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

by J. K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter (7)

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Great ending to Harry Potter! I'm a huge HP fan & I wasn't disappointed!! ( )
  Ames3473 | Nov 28, 2009 |
The epilogue was a little to saccharine -- Rowling should have left it off entirely. Otherwise, a perfect ending to the Potter saga! ( )
1 vote catalogthis | Nov 24, 2009 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the stunning conclusion to the Harry Potter saga. This book follows Harry on his magical journey to try and save the wizarding world from Lord Voldermort by destroying his horcruxes which preserve his soul. In the process, he discovers that there are three wizarding artifacts, the elder wand, the invisibilty cloak, and the resurrecting stone and that whoever has all three will be invincible. After destroying Voldermorts seven horcruxes, Harry goes to his former school, Hogwarts, where he finds Voldermort attacking the castle. Harry knows what he must do and allows himself to be seemingly killed so as to lull Voldermort into a false sense of security. However, because he posseses all three wizarding artifacts, he is able to revive himself, and ends up in a final duel with Voldermort, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Unfortunately, the ending is rather anti-climatic as Harry only casts one spell before Voldermort is killed and the wizarding community saved. Also, his being revived after being killed is pushing it a little too much, even if it is a story about magic where anything is possible. However, I would consider this book the best of the Harry Potter series, and the whole series is worth reading for anyone.
1 vote danBerk | Nov 12, 2009 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final installment in J. K. Rowling's astonishing, world-wide famous, fantasy series Harry Potter. The entire world has waited for years just for this very book, including myself, and I must say...I was kinda disappointed with the ending...

Like no other Harry Potter book, the Deathly Hallows bursts into action and the action doesn't stop there, it goes on and on until the end.

I'm not going to bother giving a plot summary or synopsis as virtually everybody knows the story by now but I'll just mention some of the things that I loved and hated in the story. I loved the part where Harry and his rotten cousin Dudley made a truce. I hated how Hedwig died. I loved the explosive escape from Privet Drive. I really hated the final stand between Harry and Voldemort, there was wayyy too much confrontation, too much delay to the death of Voldemort...and the fact that Harry yet AGAIN used faggy Expelliarmus to defend himself against Voldemort was pathetic.

"...Tom Riddle was dead, killed by his own curse..." that was kinda annoying too, why couldn't Harry and Voldemort have a massive, kick-ass battle instead, with loads of Fiendfyre and really advanced spells? And it would have been good if Harry explained to Voldemort how his plan was flawed between each spell that was cast.
J. K. Rowling's biggest mistake: Bellatrix being killed by Molly Weasley? o.O A big no, no. Molly Weasley has never been shown in a battle in the entire Harry Potter series, and I never thought she would have the potential to cast an Avada Kedavra curse. Here's my idea how Bellatrix should have died:

Harry, Ron and Hermione are sprinting through the castle during the Battle of Hogwarts, Bellatrix emerges from around the corner and Harry tells Ron and Hermione to go on, Harry is still vengeful, after she taunts she killed Sirius he shows her he can cast the Cruciatus curse and he does mean it, finally he has here begging for mercy on the floor, then a flash of green light and he zaps the bitch one...still out of character for Harry, but more of a Harry thing to do than a Molly thing to do.

Overall I loved Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it was an almost perfect ending to the series...but a tempting one, J. K left herself a potential three books to write which she could formulate from the epilogue...

I'm too hungry to do a review right now. I'll edit it when I'm full. ( )
1 vote JordanLangston | Nov 10, 2009 |
Not as funny and exciting as the other books in the Harry Potter series. I reread most of the other Harry Potter books but not this one. As teenagers, Ron and Hermione aren't very likable. ( )
1 vote mauveberry | Nov 1, 2009 |
The background was great. I was sad to see the series end, but am glad I took the journey. ( )
2 vote Anagarika | Oct 30, 2009 |
It's no secret I love Mr Potter, but Deathly Hallows went above and beyond all expectations. Impossible to put down. ( )
1 vote mamathiessen | Oct 30, 2009 |
Después de tanto tiempo se acabó la saga. Me costó un poco sintonizar con el libro y me parece, como ya me pareció con algunos de los anteriores, que es innecesariamente largo. Tiene algunas caídas de ritmo espectaculares en las que se acumulan las páginas sin interés alguno. A cambio, la "chicha" está ahí y tiende a ser bastante satisfactoria. ¿El final? Bastante previsible y pelín anticlimático. En resumen, una conclusión adecuada, aunque regular, para una saga notable llena de virtudes y defectos. ( )
  membrillu | Oct 30, 2009 |
Después de tanto tiempo se acabó la saga. Me costó un poco sintonizar con el libro y me parece, como ya me pareció con algunos de los anteriores, que es innecesariamente largo. Tiene algunas caídas de ritmo espectaculares en las que se acumulan las páginas sin interés alguno. A cambio, la "chicha" está ahí y tiende a ser bastante satisfactoria. ¿El final? Bastante previsible y pelín anticlimático. En resumen, una conclusión adecuada, aunque regular, para una saga notable llena de virtudes y defectos. ( )
  membrillu | Oct 30, 2009 |
I hated this novel. The pace was slow, the plot devices crossed the line into DEI EX MACHINA territory, and the epilogue too artificially "happy ending."

