Do you feel like this book left a lot to be desired? Like in 99% of the cases, Hermione is always right, yet she wouldn't even listen to Harry when he was going on about how Draco was up to no good. That is so off form for her. And the book barely touches on the things the kids are learning in school, which as far as I'm concerned, is pretty darn important if Harry has to take what he's learned thusfar and beat Voldemort. And if Occlumency is so important, why didn't Dumbledore teach it to Harry when he had the chance. Now NO ONE is available to do it. And I'm sorry, but I don't buy how well Harry "got over" Sirius' death. One minute he's on a hunger strike and the next minute he's okay? Yeah, right. Going back through the book, I feel like it was over-edited in order to bow to the pressure of publishers to put out a shorter book. How can she follow up the intense detail of OoP with a shorter book? And like Jenn was saying...how long IS book 7 going to be in order to answer all of the questions raised in books 4 and 5 that went unanswered in book 6?

Don't get me wrong. I liked the book. But I definitely felt it lacked in her typical detail. My sister says maybe she was just tired from having to get up at night with a new baby. LOL! Still...book 7 had better deliver! LOL! :laugh:

Christine, I thought the same thing. In the last 2 books she went into detail about so many trival things helping to tie the story together but also kept us guessing. In this book I felt as though so many of the trivial pieces needed better explanation. For example, where is Draco now, how did Dumbledore know about his future????

I really think you are right about the publishers. So many people complained about the length of the last 2 books.

Sue

I really liked Book 6. That said, I felt as though she'd probably left out a lot of details (things like Snape teaching DADA to the students, and other things that Harry and friends would have learned in class during the year) in order to fit in all the relationship stuff.

I didn't get the feeling that Harry and the others learned much, if anything, in DADA this year. And I'd been expecting them to, given that it was taught by Snape. He would've been the first DADA teacher they'd had who really KNEW the dark arts.

I was also disappointed we didn't see more of Neville. He developed so much in Book 5, but it was almost as though he was an afterthought in Book 6.

I agree. It was like the surface of almost everything was touched upon (even Hagrid and his creatures) but nothing was explored in depth.

I felt it was a much "shallower" book, too. It really wasn't grabbing until page 500. I read the last one in a day - could not put it down - but had no problem putting this one down and reading over the course of a week. Even the battle scene didn't have half the detail to really create the anxiety of what was happening.

Mary

I really liked the book but God knows that I was pretty desperate for another Harry Potter book so I'm not sure I'm a great judge. I do think that they touched too lightly on his schooling. In the past, the things he's learned at school, like how to create a Patronus or how to fight off the Imperius curse have benefitted him in his fight against Voldemort.

I liked the trivial detail in the past books. I've now gone back and reread sections that have a whole new meaning. I wish there was more of that in this book. I also felt they dealt too lightly with Harry's involvement with Ginny. Maybe they'll go into it deeper in book 7 but it was so untouched when you consider how teenagers are.

I did read in an article somewhere that the editors did cut a lot from the book that was detailish. I guess some didn't like how long the last one was. This one definitely focused more on the relationships than on the "schooling", which is off from the first 5 books.

Book 7 definitely has a lot to answer and I really do hope it is a long one! LOL!

They should come out with an author's cut book... D**n those editors!!! :D

Amy

Where the heck was Neville? Barely a mention in the whole book. I wanted to hear more about Fred and George's shop. I wanted Harry to go to Grimauld Place. I thought Dumbledore, Draco and Tonks were inferi because they all were described with words like pale and sickly.
Did you not cringe at the part in the beginning where Harry is spying on Draco on the Hogwarts Express and he crushes Harry's face with his foot. That type of guy wouldn't back away from casting a spell to kill Dumbledore. The only chapter I really liked in this book was "The Cave". But even with that, did D really have to sacrifice himself and get that Horcrux right then. Couldn't he have marked it down and gone back after he had taught/told Harry more. :rolleyes:
Didn't Slughorn seem a really pointless character? If D is clever enought to figure out where the he!! V hid the cave horcrux, then I'm sure he could figure out the significance of "7".
I was also getting tired of all the 'snogging' going on.

They should come out with an author's cut book... D**n those editors!!! :D

Amy


Ewwwwww I like this idea, hmmm maybe we should send some emails with this idea and see what could come of it LOL

I believe the term "encylopedia brittanica" has been used often to describe how long the last book will be. ;)
Check out her site....

I am so glad others feel this way. I was so disapointed in this book. It was a great read but did not feel like a stand alone the way the others did. I want to know why Harry did not do silent magic (this was the biggest school news this year) when attacking Snape. And why did NO ONE believe Harry about Malfoy after last year. It was like a rehash of no one believing that Voldemort is back. Seems like Harry would have gained a great deal of credibility. And of course Hermione should have been more supportive. I also thought the long Prime Minister intro just dangled. It never circled back.

Oh no! Two whole years to wait for answers.

I believe the term "encylopedia brittanica" has been used often to describe how long the last book will be. ;)
Check out her site....

:clap:

(I personally wouldn't mind if she came out with a five-volume final book. LOL!)

I have to say that this one is probably my favorite book of the series. I thought all the back story of Voldemort was incredible, and the whole notion of the Horcrux is so intruiging.

Although Order was good, it dragged. Not one of my favs.

Amy

I would have liked to read more about Neville and his parents. I thought maybe Neville's mother was trying to communicate something with her son in OoP (remember the little slips of paper she pressed into his hand?) I thought this book would tell us about that.

I wish it would have explained why D had such blind faith in Snape.

All in all I did enjoy reading this book and look forward to book 7!

I agree.....lots of commotion but no real depth.