Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows SPOILERS

If the blog title and the post title are not enough- THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS.

In no particular order-

I loved the telling of Snape. The journey through his relationship with Lily, and their friendship and it's end were one of the saddest parts for me. I thought Rowling did a great job on making him in either camp, and loved that Voldemort believed in him for so long.

I LOVED the kiss between Ron and Hermione. FINALLY. I can't wait to see the movie version of this one.

I am so glad that no one died, but if Harry had died in the Forest I would have been equally happy. The best part of the book for me was his walk to the forest, the turning of the stone, and his bravery in going to his death. Finally Harry GOT IT, and was willing to go. I was heartbroken at Dumbledore's betrayal, until it was explained at King's Cross. I believe that Harry was not talking to Dumbledore, btw, but working those details out in his head. That was stuff he KNEW and needed to figure out. I like that Dunbledore wasn't perfect in the end, that he had flaws too.

During Harry's long walk to the forest, I was crying, and the Monkey, who is two, came to check on me. "Mommy, what's wrong?" "I'm sad, Monkey." "Mommy sad. Mommy crying?" "yes, Mommy's crying." "Mommy hurt? I KISS YOU. Mommy all better!" It was the sweetest thing ever.

I want to know how George went on.

I hate that Lupin and Tonks died, but it does neatly mirror Harry's experience. A little obvious, but I still liked it. I love that we know that Teddy got to grow up with other wizards and with love, unlike Harry.

I wonder what happen to the Dursleys, and to Hermione's parents.

I LOVED the image of McGonagall herding a flock of chairs.

I liked the resolution with the Malfoys, and found it interesting that Crabbe ended up the most evil. I think Draco intentionally did not identify Harry at the house, and that was very brave.

When all the other kids- Fred and George, Cho, Katie, PERCY! came out of the tunnel I about cried. That was a great great scene.

I think I need to go back and read everything from the forest walk on again. Just to read it slow and experience it again.

My non-spoiler review is here.

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Lisa's Deathly Hallows predictions

Dumbledore is really dead.
Hermione and Ron FINALLY hook up, thank god.
Harry, Ron and Hermione all live.
Snape is good.
Snape dies.
Neville dies, in a blaze of glory.
Harry kills Voldemort.
Harry is not a Horcrux, nor is his scar.
Harry gets over his Peter Parker complex and gets back together with Ginny. Ginny rocks. In addition to this, Harry finally gets what D was telling him all along, that he has love and that people WANT TO HELP and doesn't try to do it all alone.
I am undecided about Hogwarts and if Harry goes back.
No idea on RAB, but it seems odd to be Sirius' brother.

I think it's going to be very very dark. There are so few members of the Order and they aren't going to have it together without Dumbledore.

What do you think?

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A Thousand Splendid Suns Spoilers

I cried a lot, but the two worst were when they took Aziza to the orphanage and when Mariam was killed. I sobbed at the first. The idea of taking my child to an orphanage because I could no longer feed them just breaks my heart. (also, when Tariq first left, at the train station, several of the beatings, when Laila left Mariam.)

Then, when she wanted to go back to Kabul! I could understand why, but at the same time WHY?? Get out, how do you know it'll remain safe?

I also wanted her to have some trinket of Mariam's to keep, but there was nothing and it made me sad.

Last, Laila and Mariam are both on my short list of girl names, should we ever have another kid (and it be a girl). Cool that they are both in the same book here.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie spoilers

The stuff they left out:
Fred and George's joke stuff- no big swamp, the fireworks were there but not as long lasting. The ghosts didn't get into the bad behavior after Dumbledore left, and the teachers were as openly anti-Umbridge. I really wanted to see the conversations with McGonagal and Umbridge, but there was only one. Dobby wasn't in it. The whole prefect storyline was gone. The jinxed sign-up sheet for the DA wasn't mentioned and it wasn't Cho's friend who ratted- so no boils. No floating brains at the end. Quidditch is completely gone.

What they got right:
Luna was perfectly cast. Ron was much much less annoying. Umbridge was very well cast. They kept all the information that was vital to the continuing story, and in only 2.5 hours. The DA meetings were well done, but I thought the Room of Requirement could have been better.

What I would have changed:
More Snape. More McGonagal. More Fred & George.

What they changed:
The whole fight scene at the end. The statues did not come to life, which I was looking forward to. They added a longish bit with Harry and Voldemort at the end, after the fight, that pretty much summed up everything in the books and movie to this point. Lots of flashbacks. It pointed the audience at a conclusion that you might not have gotten from the movie, but that you do get from the book. Several times in the book it is pointed out that Harry does not have to do this alone, and this last scene reiterates that for us. It was NOT in the book, but I didn't think it hurt the movie. The movie did condense a lot of it down in interest of time, and I thought this was a good way to sum it up.

They don't go to St. Mungo's to see Mr. Weasley, and therefore don't see Neville's parents. His parents are mentioned very very briefly, only to Harry, later. He is not mentioned at all regarding the prophecy.

Lots of information is conveyed with headlines in the Daily Prophet instead of being a whole scene.

Hagrid and the giants is very very condensed, and the scene with the centaurs is not explained.


There were a lot of people who didn't get much screen time, this includes pretty much everyone except Harry, Hermoine, and Ron. There was clearly a lot of book to get into the movie, and it was long enough as it was. I thought they kept what had to be kept, but wish some stuff could have been saved.

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Spoilers for The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch

I found the "problem" to be entirely believable in this. Lucy is feeling very very guilty because her first marriage was not picture perfect. She wasn't in love with her spouse, and there was no passion. She wasn't overly upset when he died, and is overwhelmed by guilt by that. She is mourning what she didn't have more than she is mourning her dead husband. It was very well written.

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SPOILERS for The Giver

Full Review can be found HERE.

First, how unbearably sad was the Giver? (the person, not the book itself?) His pain is so great.

Second, the image in the final pages Will. Not. Leave. Me. It's so ambigous, and intentionally so. I am sure that all the middle-schoolers reading it read the happy interpretation, but I can't help but read the sad one. It made me so upset that I couldn't read anything else. I had to leave my house. I want so bad to just go snatch up my little monkey. Please, if you have read this, please comment and tell me how you interpret it?

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Spoilers for What My Mother Does't Know

Link to full review on Books. Lists. Life.

from page 106:

I Don't Know How To Tell Dylan

I used
to think I was
in love with him.

But that
must have been
a different him.
Or maybe a different me.

Because
when I look at him now
I see a friend,
not a boyfriend.

And when he kisses me,
all I feel is,
the overwhelming
overness of it.

from page 158

When I'm Not Ogling Forearms

I'm making my way
through the halls at school,
searching every boy's face
for my masked man's eyes,

but it's harder than finding Waldo
because the truth is
I can't even remember
what color they were.

I guess it wasn't how they looked
that got to me.
It was how it felt
when they connected to mine-

like this door
was opening up inside of me
that had never been opened before,
and his soul was walking right in.

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