[Dynasty]

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The first couple hundred pages were exciting and the last couple hundred incredible but the middle seemed to drag on and on.


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The middle part, which I'll assume starts when Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape the wedding and go into hiding on their own, was great in an unexpected way. The feeling of being a fugitive really came out and it was obvious that Harry genuinely didn't know how to accomplish the mission.

When they were stuck in one of several woods, not knowing how to destroy the locket, not knowing where to search for more horcruxes, and then having Ron leave, I thought for a moment "Could Rowling actually have them fail and Voldemort win?". It didn't seem they could complete the mission they were on. That can't be an easy goal for an author since just a couple seconds thought should tell you the good guys are going to win (even if it means Harry dying).

I didn't expect Voldemort to actually win the war- which is what I'm saying he did when Kingsley Shacklebolt's patronus arrived to announce "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.". I thought it would be a mostly even battle between good and evil through most of the book. Then when it appears Voldemort is about to win, Harry would save the day. In particular, the Muggle-born Registration Commission and all that's implied with it was a particularly distrubing part of the story.