Knowing what I do now about the series, I would no longer recommend it without reservation, as I had in the past. ( )
  krysbrezinski | Oct 27, 2009 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the last in the Harry Potter series, describing Harry's quest to seek the Horcruxes and his growing realisation that he and he alone has the means to defeat Voldemort. Harry begins to worry that trusting Dumbledore was a mistake, and loses heart in what he has to do. Everything leads to the Final Battle that takes place - where else? - at Hogwarts.

So here we are - the climax of the Harry Potter series. The book to beat all books. The one that people anticipated and queued for and devoured as soon as it became available. This one was supposed to tie up the loose ends and show us how the fight against Voldemort ended. It was known to be darker and bleaker than the others, and Rowling let slip on the run-up to the release that not all of our favourite characters would make it through.

Did this book achieve, in my mind, everything that I expected? Well, sort of. Of course, it was exciting and exhilarating and scary and full of compassion for these characters that so many of us followed eagerly. However, reading parts of the book I was... bored! This was something I certainly did not expect!

We start with an explosive escape for Harry from the Dursley's house - there is a distinctly odd and very touching scene between Harry and Dudley as they say goodbye for the final time. There is a massive sense of danger and Voldemort is really closing his grip around the wizarding community - with the death of a couple of characters, we (the reader) learn that no-one is sacred in this final book, and that really heightens the gloomy atmosphere.

However, there is then a few chapters which are a little dull concerning the wedding of Fleur and Bill. I can understand that Rowling is setting up a few things here, such as the sign of the Hallows, but it meanders somewhat. From here we have another escape scene that sends the pulse racing, but once Harry, Hermione and Ron are ensconced in Number 12, Grimmauld Place there is another period of slower time. During this I did love the way that Kreacher is redeemed - and certainly Hermione gets her opportunity to say I told you so.

The book continues in this vein all the way through - I found the pacing decidedly off. There were moments of pulse-pounding terror and huge excitement (such as the escape from the Death Eaters in the Malfoy mansion; the robbery of Gringotts; and, of course, the final battle) but these were small moments in a tapestry that included the Camping Trip of Doom (tm); planning in minutiae the trip to Gringotts; and many other quiet moments that seemed put in for no apparent reason. By this time, of course, the books had started being filmed for the big screen and I half-wonder whether Rowling wrote some of the Deathly Hallows with an eye for the film that would be made from this novel.

By far my biggest complaint about this novel is the rapid switch in concentration from the Horcruxes to the Hallows. I can see that Rowling wanted a comparison between dark and light, and the Horcrux idea did run out of steam a little, but the Hallows idea came straight out of left field. There has been not a hint or a tip that these would be important - they have never been so much as mentioned in the previous six books. Even the kid's tale that the Hallows are introduced in has not been used before this! And, with their introduction, Rowling suddenly has an awful lot to do and tell in the space remaining to her (which is why I object so vociferously to the period Harry and Hermione spent camping and trying to work out where they were supposed to go next - this was essential space that could have been used to flesh out the plot a little better and make it run more smoothly).

I also HATED the way that Dumbledore's back story was filled in during this novel, and how clumsily Rowling tried to bring in an element of doubt against the wonderfully strong character that has been the mainstay of the series. If we had seen this Dumbledore in prior books, then maybe there would not have been as much heartbreak evident at the end of the sixth book! Sure, Harry needs to feel conflicted about his quest and whether he would succeed, but does Dumbledore have to become so different?

My final issue is a more personal complaint - oh, how I missed Hogwarts and the characters we had come to know so well over six books! I believe there is a huge amount of mileage in Rowling writing the story of Hogwarts during that seventh year whilst Harry et al were elsewhere - I would love to have seen more of Snape in the role of headmaster, and the rise to power of the Carrows, and the way that Neville really came into his own and led Dumbledore's Army in revolt. I think this would make an amazing book and really fill in the gaps that were, of necessity, in the Deathly Hallows.

