Ok, I’ve spent the last 12 waking hours or so reading the last of the series.
I enjoyed the book. JKR has a certain style in the book that is both good and bad. Obviously, the bulk of it is good otherwise those of us who are fans wouldn’t have become fans and kept reading the series.
She has got character development nailed. And more than that, she seems to have got growth in characters nailed to as they age/mature. It may or may not be accurate to any particular individual or group of individuals but it moves along and is very credible and draws you into the character. Your really felt when you were first introduced to the characters how young they were and at the end, you really felt how much they have grown and matured.
She also had a real nice story line that flowed well. I wouldn’t call it formulaic or anything but she did have a nice way to give a quick bit at the beginning and then ease into the rest of the story till the climactic end usually followed with some sort of epilogue that rapped it up and set it up for next time.
My biggest issue (maybe my only real issue) is that she would often leave character’s personalities/traits/development aside and have them do something entirely out of character. Yes, I would understand this if they were being impersonated or were under spell but she would have them do it as a normal part of the story. It didn’t happen often but was annoying when it happened because it seemed to happen to many of the characters in the story. I guess I could see one character being “random”. I think we all have met someone who doesn’t make sense but most people make sense in their own make up and while, I would never say people are predictable, they are understandable.
I guess it’s a minor nit because I’m a big fan and really enjoyed this book and all the others. I’m sorry to see it all wrapped up.
One last comment. There was one specific comment about this book. I loved this book but was disappointed with the epilogue as it seemed inappropriate for the book and to be truthful, not very well done – maybe rushed! With that, it didn’t damper my enjoyment.
I would put more information about the book in here but Kathy reads these and she hasn’t started, much less finished the book yet.