Advance Booking

UNRAVELLING ALL SECRETS

I had mixed feelings about this book. While I appreciated all the loose ends being tied up quite well, i was a little bored with the way the story dragged, especially in the middle.

Harry, Ron and Hermione plan to leave school to search for the Horcruxes. But it's not an easy road, with Voldemort taking over the Ministry of Magic, forcing them to hide out. A secret wrangled from Kreacher renews their search, but the quest produces deep gashes in their friendship, with Ron leaving Harry and Hermione. And of course, there are the Deathly Hallows, three powerful magical objects Voldemort has his eyes on. Capture by Bellatrix, a breakin of Gringotts, discovery of Dumbledore's darkest secrets, the trio sees them all. The book culminates in an epic battle at Hogwarts, where Harry learns a truth about himself that could decide, once and for all, how the war ends.

While I enjoyed most of the book, I felt the middle portion proceeded pretty slowly. The whole subplot of the trio wandering around and Ron leaving was stretched out for a painfully long while. But I really liked the way she wrapped up the story, brought myriad threads spread out all over the entire series together without tangling them into messy knots. To tell you the truth, I had sneaky suspicions about Harry's secret and the locket's location, and I was excited to have my suspicions confirmed. The Deathly Hallows storyline was thrilling, and I admired her ability to pack in that along with the Horcruxes in the grand scheme of things.

However, there was an element of contrived perfectness in the story. I really expected one of the trio to die, I mean, that would have provided for a bittersweet ending. I was, of course, devastated at Dobby's death, I loved the dear sweet house-elf so much. A lot of other important characters also died, but I somehow felt they didn't have the same impact. One of my friends said, the story is too good to be true, and I somehow felt that way. Also, Voldemort felt so stupid, I mean, he saw nothing coming. I had expected so much more from such a smart villain. The epilogue also struck a discordant note. But if you were to ask me how the book was, I'd say it was quite a read, not as stupendous as my favorite one, but a good one nevertheless.

So, what did you think about the series finale? Did you like the way it was wrapped up?