missing dust jacket

book of the week: harry potter and the deathly hallows *spoilerama*

Okay, so now I've had a couple of days to cool off and catch my breath, I think it's fair to say this is the best book of the bunch despite having some major flaws. There's not enough Hagrid, too much monging around in the tent and the epilogue makes me want to gag. And deep down, as much as I'm fond of the speccy one, I think it would have worked so much better if Harry had actually died.

However, the battle of Hogwarts is a stupendous piece of action writing; Dobby's death made me weepy; the Dursley's departing is both funny and touching; the dialogue between the big three in Chapter 6 is a near perfect example of characterisation, plotting and grounding using conversation; and the scenes in Godric's Hollow, Bathilda's cottage and the forest (both with the stag and the stone) are by turns creepy and evocative, moving and heart-stopping. And Mrs Weasley calls Bellatrix Lestrange a bitch. Brilliant.

So, because I love a good snigger, here's my favourite extract from the book. It's Harry's 17th birthday, and Ron has bought him a book.

"This isn't your average book," said Ron. "It's pure gold: Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. Explains everything you need to know about girls. If only I'd had this last year I'd have known exactly how to get rid of Lavender and I would've known how to get going with...well, Fred and George gave me a copy, and I've learned a lot. You'd be surprised, it's not all about wandwork, either."

Wandwork? Now, come clean, Jo - don't tell me that's not deliberate.

Labels: harry potter, wandwork

posted by raspberry beret @ 7:29:00 PM