I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before anyone had a chance to tell me what happened. In the end, I'm not sure that mattered because everything has been leading up to where it takes us. In other words, there's nothing in the story that is shocking or unexpected.
All roads lead to Hogwarts and a final showdown between Harry and Voldemort. They have since Sorcerer's Stone. But the journey is intense and violent with many casualties along the way and a wee bit of humor. Rowling rightly focuses on Harry, Ron and Hermione, while other characters are crucial but peripheral.
The connections to other epics--for a moment I thought I was reading Lord of the Rings, no wait, this is King Arthur, no wait, use the force Harry--gives one a chuckle, but shows the cracks in the Potter universe, too. They do make for some exciting action scenes. And the action is almost nonstop.
The final showdown works as a fitting and solid conclusion to the epic. I'm not so sure the epilogue does, however. Set 19 years hence, we get fragments from the lives of certain characters. But I was struck more by what was missing. The Dursley's, for example, have been an annoying but constant presence throughout all seven books (at least the beginning of the books). They deserve some sort of resolution to their relationship with Harry.
The character with the most satisfying treatment in Deathly Hallows is actually Neville Longbottom. Although still not commanding a lot of text, he continues to come into his own, and Rowling handles his arc with great finesse.
I am sad that it's over. Glad of the resolution. Content.
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