Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) (edition 2009)

While the review indicates a 2022 read date, I have read this book several times before.
EDIT 2022: I added two thousand more words to the furious blog post I originally wrote in 2019, and the post might need a part II. She's a raging anti-Semite. I watched the Jon Stewart clip and I, a Conservative Jewish person, laughed and agreed with him. I'm so sorry he had to apologize in order to save his career while she wrings out every dollar she can of a series she wrote twenty years ago. This book itself...doesn't hold the same sense of wonder it once did. "Half-Blood Prince" was my favorite out of the series for a few years in a row as an adult. So, this is me having decided not to reread any of the series anymore. The seventh book, I liked the least each time I read it. So this is it, really. And I'm okay with that. Now that I've finished it for the final time as of this review: I was glad to give it a two-star rating. JKR's writing this whole series grew increasingly absorbing while simultaneously boring. I can't explain why. As usual, I'll post longer thoughts on my Dreamwidth.

EDIT 2021: I wrote a furious blog post about how problematic this series is in 2019, before JKR decided to screech about her terrible opinions about trans women. Trans women are women. This series is problematic for a lot of reasons. I will probably still read it annually because of what it represented for me once upon a time.

I feel weird about giving this only a four-star rating. Last night, the power went out in my apartment complex for two hours, so I read a fair amount of this book by candlelight. It's not as romantic as it sounds. Years ago, in the context of a review of something else, someone said (paraphrasing), "Harry Potter fans weren't happy with the extended camping trip through the English countryside." They were talking about how hard it is to change settings when writing a series, especially in the final book. For the record, they also brought up the last "Hunger Games" book, and reading the last book is always jarring and odd at first, true. But this--not a fan of the camping trip. Not a fan of how -long- the book was, and I enjoy how long the books are as the series continues! The epilogue had me gritting my teeth, and I couldn't keep track of all the names. You do not need to have everyone paired up with kids at the end, JKR. I feel like it's an amateur move and I clearly had different expectations. The stuff with Dumbledore's post-death information was absolute (censored). How cheap! How insulting! An attempt at retconning (spoiler)!
What I did like: the wandlore! Wow, I enjoyed that and was really curious. Getting to know more about the goblins. The robbery was really interesting, but made me a little sad. Hermione continues to be absolutely awesome. I liked how dark the book was getting, how fast, and how much the stakes were raised. This is a series that isn't afraid to hurt the heroes, and properly makes the villains scary. The wedding was a good time, and I enjoyed the stories. Snape's memories were...written really well, but oddly placed, but I do get what the author was doing. I'm not sure how it could have been changed. The final action scenes had me really into them, but there was little room to breathe, as it were, because they were all jammed together, one after the other, and at the end, too. I didn't like how a minor, evil character survived--finish the evil sidekick off. Let the other villain come out frightened and furious. Don't have him drag the sidekick around. I was sad at the realistic mention of kids sneaking in to join the fight and dying, when they were clearly told to stay out. I was heartbroken when a certain married couple died, and another character. I was -not- a fan of Percy and wish he had a different path in the fight. I still don't forgive his previous actions.

When I do my yearly reread, I'll still read this, but will skip the epilogue and maybe the camping trip, or more likely skim over it. Still deciding. I thought this was a strong finish to the series. It did a lot, and I'm glad I read it. ( )

Перше читання - у 2007 (ISBN13: 9780747591054)
Не дочитала; страшенно розчарована якістю книги.

Перечитування - НІЗАЩО ( )

★★★★½

《Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.》

Ok, so. As expected I suffered as hell re-reading the whole series and blah blah. What else could I say? It's a matter of fact that these books are masterpieces, any other comment is useless :( ( )

Here we are, at the end of a truly great storyline. I have said it several times before, but I'll repeat it one last time for good measure: despite the fact that I don't like J.K. Rowling anymore because of her shitty behavior on Twitter, I will always love Harry Potter. I've literally just finished re-reading this story for the 4th time, and I already want to go through it all again. It is just that well-written.

Anyway, what do I think of the final entry? It's great, obviously. I will say it's probably my third favorite book in the series, behind Order of the Phoenix and Goblet of Fire, which are probably tied at the top for me. Firstly, I will talk about the few problems I have with it. One, the epilogue, while done fantastically in the movie, is not as stellar in the book. It's okay, but I feel it could have been a bit more... satisfying, you know? The way they did it in the movie left tears streaming down my face; here, I thought it was okay. My main problem with this book, however, is the pacing. It feels like certain sections of the book move a little too quickly, and certain other sections move a bit too quickly. The fact that, by the last 400 pages of this nearly 4,000-page story, only 2/8 of the fragments of Voldemort's soul had been destroyed is a bit odd. Things have moved a little too slowly by this point. Only 2 of the remaining 6 fragments of Voldemort's soul were within reach of the protagonists, and they had no way of destroying them. Then, things start moving very quickly, and the remains of Voldemort's soul (Horcruxes and his own body) are very quickly destroyed. I don't know. It almost felt like there should have been another book because there was so much left to be done.

Besides that, though, this is an exceedingly satisfying conclusion to the saga. So many things are finally revealed and resolved. As I mentioned in my Letterboxd review of Deathly Hallows Part 2, the reveal of Snape's loyalty is probably my favorite aspect of this entire story. It is even more detailed and satisfying in this book, where Harry reveals the truth to a stunned Voldemort as hundreds of on-lookers watch. Severus Snape will forever remain one of the most well-written characters in all of fiction. He is truly incredible. While I do slightly prefer Alan Rickman's adaptation to the book version because of how much less nasty he is in the movies, I am still a massive fan of this character in the books. He's probably my second favorite character behind Sirius Black.

A lot of people dislike the first half of this book because of how "boring" it is, but I must disagree. While the first 150 or so pages aren't that interesting because they form the obligatory section before the main story (at Privet Drive and the Burrow), everything that comes afterwards is immensely entertaining. Even the camping parts of this book I found interesting. There was so much work that had to be done by the main characters that I couldn't help but remain hooked, avidly anticipating their next course of action and wondering how they are going to overcome the obstacles that faced them.

The part of this book that absolutely blew me away, however, was the chapter "The Forest Again". It is an absolute master stroke of writing. Harry Potter, with the devastating knowledge that he is the final Horcrux and must walk into Death's arms, proceeds slowly through the Forbidden Forest with both fear and bravery. He has gone through more than any other witch or wizard in the history of his world, and he willingly carries out what he perceives to be his final sacrifice. The way Rowling depicts his fear at leaving his world is breathtaking. It honestly overwhelmed me. Bravo.

At the end of the day, Harry Potter has proven to me, time and time again, that it deserves to be held up there with the all-time-greats of fictional writing. It is one of the most brilliantly crafted stories of all time, and I won't stop coming back to it til the day I die. ( )

Loved this book as I loved all of the series. Did not want it to end and took my time reading it. I have to re-read the series. ( )