REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Publishing Information: 2007 (first publishing) 2009 (current edition)
Publisher: Scholastic, Trade Paperback
ISBN-10: 0-545-13970-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-13970-0
Series: Harry Potter Year 7, (of 7)
Reviewer: Andy
Copy: Out of Pocket

Synopsis: (from Amazon.com): Harry is waiting in Privet Drive. The Order of the Phoenix is coming to escort him safely away without Voldemort and his supporters knowing if they can. But what will Harry do then? How can he fulfill the momentous and seemingly impossible task that Professor Dumbledore has left him with.
In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited. The spellbinding, richly woven narrative, which plunges, twists and turns at a breathtaking pace, confirms the author as a mistress of storytelling, whose books will be read, reread and read again.


Well, I finally made it through the Harry Potter series. I approached these books eagerly, believing that there would come a point in the series when I realized everything I had been missing by postponing my inevitable reading. The reputation of Harry Potter preceded it - these were in fact the books that made adults who didn't normally read actually read. It made children turn off their gadgets and X-Boxes to approach what seems like an antiquated form of entertainment in a culture that favors instant gratification over the written word. It made literary snobs compromise their more erudite sensibilities to read something for pure enjoyment rather than intellectual stimulation. I believed a series that had the power to do that must be something extraordinary. However, reality came up short of my expectations - but mostly because my expectations had been residing somewhere out in the stratosphere.

In the conclusion of the series, Harry Potter and company become fugitives as the Death Eaters (evil wizards) come to power and persecute upstart wizards from non-magical families. This is the first book where the majority of the action is not set at the Hogwarts School of Magic, and the book ends up suffering for it - the Hogwarts setting is a large of part of what makes these books work and the book must settle instead for locales that aren't as richly imagined. In addition to the Horcruxes, (artifacts infused with dark magic that we were introduced to in the last book) - we are introduced to even more mysterious magical artifacts which the plot turns upon - ancient relics known as the Deathly Hallows. There hasn't been much foreshadowing for these new magical objects on which the plot turns, and it all seems hastily introduced - as if Rowling did not quite have the resolution to the series worked out ahead of time.

The surprises revealed in the conclusion are disappointingly predictable. This may because I've read much more than your average fifth grader - but as an adult I was not satisfied with certain plot revelations that I had already anticipated in previous books. However, concluding a fantasy series is a difficult thing to do, and few authors do it well, therefore I must give Rowling credit for settling on a predictable outcome rather than something completely unintuitive. Despite that, this is still a young adult book and for readers newer to the genre, I can believe that this series finale is more than satisfactory. However, as a long time reader of speculative fiction like myself, you might find it a bit dull. In fact, you might just find yourself rushing through it in order to begin something entirely different.



Plot……….4/ 10

Characters……….4.5/10

Style………..4/10

Overall……….5/10