Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Fantasy, Fiction, Low Fantasy, Young Adults
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter, Book # 7
Bloomsbury Childrens
July 21st 2007
Paperback
620
English
December 12, 2019 December 18, 2019
"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded."
As he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid's motorbike and takes to the skies, leaving Privet Drive for the last time, Harry Potter knows that Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are not far behind. The protective charm that has kept Harry safe until now is broken, but he cannot keep hiding. The Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything Harry loves, and to stop him Harry will have to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes. The final battle must begin - Harry must stand and face his enemy...
About the book
Last book of the Harry Potter series (I know, it’s not technically the last, but technically it is so I won’t read anything else from the author). Last book in which the author can shed light on the various mysteries narrated in 7 books. So, first I will talk in general about the book and then I will go into detail about the series indicating “spoiler” from that point on, for the few who haven’t read the series yet and don’t want to know anything.
We are at the end of the sixth year, we are finally at the point when Harry turns 17 and therefore, according to the magic law, he isn’t a minor anymore and from that moment on he can use magic even if not in school. Also, from then on, for various reasons, Harry is no longer protected from his mother’s sacrifice and therefore Voldemort can kill him if he leaves his maternal aunt. The order of the Phoenix does everything to make this detachment as painless as possible but will it succeed? Meanwhile Bill, Ron’s brother, gets married but the reception is ruined, forcing Harry, Hermione and Ron to flee. Will Harry survive?
In general, I liked the book, the end is very “I can’t put this book down” and I must admit that I cried at some point (because I cry for nothing), but I found the first part very boring. About half the book has passed (and that means about 350 pages) and they’re still fighting on their own. No school. No adults. Are we sure they are 17 years old? Furthermore, the first horcrux is destroyed after half of the book. And they find the others in two seconds after knowing about them for a millisecond? Impossible.
So if it were only for the first part I would give 1 star, but there is also the second part and therefore the vote has risen. Not much, it would be 2.5 because the ending is better than the Order of the Phoenix and therefore it deserves a little more (not much though). And yes I gave 4 stars at the beginning as you can see from my intagram, but while writing this review I found out that I gave 4 stars only for the final battle and overall I didn’t like it that much. So I changed it.
Now I wonder what the movie will be like, if the first part of the book is so boring and we only see Harry, Ron and Hermione around England I wonder what it will be like (not that I have to wait long because I’m watching it tonight and it’s also divided in two O_o . On the other hand, the fifth book, in which more things happened and is longer, is only one single film – which is good considering that I didn’t like it at all -).
Now I have to go into details so from here on, it’s spoiler.
First of all, does Ron argue with Harry only to bring him a new wand? That is, I do not see why there is this big fight in the book. It is completely unnecessary. Or better. I understand that Ron decided of his own free will to return and that therefore, he is not obliged to help Harry but he does it naturally and without constraints. I understand that. But only if this had brought something more, if only there had been scenes where only Harry and Hermione were needed, but Ron could have been very well at Goldric’s Grave with the other two.
Then, in this series, however, there are too many deaths. I’m sorry but at the beginning nobody dies then Rowling takes pleasure in it and kills everyone. Except for the bad guys. But why did he kill Tonks too? Wasn’t Lupine enough? And poor George! Without ear and without twin. I know that not everyone can survive in a war or a battle, of any kind, but so many deaths? Harry practically has nobody left! Oh and don’t get me started on Dobby. Dobby! She had the courage to kill Dobby!! Dear Rowling I won’t ever forgive you. And I know that every death is a crucial moment for Harry (except Tonks) but really, there are too many.
The final battle at Hogwarts is epic. I loved it and that’s what I’ve been waiting for since the first book. All the school involved with the very end only with Harry and Voldy (will he be offended if I call him that?) who fight with the other students watching. This did not stop me from reading until the end. And I must say that even here (in addition to the scene between Dumbledore and Harry where he explains everything) I was moved (because as mentioned I cry for everything). The fact that many adults come to school to fight, the fact that many minors want to fight even if they can’t, the fact that those who have left come back with relatives and friends to help… just the thought of this unity makes my eyes shine (which tells you how crazy I am…). Minus the Slytherins of course.
Now the characters:
Harry, nice character, well characterised even if sometimes I wanted to slap him, but he is a teenager so I have already explained everything. There is nothing to say about the character, he is the protagonist, he is the chosen one even if he never wanted to be and therefore he must live with it. The choices he makes are always well thought, on the contrary sometimes he doesn’t even seem like a teenager but thinks like an adult.
Hermione, nothing to say, she is the voice of reason (thank goodness), she is the scholar of the trio and she is always willing to help Harry even when she thinks he is doing stupid things. Even the relationship with Ron has highs and lows, but it is not so much present to bore the reader (thank God since I hate it). In this specific book, I liked the idea she had when they were at Lovegood’s house and she put the invisibility cloak on Ron and “shows” Harry to the Death Eaters, why she does that made me exclaim “oh how smart you are Hermione! “.
