The previous books don’t quite prepare you for the number of tragedies in this last one. Perhaps it isn’t surprising after the death of Dumbledore, that supporting characters start dropping like flies. He isn’t around to provide that protective influence anymore. And she did warn us in interviews and so forth, just not really in the books. I think a lot of people were surprised by just how very bloody it got by the end. Let me tell you, this is an author who isn’t afraid to be downright cruel to her main characters. Expect tears, outrage, and heartache. I won’t tell you who dies, just in case you’ve somehow missed hearing that information until now, but I will say that no one is safe from this kind of author.
So, attempting to avoid spoilers (and I totally understand why they did the back cover blurb the way they did--there was pretty much nothing they could say without spoiling something), I will say that the hunt for Horcruxes is...well, sort of slow to start out with. The plot spends an awful lot of time on just two of them, with a lot of planning and research and honestly just wandering around trying to figure out what to do next. Just to add a little extra interest, you also get the life story of Albus Dumbledore thrown in (in bits and pieces, of course), and a completely different side quest as a distraction. I will give one spoiler, which is that the more part of this book doesn’t take place at Hogwarts. It’d be pretty odd if it did, to be honest. However, in spite of what could be called a long, slow build-up, what gets built up is totally worth it. The final confrontation (which lasts quite a long time, as befitting the climax of the entire series) comes up and smacks you in the face like a huge wave, tumbles you about for a while, and leaves you gasping for breath on the other side. And that’s even with the occasional lull. I think I might have gotten shell shock if there hadn’t been those brief, calm moments.
I have two favorite things from this book. One is, obviously, the final final battle between Harry and Voldemort. That’s partly because it’s rather clever, partly because of the semi-repetition of an earlier scene, and partly because Harry finally is fully confident and knows exactly what he’s doing. A lot of his early adventures, he got through on instinct and the inspiration of the moment, and because he had a lot of help. But this time, he knows exactly what he’s going to do, and why. He’s in control of himself and the situation in a way he’s never been before, and I like to see that kind of development in a character. The second one is Neville Longbottom, the boy who might have been The Chosen One, and ends up being far more instrumental in the story than anyone would have imagined when he was first introduced. And that’s another kind of development I like to see in a character.
I do have one complaint, however, and I have to give a spoiler warning before I complain it, because it’s something that happens at the end. Or rather, it’s something that doesn’t happen at the end, because my one complaint is that you never get to see the reunion scene with Harry and Ginny. I would have liked to see that.
Other than that, and the aforementioned outrage when some of my favorite characters died, I loved every minute, and I’m generally perfectly happy to dive back in and enjoy it all over again.