There are SPOILERS in this post

Have you finished reading Deathly Hallows yet? If not, stop reading. No, I'm serious. Stop reading. I don't want to ruin this for you. STOP. READING.

Are you gone? Let's check, shall we?

Voldemort becomes good and lives out the rest of his life as a drag queen in Diagon Alley.

A-HA! I see you peeking! I told you to go away! I meant it too. Get! You can come back after you've finished. I've warned you!

Everyone else, here we go:

Overall, I really liked the book. I thought it was a fitting and just end to the series. I felt such a pang of sadness when I broke spine on my never-before-opened book and had the flash of This Is The Last Time... And J.K. Rowling's inscription just slayed me. I forget precisely how she worded it but along the lines of "To all of you who have stuck with Harry through the last 6 books," but much more elegantly. And I heaved a great sigh and began the reading.

There was so much stuff in this book! It was all over the place! Action packed! I need to go back and reread because once I started I was insatiable and devoured the entire thing as fast as possible. Which also makes me sad, because I wish I had savored it more.

ANYWAY, I of course had some problems with the book. Let's go through them:

• Like everyone else in Harry Potter Fandom, I was upset with the way Fred's death was handled. The Twins were some of my favorite characters in the book, not just because they're across-the-board awesome as well as funny, but because I feel a special affinity with twins. My mother is a twin, my grandmother was a twinless twin, and deep down I've always known that someday I'm going to have twins. Call it a spidey sense or woman's intuition or whatever, but it's this deep feeling in me. Killing Fred off, while awful and heartbreaking, was understandable (Even though I so wanted it to be Percy. You may have come back Percy, but you're still a PRAT in my book). Not showing George grieving and coming to terms with his twin's death (aside from a half sentence describing him as "kneeling at Fred's head") is inexcusable. Especially given the fact that aside from a very brief scene in OotP, we've never seen the twins apart. They are inseparable. Give us paragraph showing us George's loss at losing his brother, best friend, partner in crime, business partner, other half. It's only fair.
  
  
• Lupin and Tonks. Fine, they died. I was of course sad about it, but I saw it from a fricken' mile away, especially after they made Harry godfather to Teddy. Like everyone else, I was upset that their death happened offscreen, as it were, and we didn't get to see or really digest what happened to them. Both of them were pretty cool-ass wizards and deserved their moments of glory, etc. Lupin especially, as he was the last Marauder and Harry's last connection to his father.
  
  
• Speaking of Tonks, go read Amy's thoughts because she has a point and I sort of agree with her.
  
  
• Along those same lines, Ginny! I hate how everyone just shoved her out of the way and she basically took it. Especially since in OotP and HBP she's revealed herself to be not only a powerful witch but also a determined spunky young woman. No way she would have stood for that crap.

Stuff that I really really loved:

• Neville. NEVILLE ROCKED MY WORLD. There were times of just pure fist pumping glee when Neville came into his own and stood up for Hogwarts and all things good. Here's this unsure screw-up kid with a heart of gold really proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could have been The Boy Who Lived. Neville is so, so awesome. Love.
  
  
• Luna. For the same reasons as Neville, but mostly because of her sweetness. Those paintings in her room? Her speech for Dobby? Killed me.
  
  
• Dumbledore having flaws. I liked seeing his past and seeing him not being this perfect being. It makes his wisdom and power all the more believable.
  
  
• Snape being good! YAY! Goddamn, Snape is a cool character. Back in OotP, during "Snape's Worst Memory" I guessed that it was because he loved Lily. Then I thought, no, that's too predictable. And while it turned out that I was right, J.K. kept me guessing right up until the end. I liked the way she handled it, we never saw Snape professing his love for Lily to anyone other than Dumbledore, he goes through his entire life unloved, dies alone and despised by his true allies, and his last dying wish is to see the eyes of the woman he loved. How completely tragic he is.
  
  
• "Here Lies Dobby, A Free Elf." Dear God, that was so sad. For as annoying as the S.P.E.W. storyline was throughout the books, it felt like it finally came full circle and paid off with the death of Dobby. Poor Dobby, who I never really minded, but never really got into as a character either -- making the ultimate sacrifice for Harry not because was ordered to, but because he freely chose to come to Harry's aide. And Harry recognizing this and digging the gave himself without magic, Ron taking off his shoes and socks for Dobby. Just so sad.
  
  
• Mrs. Weasley unleashing a wand of whoop-ass. As much as I wanted Neville to be the one to finish off Bellatrix, I loved seeing her as this ferocious mother dragon guarding her eggs.
  
  
• Kingsley Shacklebolt. I just love him. He’s cool.
  
  
• Seven Horcruxes, seven people to destroy them. Drives the point home, I think, that while Harry may have been the Chosen One, bringing down Voldemort was not something that could have been done alone.

Crap that I’m nitpicking:

• Polyjuice Potion now works for hours on end, apparently.
  
  
• I still just don’t get how the Secret-Keeper Charm works. Stephanie and I had a confusing discussion weeks ago via Google Chat where I tried to make the point that I thought just because the Fidelis Charm is cast doesn’t make the place invisible or unplottable per se, just makes it impossible for others to find it as the “secret place.” For example, if I was the Secret- Keeper for your hideout, it’s not that people wouldn’t be able to see it or find it, just that it would appear that you’re not there until I choose to divulge that you are. Well, Deathly Hallows proved me wrong on that part. But then! How did Harry get to/find Shell Cottage if Bill was Secret-Keeper? And then Bill promptly told Harry about the Burrow even though Mr. Weasley was Secret-Keeper there. And! According to JKR’s website, she once said that when the Secret-Keeper dies the secret goes with them. But in Deathly Hallows, everyone became Secret-Keeper for 12 Grimmauld place. Huh?
  
  
• The Epilogue. Oh, the epilogue. Yes, it was cheesy. But since the rest of the book was so action-packed and heavy, I was OK with it being a little cheese-tastic, even if it was Velveeta processed. I would have liked more resolution with outside characters – LUNA, for example, Dean, all of the Weasleys, more Neville of course (although I loved that he went on to teach at Hogwarts), and more importantly more about the Wizarding world at large post-Voldemort.

Is it really over, you guys? I’m so sad. Post your thoughts in the comments, if you have any…