Ron, Harry’s best friend apart from a few little “un-friend” outings, but he himself understands he was wrong, is always willing to help him and I must say that he and his family are my favourites. I like how often he says “you don’t know this?” or “you’ve never heard of…?” to Hermione and Harry and they say “we grew up with the Muggles!!” and that therefore he is the smart one in magical stuff.
Neville. Dear sweet Neville. How did you grow up in these years. I didn’t understand one thing though. How did he get the Gryffindor sword? I guess I missed a piece. And even his grandmother when she comes to school to fight made me laugh so much.
Now we come to the antagonists (or not).
Malfoy, Draco because Lucius is not worth mentioning, at the beginning I didn’t know which path he would have chosen and if I would have liked this path. And honestly I liked his path from the point of view of “I’m bad and I stay bad” but in fact he is the most hateful character in the whole book. And how did he call his son? I burst out laughing when I read it…
Dudley. Unlike Malfoy, Dudley surprised me in this book. And I must say that his parents should learn from him.
Snape. I have a lot to say about Snape. As said in the other reviews I don’t understand his hatred for Harry. On one hand, he protects him and in this book we see why, but on the other he humiliates and punishes him. I can understand that he reflects on the son what the father has done to him, but he is an adult, he is a professor so I don’t find right his behaviour towards teenagers that he has to educate. And not just against Harry. But for example also towards Neville. What did Neville do to deserve this attitude? On the other hand, I liked him as an adult. That he was a spy was obvious. If you re-read the last review I said that I would have liked things to have gone in a certain way and that I was waiting for this book to give a judgement because I was waiting for confirmation of what really happened here. That he loved Lily, too, was as clear as the sun rising in the morning. And also that this “love” was unrequited by her. I honestly don’t see anything romantic in Snape’s attitude, he seems so much a stalker, but I understand that in his mind he loved Lily and that everything comes from that fact. Now we also understand why Lily “saves” Snape from James in the previous book (or was it the fifth? I don’t remember) and why she was always a bit on his side. Then of course I still didn’t know why Dumbledore trusted him so blindly, but now that I’m sure why, perhaps Dumbledore isn’t quite “dumb” as I said last time. Now that I have confirmation of what I was hoping for last time, I’m sorry for him. I repeat, that he was a spy, it was obvious, that I hoped it would go well and I am happy with the ending. Although all this does not completely erase what he has done in the past, but at least for what he did when he was at school he is redeemed (i.e. joining an extremist group, being so friendly with Voldemort etc), Hermione says about Dumbledore “he was a boy when he established the concept that wizards are better than muggles” so we can forgave him, so this concept can also be said for Snape. I repeat, his attitude is ambiguous, on one hand I see his redemption for what he did as a young man but on the other I also understand that he did certain things that are unforgivable even though he then passed to the “good side”. That is, his changing side is only for a reason, I do not see any real repentance in his attitude.
Voldemort. I like him as bad guy. I like that he always underestimated Dumbledore and Harry in the end. I like how Harry kept saying “but then you doesn’t understand anything and you consider yourself the greatest dark wizard in history”, during the final battle I kept laughing! I also liked the fact that Harry and Voldy were mentally connected and that Harry could see what the enemy was doing.
I have another thing to say that I find absurd… Harry calling his son Albus Severus. I understand Albus, although I have something to say about that too, but I understand it. Severus? Of course he calls his son as the man who, yes, it is true he “sacrificed” himself to save you or better to defeat Voldemort (because as seen in his thoughts, Harry had to die), but who tortured you throughout your adolescence. I really can’t see Severus as a character who deserved this. Although he thinks what he’s done is heroic, but it doesn’t erase that an adult man tortured and humiliated teenagers.
Now, let’s answer my questions as to why I read this series. Did I like the series? “Ni”. obviously there are books that I liked and others a little less, but it’s not a bad series. Can an adult read it? Yes, of course, but you shouldn’t expect big things. Would I recommend it? Honestly I do not know. If I went back and didn’t have Kindle Unlimited for free, I wouldn’t have read it and now that I’ve read it I wouldn’t buy the books anyway. Now that I have read it, do I understand all the buzz behind the series? Still honestly no. I can understand that in youth it was a favorite series for certain teenagers. But that it is stil after they have become adults, no. And please read forward because I explain my very nest thought. I really can’t understand who continues to re-read the series despite the fact that they have grown up, who buys all the gadgets of the series, who buys all the book versions of the series. But I know it’s just me because I’m not that kind of reader. I like reading books, not collecting them. For Christmas I wanted to get the very nice edition of the Oscar Vault (Italian publisher) of the Game of Thrones which is my favorite series till now, but then I said why? You already have the books, you have already read them, why do you want other books with the same words? And I gave up, but because I’m like that. So it’s not that I don’t understand who collects everything about Harry Potter, because I understand them, it’s their passion and so go ahead buy whatever yo want, only I’m not that kind of reader and it’s okay anyway. The important thing is to read.
