My reactions to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows within. No spoilers, but you never know, so I’m putting this beneath the fold.

I finished the book just now. I’ll put off any thoughts I have about it until later, and just give my basic reaction.

In brief: I am satisfied, and pleased. There were no surprises, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing; all of the clues we needed to understand what happens in this last book have been given in earlier books. I spotted no retcons, no rewriting of history, and no deus ex machina. The story, in that regard, not only lived up to my expectations, but exceeded them. There were times when I thought the story felt a bit rushed, and other times when I felt it dragged, but there is no such thing as literary perfection.

Rowling is an extraordinarily gifted storyteller, and The Deathly Hallows is a worthy ending to a series which has been developing nicely and coherently over the past decade.