I just spent the last eight hours reading Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. Feeling totally underwhelmed about the book in itself - even though it is not as disappointing as the Order of the Phoenix was, it still has too many rough edges. The story is perhaps a bit too predictable and the other characters beyond Harry are marginalized into conversation peices. Not to mention the multiple dead ends in narration which do not serve as credible plot twists. Read on if you like spoilers.
What's the deal with the whole fuzzing the wand thingy ? I can totally understand the one true wand (*cough*) deathstick theory, but the wandlore rule-bending requires some extra suspension of disbelief. The list of characters acting out of character is also irritating - I mean, why would Kreacher do an about-face on the mudblood attitude or Percy drop back into the Weasleys ? Seems too convenient to me. And then there were the people dying pointlessly. Except for Mad-eye (and maybe Dobby), nobody had a death which was even a blip in the plot line. Maybe there's a certain realism in killing off random characters.
There are even bigger plot holes. But it would have been more compelling to not put words into Dumbledore's mouth after his death. Especially the part about Snape being on Dumbledore's side, shows him up as a puppet master extraordinare rather than the benevolent wizard that we saw in the previous books. And what's with Gryffindor's sword ? First it gets stolen by Griphook and suddenly it falls out of the sorting hat again ? And it is not exactly Gryffindor's sword to begin with ? As someone who liked Harry Potter in his initial adventures, this book feels too weak and watered down.
My advice ? This is a book to be borrowed rather than bought.
--The covers of this book are too far apart.
-- Ambrose Bierce