Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Book Synopsis
The final installment of the Harry Potter saga! The final book has everything that will make your heart go wild with enthusiasm, excitement, and fear. After seeing Harry trudge along the winding path to Death, we see it all coming to an end very soon. Will it end how you expected, or differently? Read to find out!
Ciel's Rating
Ciel's Review
The much awaited final installment reached my hands, and oh, how I devoured it in three days! Overall, this is a good book, not as great as I would’ve wanted; there are some things that didn’t sit quite right with me. There are fireworks, but they didn’t crack loud or bright enough. We’ve seen Harry trudging along the winding road of Death, something he has accepted despite his young age.
This is a crown in Rowling’s series, and it makes me sad that I won’t be able to follow her characters anymore. Anyway, this book is very different from the rest because the setting is not static. Instead, our favorite trio runs around the magical world hunting down Horcruxes and Hallows. Adrenaline pumps at every page turn because you never know what might happen. It’s like Rowling drastically decided to add more twists and turns to her novel to make it unpredictable, which also carries unfavorable consequences.
Some of these unfavorable consequences are the plot holes in the seventh book, never before had the concept of Horcruxes been hinted in the first books, just merely introduced in the sixth, and carried on in the seventh. Most often than not, I felt at loss and overwhelmed with the new information being hurled at me all at once. The characters, at some point, felt alien because of their attitudes. The personalities I had grown to care were radically changed, and sometimes I despised them for their lack of interest and feelings.
A huge war is waged, and obviously, there are casualties, but I felt Rowling didn’t give these deaths the emotional depth they should have had. She just mentions their death in a cold, measure manner. I guess she was running out of time or she didn’t want to make her novel 1000 or more pages long. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if she had made it longer. You cannot contain glory in just 750 pages.
Aside from the previous paragraph, I feel the book is very strong and action-packed. I absolutely love the adventures they had together, the places and threats they met and overcame. My heart was beating in syncopation with Harry’s, wondering what would happen next when he finally faces He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I was dreading that meeting for two reasons: 1. I had no idea what was going to happen or how their final encounter would be (though I knew how it would end), and 2. the series was going to come to an end very soon.
I love how everything was revealed to Harry, how Snape was always trying to protect him (although the reasons for being so are very unsettling, incongruous, and unrealistic). It was like an “aha, finally!” moment, when you finally realized that people aren’t what they seem at first. The final battle is gripping, it all came down to the strongest spell and who would be the last to remain on their feet. The ending (of the battle) is expected, though I can’t help but smile triumphantly every time I read and re-read it.
Harry Potter has gone with me a long way and will definitely remain in my heart as one of the must-read book for readers of this generation. Rowling’s fabulous story-telling and narrative style has helped shape the skeleton of the book, and her characters and plot have fleshed out and breathe life into her masterpiece. What I love the most of the series in general is the feeling of growth you feel in each book, and how the connection between the reader and the protagonist increases and deepens. The quest for adventure is never ending, and the fondness for the characters remains strong and is perpetuated with each book. I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.
I always tell people they should read them.
Disclaimer: May not be appropriate for children due to violence.
