Post by samantha2074 on Jul 19, 2005 21:14:46 GMT -5
I'm a relative late-comer to the world of Harry Potter. I didn't read the books until a little while after Order of the Phoenix, so this was my first experience of reading a new book in the series after having dipped my toes in fandom and reading fanfic. I wasn't consciously aware of having any preconceptions starting the book, but I must have since I found myself surprised and at times a little disappointed by developments. I had to remind myself of a couple of points.
I did like that Harry learned his lesson from OOTP about communicating with other people. I thought his trick with the luck potion was clever and I was glad to see signs he was thinking. I think I'm going to be traumatized for a while over Dumbledore's death, although it wasn't unexpected. I wish it had been for something, however, rather than for a fake horcrux.
I felt like once Ginny became Harry's girlfriend, she became less of a character. Instead their relationship was kind of summarized, with Harry just thinking about how happy she made him. I was a little surprised by the way she so quickly let Harry go on his quest with only a token argument. When did Ginny become so passive. Yeah, an angsty, torrid scene would have been cliche, but I guess I've been influenced by fandom into thinking that Ginny is more motivated to fight Voldemort than her actions at the end of the book indicated. Well, I guess we'll find out in a few years how that panned out.
This isn't really a coherent review. I devoured the book in six hours on Saturday and am still kind of digesting it. I'd love to hear what other people thought.
Sam
- The books are from Harry's point of view and are primarily about him. I must confess, I selfishly wished for more Remus, although I understand the authorial reasons for not including him, and his limited presence didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book. I was a little disappointed by the Remus/Tonks relationship at the end. Since we didn't get to see the relationship develop, it felt tacked on to me. This makes sense given that we pretty much only see what Harry does, and other people's lives go on when he's not looking, but I think I had been accustomed to reading fanfic, where the gaps are filled in for you. This was a problelm with my own expections, not anything with the book.
- The books are for children, which means that they don't always have the shades of grey that one might expect in adult literature. Often times, what you see is what you get. Harry thinks Snape can't be trusted, so Snape turns out to be untrustworthy. It may be that Snape will turn out to be a not-so-bad guy after all, but I'm not betting on it. Also, the hero of children's literature is often a wish-fulfillment character, so he gets special privileges and responsibilities. Fortunately, this aspect didn't bother me as much in HBP as it did in the previous novels.
I did like that Harry learned his lesson from OOTP about communicating with other people. I thought his trick with the luck potion was clever and I was glad to see signs he was thinking. I think I'm going to be traumatized for a while over Dumbledore's death, although it wasn't unexpected. I wish it had been for something, however, rather than for a fake horcrux.
I felt like once Ginny became Harry's girlfriend, she became less of a character. Instead their relationship was kind of summarized, with Harry just thinking about how happy she made him. I was a little surprised by the way she so quickly let Harry go on his quest with only a token argument. When did Ginny become so passive. Yeah, an angsty, torrid scene would have been cliche, but I guess I've been influenced by fandom into thinking that Ginny is more motivated to fight Voldemort than her actions at the end of the book indicated. Well, I guess we'll find out in a few years how that panned out.
This isn't really a coherent review. I devoured the book in six hours on Saturday and am still kind of digesting it. I'd love to hear what other people thought.
Sam
