me every other book, despite some minor flaws, has been brilliantly written. That's why this book annoyed me so much. By the time I got to the epilogue I didn't care that it wasn't H/Hr I honestly did not... as far as I was concerened the majority of DH was mediocre at best and the ending was downright woefull.

It ended on a wimper with him fixing his wand (of all bloody things, like no-one knew he had the super wand... he only announced it to all of Hogwarts). Prior to that, yes it was the bit before that I really disliked, we have this amazing battle going on and part way through we get interrupted in this scene of high drama. Harry, hero complex "saving people thing" Harry, decides to bugger off and pop into the pensieve and explore Snapes past for a bit.

Now JK Rowling obviously thought of this as a big reveal, but it was very poorly managed. It disrupted the tension and drama of the scene, exposition in the middle of battle? very ameaturish. Then we have Harry's complete lack of reaction to the fact that SNAPE was in love with his MUM! We fanatics have had plenty of time to consider the possibility that Snape's motives may have been a bit more pure than on first viewing, but Harry hasn't.

It amazed me that with so little time to reflect on things Harry goes pretty much straight from there, walking straight past all of his friends who are caught up in the heat of battle, and into a suicide mission. And this stunned amazement at the leap between what Harry has seen and his (almost completly) unrealistic reaction to it only served to take me even further out of the world I was trying to absorb myself in.

Then after doing the unthinkable Harry is suddenly at Kings Cross, naked, and talking to Dumbledore about his past. Now, I'm as intrigued as anyone to find out about Dumbledore's past, but ask yourself... is this really the best time, place and way to do that? I would say NO! I actually yelled while reading "you've GOT to be kidding me!" I still can't believe that she interrupted her final dramatic all consuming battle not once but twice to go into lengthy scenes of exposition.

And after all of that we have Harry turn into an exposition fairy himself. I read that final confrontation with Voldemort and the whole time I just kept thinking of all of the scenes in all of the James Bond movies where the evil dude has his final big monologue before being killed by the good guy. It was sooo bad I actually laughed and thought... [sarcasm]don't tell me let me guess Harry's the really the bad guy?[/sarcasm] which of course just made me laugh even more and even further distanced me from the scene I was reading.

Then there was the shipping aspect of it, now it's not what you think. In order for you to appreciate what I'm about to say let me give you some background about myself. I read Mills and Boon. One of my favourite fanfics is a Harry/Ginny with a small side of Ron/Hermione. I could have liked R/Hr & H/G. But JK Rowling chose to make them inconsequential. She didn't write it badly she wrote it exactly the way she wanted to. I believe that she thought... hmm this is a childrens book, I don't want to put them off by writing a lot of mushy love stuff so I'll make one couple so poorly suited to each other that it's like a big joke and the other couple so background that they won't even notice it, and that's what annoyed me the most.

She took symbology and used it without caring about it's real meaning and she toyed with themes that she didn't really care about, certainly not enough to bring proper closure to them. Think about Harry/Ginny for a moment. He buggers off on her in the middle of the war and leaves her on her own then even after the battle is won and he's litterally come back from death (how cliched btw) he still doesn't want to be with the girl he will one day marry, no he's going to bugger off with his mates again! And this from a book series that has been stressing the importance of love pretty much since page 1.

And that's what annoyed me the most, it's just another example of JK Rowling using themes when they suit her but not carrying them through, I could give at least ten other examples and most of them are things that other fans have said they wish had been addressed in the epilogue. If love was really so important shouldn't Harry have treated Ginny a bit better? Shouldn't Ron and Hermione's relationship have been a bit more than a poorly told joke? Im convinced now that's what it was ment to be.. Ron getting that book was supposed to be funny! I thought she was being very clever in her use of themes and symbology... apparently she was just using it where needed and discarding it when she couldn't be bothered any more. It was just a kids book... never mind that even just a kids book can be a lot more than that.

Oh and I nearly forgot.. Harry and his Mum, during a war of terror, are litterally the only people who have ever willingly died to save others? Umm... so what was James doing when he told Lily to run and attempted to face death in her sted. Not only that but whole families were apparantly murderd during Voldemorts first reign of power and yet no-one ever stepped in front of a killing curse for another person??? I find that implausible at best.

