Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review

Book Review #2: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Overall Rating: 8.6/10

Plot: 7.5/10

Characters: 10/10

Writing: 9/10

Setting: 8/10

Sample Passage: “Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.  By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart.  If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present.”
Harry nodded and sighed. Leaving this place would not be nearly as hard as walking into the forest had been, but it was warm and light and peaceful here, and he knew that he was heading back to pain and the fear of more loss. He stood up, and Dumbledore did the same, and they looked for a long moment into each other’s faces.
“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry.  ”Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.
“Of course it is happening inside you head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Number of Pages: 759|Hardcover Edition
Published: 2007 

SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN’T READ UP TO THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES, YOU WILL BE RUINING A FANTASTIC SUSPENSEFUL SERIES FOR YOURSELF, MAKING IT, IN YOUR EYES, “STUPID.”  AND PEOPLE GENERALLY DON’T APPRECIATE OTHER PEOPLE CALLING HARRY POTTER “STUPID.” ESPECIALLY HARRY POTTER FANS.  I KNOW THIS BECAUSE I HAVE HARRY POTTER OBSESSED FRIENDS.  AND THEY WOULDN’T LIKE YOU. LONG STORY SHORT, (ALTHOUGH I THINK IT’S TOO LATE FOR THAT) READING ON WITHOUT HAVING READ THE OTHER BOOKS IS A TERRIBLE DECISION THAT COULD 

Summary: Dumbledore’s death meant that Harry needed to finish what he couldn’t: destroying all the Horcruxes. Together, he, Ron, and Hermione skip their last year at Hogwarts to hunt these Horcruxes down and defeat Lord Voldemort, a mission so much harder than they could ever imagine. But time is running out for them, and they’ll have to race to take control over the wizarding world from Voldemort before it’s too late.

This is the last book in the Harry Potter series and the only one in which they don’t spend the majority of their time in Hogwarts. Despite that, this book was definitely not a disappointing last installment.

The main issue for me was how confusing the plot is. In order to really and truly understand everything, you have to pay attention to most of the things in the previous books, and EVERYTHING in the 7th book. You would definitely not call it “light reading.”  I think after a while, keeping all this information in turned into a big mess. The first 3 books were sort of carefree, no more than 400 pages, and then the 4th one hit, which was a little bigger than the rest, and the fifth one was HUGE!  I just think some of the things in there aren’t very necessary. But I know huge Potterheads would disagree.

The setting was a downer for most people. I mean, who doesn’t love Hogwarts? But they honestly do it pretty well. There is a lot of scenery changes, and Hogwarts is not completely out of the book, for a mini spoiler there.  The settings are described well, and they all basically make sense.

You know what I was just thinking? Harry Potter has a whole lot of luck. Half of the plans that he, Ron, and Hermione come up with in this book have so many flaws in them, and a 50-50 chance for them to work! Maybe it’s not luck, maybe it’s the Invisibility Cloak….

The characters are great as always. Harry’s not very whiny or annoying in this one, Ron got on my nerves a little though. For part of this book he has a HORRIBLE attitude about everything. Hermione is just…Hermione, Neville is freakin’ awesome!  

I have never been much of a huge fan of J.K. Rowling’s writing per say, because she has a very unique style that doesn’t really suit my writing needs.  Although all throughout the series I have been able to connect with Harry very well, almost as if it were written in 1st person.  And for the crazy plot that this book entails, she does a good job of trying to make it make sense.  There’s also an epilogue to look forward to in this book, and I actually like it. The only thing I want to know is if Harry ending up becoming an Auror or not! If someone has the answer to that, please let me know. 

Otherwise, read this book! And if you haven’t read the series, I am very mad at you for reading this right now because you ignored my spoiler alert. But read the series, it’s not “stupid.” It is actually very, very good.