Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author: J.K. Rowling
Published Date: July 21, 2007
Letter Grade: Good Question.

Oh, all right. So I was a teensy bit off the mark. Some of you may recall this review from back in February, where I most vehemently argued against some of the speculations put out by MuggleNet.com.

Well. All right. So I was wrong. On most counts. I still dislike the chapter on Dumbledore, for the record.

Speaking of Alby, I have to say that I got the sneaking suspicion the entire time I read the book that JKR was having a bit of fun with we the readers. For instance, each and everytime someone pointed out that, yes, "Dumbledore is dead," I half expected it to be followed by "Despite what the folks at dumbledoreisnotdead.com say..."

Anyway. I really don't think I need to give a synopsis for this one. And if I do, you're probably not that interested in it, anyway.

So. My feelings about the book. Aside from being thwarted in my views at the very end, that is. (*spoiler warning!*I can take some comfort in the fact, though, that I was starting to waver ever so slightly in the Snape- good or evil? issue. You can imagine how frustrating that was.)

Basically, I loved the book. I hated putting it down. Absolutely abhorred it. Because, much to my annoyance, it kept me up at night when I most needed to sleep.

Strangely enough, I didn't cry at all in this book. I've cried in three out of the seven: Chamber of Secrets (when I thought Ginny was going to die,) Order of the Phoenix (at Sirius' death, of course), and Half-Blood Prince (at the long questioned death of Albus Dumbledore.)

Considering some of my most loved characters died in this book, as happened in the three mentioned above (or at least nearly died,) I'm a little surprised. I'm especially surprised at the characters whose deaths most affected me. That one I wasn't expecting. Though, it did take me a bit to realize why the character particularly wished for Harry to look at them at that moment. It seemed a tad out of character till... well, till I read the next chapter and thought it through.

I hate writing so as not to spoil. Considering how paranoid I was about having this book spoiled for me, you'd think I'd be especially sensitive to that.

I was a little disappointed with Wormtail, though. Not that this is surprising, mind you. There's little about Wormtail as a character that isn't disappointing/hateful/etc. I expected more. Maybe too much, considering the character, and considering Voldemort, but still.

I will say this though: Speculation is fun, but sometimes it's just ridiculous. The symbol on the spine of one of the UK editions of the book (I forget if it's the children's or adult) led to tons and tons of speculation by the hosts of MuggleCast. In the end, it was nothing anyone could figure out without having read the book. Imagine, all that energy spent on deciphering a tiny little symbol, only to have the entire endeavor be a waste of brain power.

And, all right, I'm still smarting a little from the rest that they were dead on about, but I found out about the symbol before anything else.

At any rate, I really don't know how to grade this book. It was unquestionably fantastic. It kept me up at night. I'm itching to reread it, though I know I won't. I only reread HBP and OOTP this past semester because I knew Deathly Hallows was coming. Aside from the first couple chapters of Sorcerer's Stone and Prisoner of Azkaban, I haven't reread anything else.

I am still, however, immensely curious about the things I could have sworn we were supposed to hear about in this final book:

-The Ford Anglia (though I did love the mention of the motorbike)
-Someone using magic late in life (eh?)
-The Department of Mysteries (while somewhat mentioned, only in passing.)

All so terribly interesting and yet I must be left in suspense. JKR has a way of doing that.