Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Let me begin by saying that this review is not intended to be a spoiler review and specific plot elements and happenings will not be revealed. However, since this review does discuss the book, there may be some parts of it that could be considered spoiler-ish by some people. I have not included anything that I would consider spoiler or even close to a spoiler so I believe this to be spoiler free, but if you are a bit more extreme in your ideas about what spoilers are, tread at your own risk. Having said that, with this being a review of the final book in a seven-book series, there are a few general spoilers for the previous books.

Hype, buzz, anxiety, cultural phenomenon, or however you choose consider the anticipation of this book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is arguably the most anticipated book in human history (certainly modern human history). Security measures were taken to do everything possible to prevent early release, and it seemed that all the entire world could talk about for the week prior to its release was the book – will Harry die, did Dumbledore really die, is Snape as evil as he seems, who is R.A.B.? Personally I loved that this type of anticipation revolved around a book – yes it was way over the top, and I could probably write an entire article on the issues I had with it all (though apathy would almost certainly quell any such effort), but I loved to see it about a book. All other debates aside, this aspect alone is almost enough to make it all worth it, regardless of what is actually in the book.

So, here I am two long paragraphs into this review, and I haven’t begun to talk about the book yet. This is entirely intentional as I attempt to get across something that most of you out there know even if you may not have thought about it. J.K. Rowling had inhuman standards to live up to in the writing of this book. How could she possibly satisfy tens of millions (maybe even hundreds of millions) of fans and herself? How could she not question her ability, look back on all her planning and think something along the lines of ‘I can’t do this. I need to quit – take the money and run.’ I could be completely off base – maybe she is superhuman and could shrug off the pressure of the world and millions of rabidly enthusiastic fans. But I think not – to me she is Harry, or more correctly, Harry reflects J.K. Rowling in some curious ways. She has come to represent a sort of hope of the world, not unlike Harry is to his own wizarding world. Harry is the hero, everybody knows of him, everybody has some preconceived opinion about him, and everybody expects something of Harry – and it’s impossible for to all add up. As Harry has come to shoulder the struggle of his wizarding world, so has J.K. Rowling had to bear the burden of our expectations of the cultural phenomenon that is Harry Potter – and these expectations have grown to unreal proportions.

By now some of you maybe be screaming at me – get on with it. We get the point. Did she succeed already! To this I can only answer that yes she bloody-well did. She far exceeded my expectations, and I believe that Rowling has produced a final book that just may satisfy all her fans and their often contradictory needs. She did it, she pulled it off. Rowling brings almost every character of the series, alive or dead, into this ultimate effort. This one is a wild ride, full of action, with incredible feats of bravery, and horrible moments of grief. The characters will surprise you – could you have ever thought that Dumbledore and Dudley may have much in common? But these surprises turn out not to be out of character, but oh so fitting.

Voldemort is out there and with Dumbledore dead the entire wizarding world is coming under his sway. The action is almost immediate, with tragic death number one coming a scant 50-some pages into the book. Shortly thereafter, we get a bit of a breather, and we need it. That’s the way of the entire book, mind-numbing action that sets the heart-rate running followed by a brief reprieve, allowing the reader to rest up, wipe away any tears, and soldier on.

Many of the great ‘mysteries’ and outstanding issues are solved in one way or another – is Snape evil, what and where are the horcruxes, how does one destroy a horcrux, who is R.A.B., will ___ and ___ finally get together, who dies, and will Harry live or die. Some of those theories out there are spot-on, some are close, some are way wrong, and none can match the real thing. All of the previous players, great and small, play their role. We see familiar haunts and new places, the only omission of note is quidditch – things are deadly serious and there’s no time for games.

Sure, some parts of the book bothered me – here was a bit rushed, 20 pages should have been cut around here, nobody would actually have done that, that was just cheesy, etc. Closer examination may reveal greater flaws or genius and her writing remains what it is (by this point in the series you’ve made up your mind). But for me, none of that really mattered – I was far too engaged in the story to care.

So, the conclusion is that J.K. Rowling has written the best possible conclusion to her landmark series. And that is a singularly remarkable feat.

Other Reviews of works by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Jul 17, 2005