So last night I finished The Deathly Hallows. I know what you are thinking (scary isn't it?)...JUST NOW!? YOU finished it JUST NOW!? I know! I probably am the only person in the world who hadn't finished it yet! Something strange about the fact that probably last night I was the only Fan on earth reading Harry Potter 7 for the first time! (Well...the only fan who actually HAD the book in their posession anyway, I don't know about the people who couldn't afford it :(
 So this is what I think about the book...I think that it was pretty good...at the end anyway. I thought from the beginning that there was something missing in the way that JK wrote the book...something was off. And I don't know what it was. I think it was kind of like there was so very much she wanted to convey about everything and it ended up getting lost because it was too big for the picture. Because sometimes it seemed like something would be happening and it would be like "Hermione, Ron and Harry thought of a plan they were going to work out...and then the weeks passed...." and you are kind of like 'AGAIN!? THE WEEKS PASSED!? THe book is going to be over by the time they actually figure out any of this stuff." And while I know that in real life plans would probably take as long as weeks, it just still seemed strange that she was doing that in the book.
 And I felt like something was even missing between the characters and in the way they spoke to each other. But then again maybe that was just JK showing us how messed up everything was and how it was really affecting everyone. That could be it. But all that to say, that I really did like it...up until the end.
 See it wasn't that it wasn't good, the ending was really well written and chock full of (nuts?) tremendous action scenes. But the thing was...people I loved died. And it was awful. I felt like I was there...and seeing people dying. And Fred died! He's the comic relief! And it was heartbreaking how Percy had finally come to his senses and renounced the Ministry and then his brother dies? But at least they made up before he died I suppose...but still!
 And then she REALLY went and did it! My family will tell you that from the beginning I have been saying "If She kills Lupin I will die...." because Sirius and Lupin were always my favorite characters (I didn't think that David Thewlis was a good choice for Lupin in the movies...I thought that was rather a bad choice...and no offense meant to David) and then she killed Sirius in Book 5...and I was like "Well...at least I still have Lupin."  Which means that if this were a movie it would have flashed forward to last night suddenly when I am sitting on the couch litterally holding back the sobs that are threatening to take over my entire existence! I was trying so hard to control my crying because my brother was in the next room and if I had all of the sudden at 1:30 in the morning started sobbing uncontrollably...I think he perhaps might have thought that was a bit strange and then if he had come out I would have had to explain the whole reason as to why I was crying and then it would have ruined the moment that I was loathe to be in.
 Lupin and Tonks are DEAD!? They just had a baby! Baby Teddy! What's baby teddy going to do without them? It was so....awful! And the way she wrote it...how you found out with Harry...it wasn't like you had seen them die or anything...you just walked into the great hall and saw them lying dead side by side amongst the rest of the bodies! OH MY WORD! SO DEPRESSING!
 And then the whole thing with SNAPE! Talk about SADNESS! (By the way...no lie...I was one of the Snape Supporters from the beginning...never falling into the JK set traps of 'Is he BAD this time!?" when all my other fan friends were falling into that trap every single book. There was always something about Snape. I don't know if it was just the fact that Dumbledore trusted him so, that made me trust him too. And even though I must admit when he killed Dumbledore I had a shadow of a doubt that he could still possibly be good...the shadow was only short lived. The way Dumbledore pleaded with Snape, which we were supposed to believe was a plea for Snape to let him live, told me everything...it was a plan. Although I was one of the many who thought and hoped and dreamed that perhaps it was one of the plans that included Dumbledore suddenly and improbably coming back to life again...no such luck! ARGH! Although reading about Dumbledore's sad history in Hallows leads me to believe he might be better off dead...) Knowing that Snape was so in love with Lily was just....heartwrenching! And if only he hadn't hung out with those people and done all those things they could have ended up together! But then...I suppose there wouldn't have been a Harry Potter and Voldemort would have reigned eternal. But still...it was so sad to see how close Snape really was to Lily and how much he had loved her even through the years (I am going to sing that Kenny Rogers song now...).
 And then the ending...seeing Harry and Ginny married, and Ron and Hermione married...and watching their children go off to Hogwarts...a New Beginning for new Potters.....totally and utterly heartwarming and rewarding, after all the time we've shared with Harry and all the emotions and trials and dangers we've been through, seeing him grown up was one of the best rewards I could ever ask for. 
 Although I confess I cried at the end to be leaving them all behind. Because...even though we know we can revisit our friends in books anytime we wish...we also realize deep down inside that after the first time...it's never quite the same. I will miss them all. And I am so happy that Harry lived and had children of his own and found happiness.
 I hope that she never writes any other books about anything to do with those characters. Because it ended so happily...I don't want anything or anyone to change it. Harry earned his peace and quiet, I think he should remain undisturbed...and let's face it...if JK wrote another book about him it wouldn't be about his 'Peaceful Uneventful Married Life and Retirement" :) 
 All is Well with Harry and I hope it stays that way.