Oh dear...

[skull_bearer]

Have finished HP 6. Am going to drown self in river.

 

Okay, so maybe it's not that bad (plus, there's no river nearby), but gods, my the end of it I was feeling totally cheated. Let's face it, I wasn't expecting anything stellar, JKR's trying to mold a kids story to fit an adult story line and it is not working.

Still I would never have thought things had gotten this bad.

First, my pet hate, romance. Okay, the Ron/Hermione thing has been shoved in our faces so often it's almost a relief when they stop beating around the bush and get together, but Harry/Ginny? When the hell did that happen? I mean, surely in the last book there could have been a little slip like "Harry spotted Ginny and wondered when she had gotten so tall/pretty/curvy/etc." Instead, all of a sudden he falls in love with her and the reader is just .... Right... Who was Cho again?

And Remus/TONKS??? What the hell? Since when? I can allow no foreshadowing of the teenage romance, hey, they're kids. But come on. For the last book and the half of this one neither Remus or Tonks showed any interest in each other and the only idea I have is that the romance is there for the same reason the Batman romance was there, to prove that the guy wasn't gay.

I'm expecting howls of anguish from the Puppyshippers out there. As a closet fan of Sirius/Remus, my heart goes with you.

Other picks.

The cuts, or lack of. This book dragged on longer than the wait at a London rail station. On the weekend. Come on, they could have cut so much out of there. I'm sure JKR wants to get as much of her great world in as possible, but come on. It's as long as the last one and even more dull. There were great chapters, the first two bombed and Aragog's funeral was great JKR, but the rest... Dear Ms Rowling, you need some new editors.

Precitability, I knew Dumbledore was going to die. Mentors always die. Zaknafein, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you name it. The only one I know that didn't die was from the Matrix.

And the biggest, most hauting disappointment that almost moved me to tears:

Snape. WTF??? She goes around for the last five books trying to prove that Snape's a good guy and adding some depth to the books in having an anti-hero, then BOOM! Oops, Dumbly was wrong Snape is a major bad guy and probably shagging Voldemort into the bargain. I really hope this is a trick to be explained in the next book because if not I will be MAJORLY PISSED OFF.

Oh yeah, and the whole Half-blood Prince thing. That was unpleasently reminicent of 'Signs'. A huge long build-up that falls flat on it's face. As above, I hope this will be explained in the next book.

The complete lack of any kind of Voldemort sympathy. It's almost as though he was born bad. Come on! Not even Raistlin Majere was born evil! Give the guy some consideration or at least a really angsty background.

One good point, Draco Malfoy has been halfway redeemed, but I will never forgive JKR for screwing up that wonderful chance of showing Slytherin depth through Blaise Zabini. Nope, never mind the chance to show a Slytherin as a decent human being, he must be evil, like the rest of his house.

I feel like I'm reading an unholy mixture of the first HP book and 'A song of Ice and Fire' (a book series my friend Olga has leant me that is fiendishly complicated and very well written).

I found it very hard to read, it swung from an adult style to that of a child so fast I got dizzy.

Harry's total lack of grief over Sirius's death.

Harry's return to 'zero-emotion Harry' after the OotP 'Cap-locks'.

Fleur. Ugh. I renamed that Chapter 'Attack of the 'Sues', her and Tonks in the same scene? That's.... unholy...

The few things I liked:

Luna commentating at the Quidditch match. Hilarious.

The new potions teacher (Snape finally got the DADA job), although naturally he's not so nice because he was, of course a Slytherin. *sigh*

Malfoy finally getting the one up, some limelight and, eventually, a bit of a conscience.

Ambiguous feelings about the whole Horcruxes thing. With a bit of luck (and I'd really need a dose of Felix Felicis for that) it could be hammered out into a pretty decent story for the next book, on the other hand... Hey, binding your soul into inanimate objects? Been there, done that, got the pensieve...

The lack of Grawp. Thank the Darkstars...

I'm really beginning to dislike the lack of forshadowing. The undead? Not mentioned until this book because Oops! That's when they appear! The werewolves? Same.

I'm now only reading it to keep up with the fanfiction, but after this I think even the great Sushi herself will be in tears upon seeing the kind of material she'll have to work with. Bye-bye Snarry fics... Just when I was starting to like them...

Maybe I should do as I once did with Dragonlance and work out the canon from the fanfics. I know I will not be re-reading HBP for a long time.

Still, the midnight wait was fun. Met loads of people and got dragged in to do four interviews. I'll be watching 'This Morning on ITV1 on Monday to see me and Olga. Got an inteview with Muggle.net too, but I don't think the'll publish the confessions of a Death Eater lover and Harry/Voldemort slasher...