So there you have it... my huge rant about all the things that I disliked about the final installment of the Harry Potter series, and none of it had anything to do with it not being Harry/Hermione. Just as a final point I want to re-itterate again that were this any other book, it wouldn't have bothered me so much. The point is it wasn't any other book and for the final installment of the Harry Potter series a mediocre book is simply not good enough. It should have been brilliant, like the rest of the series was, and it just wasn't.

I don't hate dh (tho h/hr is just one of the many things I ship).

I honestly think it was the worst of the hp books, but still an ok book overall. It had the feeling she was trying to stuff more into the book than it could hold, and ended up dropping important or interesting things. I also thought Snape/Lilly was a total freaking copout that ruined snapes character for me completely. I liked him better as the slightly moral jerk, than an eternally lovesick puppy. I also thought the deaths that were offscreen were kind of cheap. (wtd did BOTH lupin and tonks die?)

merged w/ similar topic - PK Mods
Orig topic title: in the minority, am I the only one who loved DH?!


As disappointed as I was in final nail on the canon!H/Hr coffin... I loved the book! In my ranking of the series, I'd have to say this one sits right after PoA and OotP.

I guess it's just sentimental old me, but if you ignored the romance bits, which Jo really shouldn't be critisized for so much (she signed up to be a children's book writer after all, not just another Fabio-on-the-cover chick novel read-on-the-beach type)... for some reason I just felt like I was ten years old again, reading Sorcerer's Stone for the first time, it truly did have that same magic. Jo was doing what she does best, which was weave a plot that leaves you saying "how did i miss that?!"

I loved all of it! I'm thankful, Jo. If you ever read this (which I highly doubt, but that's okay ), I want you to know I'm thankful. Thanks for this wonderful series you've given to so many enthusiastic readers around the world! It's been a great decade, and I somewhat pity the future first-time Potter readers out there. They'll never have the years long speculation, they'll never feel the need to study every line of every page for clues to the next book, and they'll miss out on the massive midnight book releases. I refuse to let a little disappointment dim any of that!

I was surprised it ended R/HR...I was surprised how well R/HR was written...and I was stunned how much I liked it even with the h/hr filter.

I don't hate the entire book but the things I hated had nothing to do with shipping.

Aside from the shipping, the main reason why I didnt like it was because I felt that everything that happened was kind of expected, and many questions that were supposed to be answered didnt seem like they had important explinations. the book just left me wanting more...

Yep. I hated the book.

I have simple reasons, really, and no, it's not all about shipping. While it made me gag non-stop, the book was disappointing because it was clear that Rowling had run out of ideas, and that her ideas were not at all original like the old fan in me thought. Some parts dragged on and on and on, while some were totally rushed.

Harry "dying", only to speak with Dumbledore? Please. No other way, was there? That chapter was really dreadful. Couldn't he have spoken with the painting instead? It was an awful and forced twist.

I got tired of Harry always getting lucky and escaping the likes of Bellatrix, Death Eaters and Voldemort. Come on. Harry's not THAT good. These are all trained wizards, and they come alive in killing. How on earth does him and his friends keep escaping?

Lupin's death. Geez. We didn't even witness it. Harry a godfather? What a surprise. Hagrid as a clumsy oaf? Not so lovable now, is he?

Fred's death was probably forced, too, or it seemed as such. And Hermione being always prepared and had almost all of the answers? It just wasn't plausible. Ron walking out on Harry again? Been there, done that. Snape was in love with Lily? Brand new information, I tell you!!

What happened to us finding out what happens to everybody at the end of the book? Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Draco are not everybody. "All was well" *shudder* I bet she just did that since it leaked out that "scar" was the last word of the 7th book. See? Forced.

What saddens me is that I was actually a big fan, up till Rowling turned on some of the people that put food in her mouth and insulted them. What a way to keep fans. I only read the book as a closure. I wished I never read 6 and 7. It seems as though fame had gotten to her head and a lot of her writing was, again, forced.

Good for those who liked the book, though! Just not my cup of tea.

Well anyway,

Well, I loved the book. It is up there in being one of my favourites.

The action was well written, it didn't feel rushed at all, I thought it tied everything in nicely, and it even gave some really good background information without getting boring! I was totally absorbed by the book, but, nothing will make me stomach the H/G romance.

Why? Because, to put it bluntly, it was badly written. She had seven books to build up Harry and Ginny and she had only just started on book 6 to actually give them something; add that with the fact that Harry and Ginny barely interact in DH and you get one sloppy romance.

