The last of Harry Potter

I think I’m suffering from post-Harry Potter stress, having read the latest tome in less than a day and a half on and off (mostly on). I woke up this morning feeling washed out, and my wife (who hasn’t quite finished the book) accused me of being grumpy. Doesn’t she realized what I’ve just been through? The traumas in this book are huge. Grumpy! It’s a wonder I’m not running around raging at the moon.
Suffice to say, this is a great Potter, maybe the best of the lot. It brings together dozens of themes and clues and subplots, keeps the momentum going (apart from a curious lull in the middle), and is exceptionally readable – although on a couple of occasions I had to stop and think through some of the things that were being said. A few of the characters still like to speak in a rather elliptical way. There are battles galore, action scenes, frights, shocks, deaths, births, romances, and you name it. Rowling’s eye for the absurd is as keen as ever, her humour is retained in spite of the drama of the overarching story, her morality remains, and she satisfies the reader in every respect.
A great job!