All in all. A pile of garbage. Stick to the fanfiction.

 

Skull Bearer.

Comments

[miiro.livejournal.com]

Probably going to get slain for this but:

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I don't like Harry Potter enough to really bother with it. I haven't even read past the first book and it was stil a "Meh, has nothing on Dragonlance or MJ Spickett's work."

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the first book is kinda lame. If I hadn't read the second book first, I probably would never have bothered either. But the third book is like my favorite book ever. ^__^

[(Anonymous)]

Another puppyshipper in mourning. (down-right-mystical from FA just so you know). But we'll find a way to work through it, it's plausible in many ways. My only comment on Remus/Tonks (other than it being my fave Remus ship after Wolfstar) is that it's not really all that surprising that Harry didn't notice it, he's Harry after all, but you're right, a few little hints would've been nice.

And Snape. . . Well, there are dozens of threads and theories out there on FA and elsewhere already. If you know PhoenixSong's LJ, check out her reasoning, it's the best I've seen.

As for Harry and Ginny. Well, he's a teenage boy. He wasn't going to be hung up on Cho forever. What I figure is that what seemed to happen really fast actually happened over a period of several months, which really is completely normal for a couple of teenagers.

But that's just what I figure.

Is it ok if I friend you?

[rumil-minyatur.livejournal.com]

And that was supposed to be signed in. . . this is my actual name, just so you know!

[skull-bearer.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware that you needed my permission! But then, I'm new to this Livejournal lark.

Sure you can friend me, but I still maintain that HBP was the worse HP book I have ever read.


Skull Bearer.

[kurtiston.livejournal.com]

i disagree. i enjoyed HBP very much.

lol but it's okay to disagree, so there's really no point in me posting this comment.

*shrugs* happy reading!

[rumil-minyatur.livejournal.com]

I just thought it polite to check, lol.

Ah well, we can agree to disagree!

HBP - from candledot

[(Anonymous)]

WTF is right.

There was so much promise with this concept - I had wagered, early early in the book, that is was indeed, my beloved Severus. This whole book was so steriotypical!!!!!!!!

ANd honestly, i was howlling with rage (and greif) when it was Sev who murdered Dumbledore. the death of any chance of true redemption in Severus was a crushing blow.

Who would have guessed, three 11 year olds were so much smarter than the entire staff of the school to know 5 years before he actually came out and did it that Snape really was " all bad". (and Draco, too!) Wow, so realistic!
What are we teaching the kids by letting them know that they SHOULD judge a book by it's cover? The whole storyline feels contrived and cliche.
Zombies? Wow - orginal. Actually, Lame and, once again, steriotypical (i think we were also not surprised to see the introduction of vampires in this book either - yawn.)

There are so many LOTR references in this book i lost count - the magic doorway in the cave? The "I must go it alone" concept of Harrys... The whole " purity of heart" crap - and then, in true Hobbit fashion, Rona nd Hermione telling Harry " We choo-choo-choose to go with you, you can't leave us behind." Harry needs to put on his invisibility cloak and see if Samwise (erm, sorry, Ron) follows him or not.
Oh yeah - and what's with PROSAIC!Dumbledore -

After watching his Godfather die, and being partly responsible for it, why doesn't Harry display any of the signs of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome? ???????? ??????

So all in all, i will return to the safety of Fanfic, where i can choose my ship, my angst level, and my endings. Maybe i will stopp so low as to just write and read my own, where i am guaranteed the ending i desire.
So, i agree with you completely. And who even cares about Tonks/Remus?

[kashii-icons.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I agree with most of what you're saying. Ginny/Harry confused the hell out of me, to be honest. I read it in some fanfics ages ago and thought "yeah right, like that pairing will ever happen" so often that when I read HBP, it refused to sink in. Same with Tonks/Remus; total shock there, what with there being NO HINT OF IT AT ALL in any of the previous books.

Fanfiction being what it is, I'll just stick with the ones I know and love, and hopefully the next book won't suck so much.

[-frozenmoondust.livejournal.com]

Hey! I found this through hbp_wtf and I totally agree with everything you have to say, personally I am a H/Hr shipper, but that in my mind is trivial. Cos it was what you have written about that angered me!

This book was so damn cliche it made me sick!

And it in my mind was poorly written!

*hugs*

Thanks for sharing! ^_^

Love Millie

[-frozenmoondust.livejournal.com]

oh! and yes, I'm a closet puppyshipper too! XD

*hugs*

friends?

