Harry Potter 7 part 2

Okay, we've finished it. This post contains spoilers, so I've hidden it. To read, click and drag your mouse to select the blank space below; my words will be revealed as if by magic! For those who don't want to be spoiled, I'll just say that it was a fabulous book, perhaps the best of the seven. But it's not for the faint of heart.

Here's an amazing fact: Chloe chose to be the Gray Lady at the release party for this book, and the Gray Lady (otherwise barely a footnote in the books) plays an important role in this book. How cool is that? Chloe is psychic!

J.K. Rowling is an amazing writer. She did everything that was required to make this book satisfying and complete. All the questions are answered, all the stray details she included in earlier books are wrapped up into a neat package, and there were numerous times when we were moved to tears.

Of course, some of those tears were over the heart-wrenching deaths of a few beloved characters. I wish she'd been a little kinder to our old friends!

But others were over amazingly written sequences, moments of such profound significance to those of us who have lived and breathed Harry Potter for a decade that we couldn't do anything but cry. In this book, we got to revisit almost every scene in the preceding six books, so it was both retrospective and conclusion in one tome. Awesome!

Also, she spread the triumph around. It was great! Neville came completely into his own, winning even the admiration of his crotchety grandmother. And Luna shines as usual. And Mrs. Weasley kicks ass! And a number of people are redeemed for past failings.

Jo said in an interview about a year ago that the last word in the book was "scar." That, like so many of her comments in interviews, has proven to be less than the whole truth. I really admire the way she has protected her own secrets, even to the point of misdirecting her devoted fans.

I can hardly believe it's over. My kids grew up with this saga. We read our first one before the girls were in school! And now they have to muddle their way into adulthood without Harry. On the other hand, Chloe is already talking about re-reading the whole series.

For me, it's done. I know some people take consolation from having two movies still to come, but the movies have never been my thing. It's the end of an era.