Having left his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in order to finish the task that Dumbledore has left him, Harry, accompanied by Ron and Hermione, embarks upon his most dangerous and epic adventure yet. Facing curses, failures, disappointments, darkness, and death itself, can Harry accomplish the seeming impossible task of ridding the world of the Dark Lord Voldemort once and for all?
I was in high school when Deathly Hallows was first released. It was a Saturday and I knew that once I had bought my copy of the book, I needed to get through it before I went back to school on Monday morning. The reason for this being that all my friends were Harry Potter fans and really fast readers, and I knew that if I hadn’t finished the book before Monday, then the entire story would be ruined because they would do nothing by discuss all the details, spoiling everything in the process. I did not come out of my room for that entire weekend. For two days, I did nothing but read read read. I was even late for school on Monday morning, thinking that I had two free periods in order to finish the book and then, after turning the final page, realising that I had gotten my weeks mixed up and has just missed two periods of Modern History. But I finished the book! And that’s all that mattered.
It seemed, at that time, that nothing else mattered aside from knowing what happened in the new Harry Potter books. The adventures and anecdotes of those fictional characters had eclipsed political battles, celebrity gossip, global warming, and financial crisis. Harry Potter was a real phenomenon, equally as important as any global crisis. And Deathly Hallows was the final word. That period of waiting to see who triumphed was equally as anticipatory as waiting to hear who was voted Prime Minister. The story was on that level!
Deathly Hallows, I think, can be summed up in one word: exciting. Truly exciting. In no other book have I squealed, danced, screamed, and cried (yes I even cried) as much as I did reading Deathly Hallows. With simple third person narrative language, the book ropes you in as soon as you open it. And with action, suspense, and a little bloodshed on every page, it’s impossible to put it down.
I do, though, have one criticism about the book. Without wanting to give too much way (although quite frankly anyone who hasn’t read these books by now deserves to be shot), the final tacked-on chapter seemed, to me, to be too much like a screenplay. By that, I mean that what Rowling wrote would be fine for film, but for a book, I feel that you shouldn’t have to spell out the ending for the reader. I realise that many people wanted to know what happened to all their favourite characters, but wouldn’t it be better left for them to use their imagination? I don’t know about anyone else, but I found that final chapter a little cheesy and tacked-on. That’s my one criticism.
Aside from that, Deathly Hallows is a truly exciting story filled with absolutely everything: there are dragons, romance, action, battles, magic spells, bloodshed, rebellion, memorable sacrifices and touching death scenes. It was the perfect conclusion to a truly epic tale.
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