Ricky Routes and The Deathly Bowels

In order to force myself to write this as promised and not dawdle like a Peruvian boar, I am writing this on the loo, where I am certain J.K. Rowling wrote most of books 3 and 5. Because really, it's like a breeding ground for ideas.

But anyway... to the book! In this first of seven installments of my extensive Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows review, I will dissect the main plot points as well as deconstruct Harry's Horcrux Quest (say that 10 times fast).

I'm only kidding. As I respect the secrecy of the ending and the importance of non-spoilage, I will remain as vague as possible when reviewing this book.

I massively enjoyed it; almost loved, but definitely more than *really* liked. I had some issues with the pacing and one glaringly laughable "whatever" moment that did not have to be included, but I was glued to the book. The story had so many big moments and was thrilling and informational.

It's so hard to list what bugged me about the book and still appear to be greatly positive, but I guess I have to take the risk. So much of the book was wasted and really dragged while Harry and friends tried to figure out what to do next. They really just sat there and bickered, and it was frustrating. Also there were huge, ginormous blocks of exposition that went on and on and they weren't the easiest to understand. So you were required to think, but thankfully, to an extent, these explanations were satisfying. Yet following these slowdowns, Rowling picked the story right back up with an exciting scene.

And truly, this book will make one helluva movie. I just worry about when it comes time to explain blankety blank blank. Hopefully they'll be able to tell most of the story visually and not just talk for 2 hours. I was really depressed when blank died; but not as much as when blank died. But I loved that Snape was blank.

The bottom line: J.K. Rowling had the most impossible task of drawing the Harry Potter story to a close. There were so many loose ends and questions that I'm surprised she actually had the Punky Power to sit down and tackle it all. And she does tackle it all, unless I'm missing something. That's what's most impressive about this book. Questions are amazingly answered and things come to a very satisfying conclusion. I have to give her major credit just for that because, well, I'm reminded of A Series of Unfortunate Events that answered barely anything. Sure, if you return to my review of that book, I did enjoy it and liked where the characters ended up in the end, but WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT SUGAR BOWL??? REALLY! CHASING IT FOR 7 BOOKS AND NOTHING??? ARE YOU SIRIUS???


All is well,

Ricky