Obviously, there are moments of pure brilliance where Rowling really succeeds in writing a fitting finale to the series. The best of these by far is the chapter where Harry finally learns the truth about Snape. This is my favourite extract of the entire series:

" 'But this is touching, Severus,' said Dumbledore seriously. 'Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?'

'For him?' shouted Snape. 'Expecto patronum!'

From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe: she landed on the office floor, bounded once across the office and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.

'After all this time?'

'Always,' said Snape."

I was moved to tears when I learnt the true motivation behind Snape's behaviour towards others in the books.

Of course, the last few chapters where Harry faces Voldemort are excellent and fulfilling (although Rowling keeps in the big reveal between Harry and Dumbledore for one final book!) I also liked the contentious Epilogue of the Deathly Hallows as well, although I know a number of people who refuse to accept that it even exists.

Altogether and overall, my review of this book can be summed up in three words: a little disappointing. I was expecting fireworks and got a damp Squib (geddit?) However, this doesn't change my opinion of the series as a whole, and my opinion is thus: I have just finished reading a modern classic; a series that deserves read after read, and should be handed down to our children in the same manner as C S Lewis' Narnia books have done. They are no less than brilliant. ( )
4 vote magemanda | Oct 27, 2009 |
I know many people won't like this review, so I prepare myself at the outset for a barrage of unhelpful votes. I am not planning any major spoilers, but be warned: this review is mainly meant for the consumption of people who've read the book. After all, how many people out there are really planning to base their decision to read this on the opinion of a few internet reviewers?

This book provides pretty much everything we've been promised from the outset: an ending, and a satisfying one at that -- but not without its price. Many die, not just the two Rowling mentioned in so many interviews. Many beloved characters die, and some of them die "off screen" as it were, so that we as readers aren't even privy to the details of their deaths, or their final moments of life. Some of these deaths will bring tears to the eyes of any loyal Potter devotee, I've no doubt of that. But as for the main death, the one so many have wondered about? Well, that's where Rowling falls back on a few too-worn literary devices, and where she loses one of her stars.

I found this book to be far too full of easy short cuts and simplistic cliches to give it five stars. Far too many times, Harry and his friends were "mysteriously" saved at the last minute. And the real answers to these so-called mysteries will fall much more easily into the hands of die-hard Potter fanatics who've spent hours studying the books and pouring over the fan sites than they ever do into the hands of the characters themselves. This is too often frustrating. Perhaps it's unfair to criticize or punish Rowling for the perseverance and intelligence of her fans, but the fact is that many of her secrets have been guessed. In fact, the few that haven't seem only to surprise because Rowling conveniently has them pop up for the first time in this book. Magical objects we've seen many times before suddenly have new and useful -- and VERY convenient -- magical properties. People we've only heard of have convenient new information and relevance to the plot.

She lost the other star because of omissions. Unexplained (and again, very convenient) plot twists, otherwise known as plot holes, are all over the book. A book this long that purports to be the end of an epic series should not have this many plot holes and inexplicable events. (None of which I can go into detail about without giving up major spoilers -- sorry.) And most damning of all, when some of the plot holes are explained, it's done in a manner resembling what the brilliant movie "The Incredibles" referred to as "monologuing" -- when one character (usually the bad guy) sits around explaining the whole plot and nothing bad happens to the good guys while all these lose ends are conveniently tied up. For some reason, the villain, no matter how vicious he has been throughout the story, always conveniently waits to attack until the hero's had plenty of time to get all the answers he needs to defeat the bad guy. The only change Rowling makes to this shopworn device is that she does it via magical means. (Though in her case, the magical mean in question is the Pensieve -- something shopworn in and of itself, considering the number of times it's now been used in this series to convey crucial information.) I was also sorely disappointed to realize that she left out a number of things she practically promised fans would be included in this book. For instance, many fans have asked her what Harry's parents did for a living. She always said she couldn't tell us because it would be too big a plot spoiler for the upcoming novels. Well, now the novels are all finished and we still don't know. Why didn't she include that in this final book, if it really was supposed to matter so much? And why did she leave so much crucial information out of her far too short epilogue?

There is no doubt that in Harry Potter Rowling has created a brave and endurable hero, one who will linger in the hearts and minds of readers for generations to come. But in this humble reader's opinion, she has also created one for whom the struggle ended a bit too quickly and easily, of whom too many things are left unknown, and for whom answers and help came too readily and too conveniently in the end.

