That blending of daylight and dark, especially that sort of pairing and mispairing amid a backdrop of death and despair, is prime writing material for me. Sex farce during a plague, and that sort of thing. Pulling it off requires a sort of intense frivolity, applied to both the light and looming. That Rowling is manifestly not good at blending those (she interleaves instead of overlaps) is what most makes me wary of reading this one.

---L.