[ashabasha.livejournal.com]

Here via hbp_wtf

I agree with a lot of this. Over time I have come to terms with this book. The thing that saddens me the most is that I used to be so. freakin'. active. in the HP fandom and lately I've been considering defriending the few groups I have left. But then again, I'm a H/Hr shipper (not that I held out much hope in canon, epilogue maybe, but not canon. I knew R/Hr had to happen first) And the H/G and the monster in his chest just makes me heave.

I hate that she ruined fandom for me...fuck up your owns books. *sigh*

I think i might give the books one more try. I mean, I still love the world and the characters she created. Can't I just read 1-5 and then let fanfic take over? ;)

[kawaiihoshi.livejournal.com]

Yep, here through hbp_wtf...

And, yes, I agree 100% with everything you said. I've always been an H/Hr shipper, but I knew it was going to be OBHWF. I might have been able to live with it too, if it was written convincingly. But it wasn't, so I'm not. :-p I mean, come on, a monster in his chest? And Ron had to become mature for Hermione by snogging Lavender for most the book? Sorry, won't be buying that. And yes, it would have been nice for some hints SOMEWHERE in the book for future H/G and R/T. Psh, the book sucked.

Snape, yes, better redeem himself or the entire series is just one big cliche.

[victoria-tonks.livejournal.com]

Here via hbp_wtf. A very interesting post and I agree on many points. I didn't dislike HBP to that extent - there were things there I like and even some I loved but yeah, that's definitely the worst book of the series.

Here's where I agree with you:

Snape. Hell, YES. Making him a bad guy would mean totally killing what she achieved in the first 5 books. Given she's even aware of what she achieved. /sarcasm

Voldemort as born bad. This is what's been really bothering ever since. Esp. as this is completely inconsistent with DD's statement that 'it's our choices that make us good or bad' (or something along these lines; I don't have the books handy at the moment). Looks like Voldemort had no choice and it's a major plot failing.

Virtually no transition from the OotP!Harry to the HBP!Harry. 'I thought Sirius would have wanted me to get a grip'. PLEASE.

And yeah, we're still to see at least one decent Slytherin student. It's even not credible, the way she's been writing this House.

Oh well. Got waaay too rambly in my comment. ;) It was very interesting to read your thoughts and I've added this post to the memories - hope you don't mind?

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

The complete lack of any kind of Voldemort sympathy. It's almost as though he was born bad. Come on! Not even Raistlin Majere was born evil! Give the guy some consideration or at least a really angsty background.

One good point, Draco Malfoy has been halfway redeemed, but I will never forgive JKR for screwing up that wonderful chance of showing Slytherin depth through Blaise Zabini. Nope, never mind the chance to show a Slytherin as a decent human being, he must be evil, like the rest of his house.

Two points I don't agree with; actually the first I don't understand at all. Doesn't being abandoned by your father, growing up in an orphanage, your mother being an inbred Wizarding redneck, etc., count as angsty?

And the second one, well, the Draco redemption I thought was unconvincing, but all this flap about Blaise is silly. Blaise was mentioned ONCE before this book. He was never really intended to be a big character. Fandom created this big thing about Blaise that there's no WAY JKR could have anticipated. I'm glad she stuck to her guns on this one. I'd say Slughorn counts as a good Slytherin. Hell, none of them except Tom Riddle has been painted as EVIL, just various forms of bad.

[skull-bearer.livejournal.com]

The fact that he was never protrayed in a sympathetic light. From the beginning he was torturing orphans, hanging bunnies, stealing, etc. It was as though he was born evil. If he was in a living nightmare of an orphanage (and to be honest, most of them were. Oliver Twist is factual in that regard) then I could understand. What was more, if JKR could have contradicted herself more blatently with the whole 'Choice vs ability' theme, it was here.

As for the second, again, Zabini is not protrayed in anything resembling a sympathetic light, and even Slughorn seems creepy and is just an obstacle for Harry to overcome.

[harpsi-fizz.livejournal.com]

Yes... fandom's gonna be my refuge from now on. I mean, it always was *points to icon* but I'm really worried that there'll be a decline in post-Hogwarts domestic slash--- know what I mean?

I don't even wanna think about what this'll do to hetfic.

[skull-bearer.livejournal.com]

In fact, I've signed off HP fandom for good now. HBP has just ruined it for me and my muses are on indefinate strike over the book. So now, it's Dragonlance or nothing (points at her own icon).
I do know what you mean, but I'm not as bothered about it, I never shipped HP. That doesn't excuse what JKR did though, it was just ugly.