Ok, I think enough time has passed that I can post this...if you haven't read Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, there are lots of spoilers below, so please don't continue reading!!!

My thoughts after reading the book:

First off...I KNEW Snape was innocent!!! Didn't I say it! Yes!!! Ahem...ok, that's out of the way.

My absolute most favorite chapter was the last...I LOVED knowing that they thrived and went on...and when we found out Harry's middle son's name...omg. That made tears pop in my eyes, yet I smiled at the same time. And then Harry said to his son that Snape was the bravest man he knew...wow!

Second favorite chapter was The Prince's Tale. Everything explained, and beautifully, sadly so! Oh, to think he loved Lily for all those years. Such a thing to have to live with, to have been responsible for the death of the woman you loved.

As I was driving to work the Wednesday before the book came out, a deer jumped out of the woods on the opposite side of the road and ran in front of my car. Not so close that I was in danger of hitting her, but close enough that I could see her beauty. I thought of this when I found out the doe Patronus was Snape's!

Third favorite chapter was King's Cross, when Harry was talking with Dumbledore...yet more questions answered, even some that were raised just within this book!

There was one sentence that Harry said in the 34th chapter: "But he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home there..." That was amazing...just brilliant!

The theme of this book, the theme of the whole series, in fact, seems to be love, kindness, forgiveness & caring are of the utmost importance.

See...John Lennon wasn't far off when he said "Love is all you need".

I just wish we knew what happened with Luna! She's my new second favorite character, altho, as with Snape, I learned to love her from the movie, more so than from the book.

My thoughts after listening to the audio book:

I'm so glad I did this! There were so many parts I just rushed past in reading the book to see what finally happened which wasn't conducive to enjoying the book.

I STILL don't like how Lupin was in this book; he seems so very different from the Lupin of the other books. I STILL didn't like the deaths, mainly because they just seemed so rushed, but in listening, I didn't feel they were here and gone. Poor Fred! I hate to think of the twins being separated :-(

Here's an interesting excerpt from JK Rowling's interview on the Today Show:

"... J.K. Rowling [said] she “probably will” publish a Potter encyclopedia, promising many more details about her beloved characters and the fate of the wizarding world beyond the few clues provided in the seventh book’s epilogue.

Hogwarts, for example, has a new headmaster (“McGonagall was really getting on a bit”), and Rowling said she can see Harry going back to give the “odd talk” on Defense Against the Dark Arts. That class, by the way, is now led by a permanent professor, since Voldemort’s death broke the jinx that didn’t allow a teacher to remain in the position for more than a year."

I think I mentioned it to you before but I found it interesting that all the significant adult males in Harry's life died - his father, Dumbledore, Sirius, even Snape. I don't count Hagrid and Mr Weasley because I don't think they had much influence in shaping Harry's character. They weren't "father-figures" as such, whereas the others were - though I don't think Harry would agree that Snape was, but he was in the end.

I don't think I mean 'father-figures'. I think I mean that those men all posed Harry significant personal challenges that he had to overcome in order to build character. And they all died.
Or something.

What a great narrative of your thoughts on this. I loved this book most of all. Yes, you were right about Snape. Good. I would hate for the rest of us to have been correct! ;~)
It would be great if she did publish an encyclopedia on all of the characters

I can't wait for the encyclopedia! I had a feeling that Snape was in love with Lily, but I had no idea that it was practically all his life!
Didn't you cry cry cry when Dobby died? That was the hardest for me to take. And in "The Prince's Tale" when Harry found out he had to die?? That was unbelievable!!

Yes, yes, and yes! I agree with everything you said. Overall, I loved this book and my only quibbles were extremely minor ones.

Here's a bit of weirdness I have to share. I have a friend who has a half-dozen cats and three of them are from the same litter and she named them Fred, George, and Ginny. Just a couple of weeks before the book came out, Fred escaped the house, ran into the road, and was killed. That now feels weirdly prophetic!

Check out this review, it includes some info about Luna (also one of my new favs).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/
and
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript

There's just so much! I wonder how much of the subtleties and complexities of this book that many of the kids who read the series picked up on. Then again, kids are more perceptive than we give them credit for. I know my son was somewhere around the first grade when we started reading the series. I don't see a first grader getting the plot in the later books. Not saying that is bad, not in the least. She's got such a gift for crafting a story. I love the way she weaves a tale!

i loved this whole series but this last book the best.

when i was younger as i was reading a book it would really come alive for me and that feeling had gone away some time ago. until that is, i started reading this series.

i was so happy with the last chapter of the book, it almost made up for the way i sobbed when dobby died.

michele sent me by today. :)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I admit I was wrong about Snape. I'd thought if he wasn't Voldemort's man, he at least wasn't Dumbledore's either. I was wrong and I should have known it right when Neville and Ginny and Luna were "punished" with a detention with Hagrid, of all people. Yep. Nasty punishment that-sending them off with a man to whom Snape KNEW would sympathetic to them. So you were right. I was wrong. I admit it. :)

My son wants a series about Albus Severus! He wants to know what happens to him at his first year at Hogwarts!

He expects great things from him...

I pretty much agree with all that, Janet. And being in a loving-someone-you-can't-
have-but-can't-stop-loving-them situation,
I totally feel for Snape.

I know Snape was innocent, too, but I'm thrilled with how it all came down & was so sad for him, loving Lily for so long and having to act like he hated everything about her & Harry. I bawled my eyes out when Dobby died, cried when Snape died, and my fave chapters were the same as yours :)

Hi Janet, and no wonder you are fond of Snape! ;)

I just finished my re-read of this yesterday, cuz the first time I read it, I was more into plot development. Now, I went back to get the details and understand more of the nuances. ;)

I think Dean and Luna get together. That's my take anyway.

And you're going to get mad at me lol but Snape wasn't exactly "innocent". What a complex character!

I enjoyed your review - it was a great book. And I'm glad to see Snape's name was cleared.

Also, the story you wrote last week for my TT13 is in the top 10 - come by and vote for your favorite!

Sorry, I still don't like Snape. Too much of a weasel for my taste.

Good morning! I absolutely loved Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Brilliant book!

Michele sent me!

Have not read the last book but wanted to stop and say Hello! so I skipped to the bottom and did not read your post.

Didn't know you loved all things scary! As for me, HATE scary movies or books. Never understood how someone would pay someone else to scare them! I figure you can get that free in life!! oh, well, just thought I'd stop. have you on my blogroll with bloglines.

I canNOT wait for the Encyclopedia to come out! That would be incredible! I'm the person who lies awake in bed at night wondering what happened after the last page turned, so that would be a dream come true.

That is so great that she is gonna make the encyclopedia!!!

I'd love to hear about the characters that were cut.

I like too, how Creature turned out to be! He is so Funny!