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J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Review

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author: J. K. Rowling

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 610

Rating: 8/10

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

This is the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, and it focusses on the exploits of Harry, Ron and Hermione as they attempt to locate and destroy horcruxes, which are basically artefacts that include fragments of Lord Voldemort’s soul. Whilst his essence is scattered across different artefacts, he can’t be defeated – the horcruxes must be destroyed first, and only then can there be a final showdown.

This happens at Hogwarts towards the end of the book, when all of the characters converge for a massive face off between good and evil. There are casualties on both sides, but I won’t say who survives and who doesn’t – that’s down for you to find out, when you read it.

What I will say is that this is easily Rowling’s most ‘adult‘ book – it comes at the end of the series, and the series seemed to mature over time. This is great news if, like me, you grew up with the Harry Potter series – it meant that as the series grew darker over time, you were able to appreciate that darkness.

J. K. Rowling

I don’t know whether this necessarily works as a standalone – I think you could probably just about follow what was happening, but I also don’t see why you’d want to. After all, the great thing about reading a series is that you pick up on the subtle nuances that occur over time, which you don’t really get with standalones.

As always, Rowling’s characterisation is in top form here, and the interpersonal relationships between characters in particular are highlighted here to their fullest extent. In fact, we get to see them taken to their logical conclusion – in the epilogue at the end, we see how things turned out for all of the characters that we grew to know and love. Except for the ones that are dead by the end of the book.

One of the interesting things in Deathly Hallows is that very little of the action takes place at Hogwarts – Harry himself is on the run, because the country has effectively been taken over by He Who Must Not Be Named and his Death Eaters. Despite being a ‘good guy‘, Harry is living as an outlaw, because the law happens to be enforced by the bad guys.

J. K. Rowling Quote On Robert Galbraith

Things are bleak, and Rowling paints an incredible picture of a world that’s headed towards ruin. Just when it seems like there’s no hope, something happens to pull us back up again, but only temporarily – it’s a fantastic storytelling technique, which helps to keep the reader interested throughout.

After all, it’s a relatively long read, like most of the later Harry Potter books, but it’s well worth it, especially if you’ve read the rest of the series in order. This book does a great job of wrapping things up – is it a problem that Rowling was in no real rush to do so?

In fact, the main problem with Deathly Hallows is that it ended – when it came out, I read it in a day, and then felt a sense of crushing disappointment. It had nothing to do with the story or the quality of the writing – I was just hit with the realisation that that was it, and that there would be no more Harry Potter books for me to look forward to.

Still, Rowling has a great talent for writing, and she hasn’t stayed idle – I’ve read her subsequent work, and it’s pretty good – she seems to excel in every genre.

J. K. Rowling

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J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Review

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Author: J. K. Rowling

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 768

Rating: 7/10

J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Wow – I reported in my review of Order of the Phoenix that it was the longest Harry Potter book by page count, but Half-Blood Prince is only two pages shorter. Considering that each of my reviews takes the page count of the book that I’m reviewing and turns it into a word count for the article, I have my work cut out for me.

I didn’t think much of Half-Blood Prince, which is why I only gave it a 7/10 – it was professional and proficient, but it just wasn’t as magical as the other books in the series. Oh, sure – it was necessary. If anything, the story line itself is developed just as much (if not more) in this book than it is anywhere else. It’s just that it doesn’t feel like much fun whist it’s all happening, and a high-profile character gets killed off, too.

Broadly speaking, the plot introduces the concept of horcruxes, which are fragments of Lord Voldemort’s soul which were introduced to a number of different objects to preserve the Dark Lord’s immortality. One such horcrux was Tom Riddle’s diary, which you might remember from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I’m not going to spoil it by telling you what each of those horcruxes are, but I will tell you that in this book, Harry learns that it falls to him to hunt them down and to destroy them.

J. K. Rowling

This is largely what happens in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was much more exciting. In contrast, the vast majority of this book seems like it’s only present to set the scene for the final book in the series. That said, it is interesting to watch as the wizarding world is forced to deal with the return of the Death Eaters, and the slow descent into fear which characterises the return to power of He Who Must Not Be Named. There’s a darker feel throughout it, and it feels like Rowing’s universe has finally matured, like it’s grown from a child to an adult.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read this book – I’m just saying that it’s something of a let down, if you compare it to the rest of the books in the series. It just didn’t seem to have the same magic – it was a bit like reading a Rick Riordan book instead of a J. K. Rowling book. Competent enough, but somehow missing that secret ingredient. You should still read Half-Blood Prince, if only to discover who the titular character is, but you should read each of the books in order. That way, you’ll be so deeply invested in the series that by the time that you get here, you’ll be determined to see it through.

I don’t mean to be too harsh on Half-Blood Prince, because there’s nothing inherently wrong with it – indeed, I’m sure there are fans out there who regard it as their favourite book in the series – but I will say that it just didn’t do it for me. That’s all I have to say on the matter, really – it didn’t feel right, it didn’t hit home, and I just didn’t think much of it either whilst I was reading it or afterwards.

J. K. Rowling Quote On Robert Galbraith

Unfortunately, I still have another 200 words to fill, so let’s take a look at its reception. It’s certainly true that it broke a lot of records, although many of those same records were eventually beaten by its successor, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and it also sold a lot of copies. My counterargument to that would be that Rowling could have released anything and she still would’ve received the same reception – and, like I said, there’s nothing that’s actually wrong with it.

Perhaps part of my attitude towards it stems from its release date – I was about sixteen at the time, and so I had a lot of other things on my mind. But I still read it pretty quickly, and I’d had high hopes for it after The Order of the Phoenix, which was one of my favourites. It just didn’t live up to my expectations, and that’s a shame – other than Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which is much more of a ‘children’s book‘, no other book in the series left such a lasting impression of mediocrity. But hey ho – not to worry about it, just read your way through it and then move on to Deathly Hallows!