R/Hr was much more easier for me to handle because there was a build up in their relationship, but, like a lot you, I still feel she could have kept Ron more like himself instead of giving Harry traits to him to make Hermione like him. It also felt like their relationship was a little forced and contrived in DH. H/Hr seemed to be sailing along quite naturally, but because she wanted OBHWF we get these forced romances.

If H/Hr had happened I would love this book even more, and that isn't just because I am a H/Hr shipper. I just like well written romance, and H/G and R/hr was not well written.

Go you! I absolutely agree, I really liked the book as well and it makes me sort of sad that no one else, at least here, seems to be particularly impressed. However, that's not really true. I started a thread a little like this one http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?act=find...&pid=360705 and it turned out a lot of people like the book after all. If you need to see you're not alone, go take a look, it's great reading all the other posts from happy fans.

I totally agree. It may be my favorite book in the series. I mean, besides the Ron/Hermione romance...I thought it could not have been better. I mean, H/Hr even got a kiss out the deal. How sweet is that?!

Well, I've finally accepted that harmony is sunk, but oh well, it has been quite a ride, hasn't it? For me, this experience has been moving, and I will always believe in Harmony, no matter what. We all loved this pairing for what it represents, true and natural love as it is. Mutual understanding and loyalty that no other ship can ever come close to. I will not share my opinions of the author simply b/c I really don't have anything left to say about her.

I don't know about everyone, but harry and hermione has been the most important couple out of every ship sunk or sailed, that i've ever come across, and i'm glad that I shipped it till the end.

So, I am not worried at all, people change. I will still visit this site frequently b/c of the fanfiction and the people here. So, there you have it, it was good fighting with everyone.

I gave book and Story: A.
Romance between R/hr and H/G: F
Romance/Friendship between H/hr: A++

You're not alone! I loved the book though it was a bit confusing and jumbled together at times. All in all I give it...

Storyline--A (except for Voldie's end--to that I give a hearty wth)
R/Hr and G/H--F-
H/Hr--A++++ (and an extra + for the Horcrux kiss!)

I enjoyed the book alot! It was easy for me to digest becasue I went in there knowing that R/Hr would most likely happen. I had al ready come to terms with it. So I believed that made the book easier for me to read.

The only thing That I just EVER put my head around is H/G! Sorry not happening!

Yeah, I think knowing that R/Hr was going to happen and having already come to terms with it definitely helped me enjoy the book a lot more.

I'm still bitter that Harry ended up with Ginny-sue though. I mean, seriously--WHERE did she come up with that pairing??

yeah, i really liked it as well!! i think most of us who liked it were the ones who came to terms that r/hr was most likely going to happen. i know that once i told myself that and let myself read it w/that mentality, it definitely helped me out. of course i don't like r/hr, and esp h/g, but there is so much to the harry potter universe, so i made them small blips, and paid attention to the real story...harry wins! he lives! it's what we've worked up to for 7 books, and i really think some of the people on here should appreciate it, or at least try to respect that. we have fandom, and it's clearly not going away. i get a little upset at how much people slam jk for not writing something they wanted. go write a fanfiction!! i've watched tons of shows where the couples i wanted didn't happen...probably the most like harry potter in being that i shipped joey/dawson (i know this is offtopic, sorry!) on dawson's creek, but i started watching the show for the reason i started reading the books...i was genuinely interested in the plot. i know it's a longshot, i just wish some people would see that.


sorry for that semi-rant. i've just been a little irked at how much people are angry on here. they wouldn't be that way if h/hr happened and they know it.
no offense to anyone who actually just didn't like it.

::end rant::

don't forget that H/hr were left alone together in Tent..(chapter 17 though 18) when Ron adandon them...

and two hug from first two chapter..

Oh yeah!!! How could I ever forget about those 2??? Okay, add on three more +++ signs!

I did enjoy the book very much.

In the connection with the romance aspects of the story, I’d like to recall a quote from the MuggleNet interview with JKR. It gives a small hint as to what she is thinking about.