Then again . . . maybe I just wanted it to last a little longer. Because it's over now, and nothing like Harry Potter is ever happening to this humble reader again.
  tergel2 | Oct 26, 2009 |
I love this series, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a perfect way to end it. The twists and turns made the book memorable, and ultimately unforgettable. You're able to see how much every character, especially Harry, has grown from the first book to the last. My favorite book in the series. ( )
1 vote kikistina | Oct 24, 2009 |
LOVED THE SERIES, AND LOVE THE TWIST AND TURNS AND ADVENTURE THAT 'HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS' HAD ME EXPERIENCE... ( )
1 vote ricky2love | Oct 22, 2009 |
A spectacular end to the series - it was almost everything I could have hoped for (and it was wonderful that I turned out to be right about so many things (and so completely wrong about others)).

However, I choose to pretend that the epilogue does not exist. ( )
1 vote ascgrrl | Oct 21, 2009 |
Great book!!! You should really read it... the best she has written so far!!! Great ending, and loved the storyline and plot. The final battle, a great book!!!!!!! Everything is finally revealed!!!!!!!!!!!! ( )
1 vote shreyashanrox | Oct 13, 2009 |
What can I say? A wonderful ending to the best fantasy series I've ever read. I'm so sad that Harry Potter is done and gone, but he will never be forgotten. I plan to make it a yearly tradition to read all seven books, just to live the magic all over again.

Oh, and the best line ever....."Not my daughter, you bitch!" ( )
1 vote GeniusJen | Oct 13, 2009 |
I'm about 25% of the way through the Deathly Hallows and I can't put it down. I put off reading it as long as I could, as it is the last in the series. These books are not to be missed by anyone of any age!! ( )
1 vote OzzieJello | Oct 13, 2009 |
I loved this book because FINALLY Rowling gave up on the exposition. She finally assumes that the reader is with her. The book is jam-packed with new information and action. The secondary characters finally come into their own in this one. And, up until the last 25 pages or so, it's fantastic. It's that last few pages that just...don't do the rest of the book justice. ( )
1 vote laurscartelli | Oct 8, 2009 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is based on Harry's search for Voldemorts horcruxes, or soul keepers. The book is centered on Harry, Hermione, and Ron's determination and friendship. I liked this book because there was alot of action and it tied together all of the previous books. It also focuses on Harry's relationships with friends and foes, so it was interesting to see how they ended. ( )
1 vote corin1234 | Oct 5, 2009 |
very very good lots of action and keep you on your toes hard to fiqure stuff out till the end so dont try to just sit back and have that one chance you get to go into the world of reading. The only hard part for me was how i knew that it would be the end of harry potter series ( )
1 vote boomer1044 | Sep 24, 2009 |
I enjoyed this book far more the second time that I read it. Perhaps, because in reading Harry Potter again once the septology had finished, I was bringing it back to life. Whereas all I could think of upon reading the book the first time around was, "this is the end of my beloved Harry".

Still, at both readings, I felt cheated by the ending. I understand that these are fictional stories and that most of the events that occur in and away from Hogwarts are fantastic and impossible in our "real" world. That did not stop me from feeling that the ending that Rowling chose for the seventh book was unrealistic. Please understand that this was my initial feeling, as in an emotional response, and perhaps it says far more about my beliefs in an afterlife than anything about the book. But while everything that came before just seemed to open up my imagination all this ending made me do was doubt the possibility of it's occuring in Potterworld, it brought me back down into THIS world and to all of it's unanswerable questions. Escape from that is what I read Harry Potter for and right up until the end I had felt comforted and satisfied that I was no longer in this world. Sure, fences where mended right in the very end, but the damage to my psyche was done. ( )
1 vote lovelesswrists | Sep 21, 2009 |
Harry Potter has a mission that Dumbledore left him. He seeks 4 Horcruxes that will put an end to Voldemort, his enemy that he must encounter in the end. Ron and Hermione help Harry as he journeys through several obstacles, one of them being the Deathly Hallows which include the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility. I really loved this book because it is the final book of the series and Harry makes a lot of decisions and many things are finally resolved. ( )
2 vote DF5B_SaraO | Sep 17, 2009 |
This was the best Harry Potter book ever!! I've got like 8 different favorite parts in this book instead of the usual 2 or 3!!! ( )
1 vote HermionesTwin | Sep 15, 2009 |
The last book in the Harry Potter series could also be considered the greatest one. As Harry vowed in the last book, he would not return to Hogwarts, because he would search for the remaining Horcruxes in order to destroy Voldemort. The book grips you from the start and doesn't let you go until you read the final word in the epilogue. Watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione's friendship go through it's ups and downs is very deep, help making this the darkest book in the series. Overall, you can't go wrong with this book. ( )
1 vote DF1A_RuelW | Sep 14, 2009 |
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