The seventh and final Harry Potter book—I remember how excited I was when this first came out. My mom and I are huge fans so she pre-ordered us each a copy on Amazon.com. The two books were delivered on a weekend day and at around 10:00am we each cracked open our copy, started reading, and didn’t stop until we finished (we took breaks for food and such, of course.) My mom finished at around 1:00am and I finished at 4:00am, so this tells you just how massive a book it is. Unless I miss my count that’s 15-18 hours of reading, and both of us read fairly fast. Seeing it put in numbers like that makes it sound crazy, but it’s a great book so I think it was worth it (I’m not sure I’d want to marathon it again, though!) One of the most fun parts, I thought, about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is that it doesn’t take place at the school, as all the other books have. The difference in setting made such a huge difference in the feel of the story that it was impressive. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are searching the globe for things called “Horcruxes,” which supposedly can help them bring about an end to Voldemort’s reign of terror. Partway through their journey they learn about the Deathly Hallows, a trio of items in the wizarding world that grant the owner “the power to cheat death.” Voldemort, of course seems to be searching for these items as well as Harry, who he is determined to see dead.
So, from what I remember (because I read this when it came out, which was July of 2007—three whole years ago), I really enjoyed this book. I remember the epilogue being a bit strange for reasons those who’ve read the book will understand (A.S.P.—that poor child…) and I don’t remember how the resolution went. Usually I remember the more crucial parts of the story and forget the little details, but I’ve managed to forget most of everything—seeing the first half of the 7th movie brought a lot of things back!
So what are the numbers? Well, here’s the google search: Contemporary Lit.about.com gives it a 5/5, Amazon.com gives it a 4.5/5, as does Goodreads.com (4.5/5). The general consensus is that this book was great.
So fans of Harry Potter can rejoice—the ending really does it justice. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people saying how impressed they were with “How nicely things wrapped up!” For the record: It really is that good, and yes, they did need to split it into two movies. They couldn’t have done it justice otherwise!
I had forgotten a lot too. I somehow remember a good bit about the end, mostly the fight at the school. I forget who dies though, and I had actually forgotten about Mad Eye's situation until I saw the movie again. Part of me wants to read the book over again, but i think part of the problem (for me) is that it is too long for me to make a casual day by day read. I would actually LOOVE for her to make another series of Harry's Dad and Mom's lives and the story of Padfoot and the rest of em. I don't know if they'd be as good as the original Harry series but I would still love to read it:)
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