I think what I liked most about it is the perspective on heroes and heroism. It's completely not a one-dimensional view, and nor is it all about Good versus Evil narrowly defined. Yes, there are villains who remain villains, and heroes who have always been heroes, but we see shades of grey too. We see people who have been in the shadows step forward to have their moment of glory. And we see some characters redeemed.
Harry's not the most heroic character in the book, by any means, though he is certainly a hero. Dumbledore's shown to have feet of clay, yet is still redeemed. Neville is amazing and in a couple of respects is crucial to the outcome. Ron, Hermione, Luna, Dobby, Kreacher, Lupin, McGonagall and very many more perform heroic acts and are essential to what goes on.
And Snape. Left looking like a traitor at the end of the last book - though I suspected then that he'd been acting on Dumbledore's orders when he killed him as well - he turns out to be about the most heroic of them all. He played a role for so long, pretending to be one of Voldemort's supporters, having to sit by and watch horrible things done, and at the same time risk discovery to avert disaster when necessary. He had to kill Dumbledore, and we see at the end how much he cared about Dumbledore. He saved Harry with his Patronus. And, no doubt, prevented far worse happening to Hogwarts while he was headmaster.
So loved that aspect.
Some of the deaths left me sadder than others, particularly Fred and Dobby, and I had a lump in my throat when it was casually mentioned that Remus and Tonks were dead too. But more survived than I'd expected, which is good.
The epilogue... I don't mind that there
was an epilogue; I just think it was very poorly written. If, as Hasini says, it was written years ago I can believe it; it's not up to the level of the rest of the book. I was happy to know who's paired up with whom (I was hoping that maybe Dean and Luna are together as well), but there was far more important stuff we could have been told. I don't know if Harry and co ever went back to get their AWLs, for instance. Did Hermione become an Auror? What are Harry and Ron doing for a living? What became of the Dursleys, and the rest of the Weasleys? The narrow focus on kids meant a lot was left out. Also, what happened to the senior Malfoys? Yes, Narcissa was somewhat redeemed at the end, but what of Lucius? And who is now Headmaster (or Mistress) of Hogwarts? I was hoping for McGonagall, but we weren't told and I'd have liked to know.
Overall, though, with a few minor quibbles, such as the epilogue and not seeing enough of what was going on elsewhere and what other characters were doing while the trio was wandering aimlessly around England, I did like it. A lot.
Wendy
