First, a few spoiler free sentences:

I was worried that Rowling had sorta changed track at the last minute introducing the horcruxes in the Half-Blood Prince, but she did a good job making it seem like she had planned it from the beginning (and if it turns out she DID plan it from the beginning, then my hats off to you Mrs. Rowling!) a bunch of references to other books, and a nice little epilogue at the very end, wrapping things up nicely, but leaving plenty of room for further adventures.

She and her publisher also deserve applause for creativity with the dust jacket description; instead of describing the plot of the book, they preserve suspense for every step by having it read: “We now present the seventh and final installment in the epic tale of Harry Potter.” *claps*

Now be warned that the following section contains spoilers, so those of you hoping to just get tiny little itsy-bitsy spoilers (shame on you! *shakes finger* ), will be disappointed, as i have inserted in random places in the following paragraph sentences stating ‘(character name) dies on page (page number)’. Enjoy!

I both was annoyed and satisfied at the revealing of some of Dumbledore’s background. Near the start of the book, I was thinking that all these people were drawing false conclusions and coming up with reasons to tarnish Dumbledore’s good name after his death (though I wasn’t too surprised at Rita Skeeter writing a story that twisted and distorted all the facts), but near the end once we hear the story from Dumbledore himself, it seems to make him more human, and less an infallible good guy who can do no wrong. Mad-Eye dies on page 78. She also gets points for making Dudley a repentant villain, and for showing that Petunia was really just jealous of Lily all those years. Fred dies on page 637. Additional points for bringing back Percy, and for getting Kreacher to end up being nice to people. Dobby dies on page 475. And what a major turnaround for Neville! Applause for that as well! 100 points to Gryffindor! (Although personally I would have wanted to be in Ravenclaw)

Overall a wonderful book, a better read than the first several (although book 5 came close in my opinion), tying up loose ends nicely, while still leaving 19 years worth of adventures for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and possibly even Ginny, to enjoy.

Zettageek

Edit: okay this is kinda cool: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/9359/

“yeh’ve got ter STROKE em!”