“JKR: There's a theory - this applies to detective novels, and then Harry, which is not really a detective novel, but it feels like one sometimes – that you should not have romantic intrigue in a detective book. Dorothy L. Sayers, who is queen of the genre said — and then broke her own rule, but said — that there is no place for romance in a detective story except that it can be useful to camouflage other people’s motives. That's true; it is a very useful trick. I've used that on Percy and I’ve used that to a degree on Tonks in this book, as a red herring. But having said that, I disagree inasmuch as mine are very character-driven books, and it’s so important, therefore, that we see these characters fall in love, which is a necessary part of life… “

Although I can only express a personal opinion on the subject, I think that JKR enjoyed developing and hinting at an H/Hr relationship. Those aspects were very well done. Then she became aware of the shipping discussions that were taking place within her fan base. It was a problem she created. In retrospect, the story line in her novels is about the classic battle between good and evil. But, it seems that the story line was evolving into a classic love story. JK could not let that happen. So beginning with book 6, she made a drastic turnaround and downplayed the H/Hr dynamic. It was often pointed out that Hermione was behaving “out of character” in book 6. As one can see from book 6 and 7, the love story all but vanished. Although the hint of romance did remain, it was very weakly portrayed. It seems to me that the H/G and R/Hr interactions were intentionally written so as to appear to be uninspired.

The Harry Potter adventure is JKR’s story and what has been read is the way she chose to tell it.

Nevertheless, JKR completed an excellent and entertaining story line.

Actually, I don't think she turned anything around in HBP when it came to H/Hr. The signs were still there, even if Harry took a detour with Ginny.

The real problem is DH, which all but ignored the plot and character development in the previous books. To be honest, after a week of thinking about it, I not even sure that book 7 was written by the same person as books 1 - 6. There are simply too many inconsistances with the earlier books, and that's never happened before.

Yes, DH had an engaging story, and I enjoyed reading it a lot -- until we got to Harry's reaction to Snape's backstory. At that point, it became clear to me what a jumbled mess the book was and that these characters had no connection to those in the previous books. Everything else started unravelling for me soon after.

Now, I won't even put Deathly Hallows on the same bookshelf, or the same room, as the others. It's a fine book and all, but it has no place in this series.

Sorry if this offends you.

No offence taken. The objective here is to express the thoughts and feelings that are the consequence of this literature. It is necessary for us to both express and listen to the diverse viewpoints that are offered.

There is also a need to express a kind of grief that is a consequence of the adverse outcome of the story especially if one establishes a close association with the characters developed in that story. I think that the only difference between H/Hr shippers and any of the other ships lies in the way we see and understand life. This is where our personal values lie. That is, do we understand relationships on a physical or on a spiritual level. These are entirely different ways of looking at the same thing.

Nevertheless, the JKR’s story has to stand on its own merits. It is a complex interaction of people, events and carefully laid “red herrings” to minimize the predictability of the story. One has to separate personal expectations from the story as literature. Many people in these threads have pointed out the various non sequiturs based on their own interpretive paradigms.

For me, JKR appears to have been losing control of the story and there appears to be an attempt to save it. In that sense, there should be at least a few stilted contrivances created to make the ends meet. But it is still a nice piece of work.

I liked a lot of it very well indeed. The stuff with the Ministry and all their political machinations was fascinating, as it always has been, and the end battle was fantastic.

I was even (heresy to say, I know) somewhat reconciled to R/Hr. Alright, the half up until Ron left was pretty dreadful, but on his coming back, and up to the kiss and beyond, I actually began to finally feel it. It's still not my favourite, but my opinion has been turned around quite a bit.

There were some parts that could have been done better. The epilogue was mawkish. The camping trip dragged on too long. H/G still leaves me indifferent. Harry aping Christ was heavy-handed and disappointing.

But despite these few things (and really, what book is perfect, outside of a few classics that I won't go into here, as I have a list that will bore you stupid) I really enjoyed it. There are parts of it that I will read over and over again, and rank with the best moments of the series (Fred's death, and Percy's reaction to it, for example).

I liked Book 7. I rank it my second favorite of the series, beaten only by POA.

(This thread came up in my search results while I was looking for something else, so I figured I might as well reply to it.)

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Erm, just read my username. Not JUST because Ron and Hermione ended up together, but somebody worded it perfectly saying it just had too many flaws and was poorly constructed. Jo could have done better.

I love my DH. I have the hardcover US edition. The jacket was beautiful as a gift wrap one Christmas. Shortly after reading the book, I cut out a 13x18cm rectangle in the middle of every page from page 215 to page 627 to create a nice storage space. I hide stuff in there sometimes, like car keys, TV remote, Wii remote.

Even though it sits in the bookshelf within sight of anyone in the living room, I know no one in the family will be remotely interested to open that book for many many years to come, especially if they were looking for something related to their entertainment.