This book was the long awaited, final book of the famous “Harry Potter” series written by J.K. Rowling. Millions of people were looking forward to read how the battle between Harry Potter and Dark Lord Voldemort ended. Did the book live up to its hype?

The Storyline

Voldemort, the dark lord, has risen again, and finally, everybody knows and believes it to be the truth. The “Order of the Phoenix”, a heroic group led by Harry Potter, is working overtime, and there is death and torturing left right and centre, and the “Ministry of Magic”, the magical world government, is looking to be in the command of the “Death Eaters”, Voldemort’s soldiers, any second. Terror reigns in the wizarding world, and it’s spreading to the “muggle”, the non-magical people, world as well.

Harry has been given a mission from Dumbledore, of the one, surefire way to defeat Voldemort, or at least give him a fighting chance when it comes to a showdown. Dumbledore has stressed that the mission must be secret, only Ron and Hermione, his 2 best friends, can know and join in. So Harry, Ron and Hermione set off, skipping their final year of Hogwarts for a dangerous secret mission that they have only the vaguest idea of. When the Ministry of Magic falls, and the decrees of the Death Eaters roll in, Harry becomes the “Undesirable Number One” and there is a price on his head. Can he, Ron, and Hermione solve the clues Dumbledore has given them, destroy the Horucruxes which are parts of his heart he has taken out of his body and kept hidden for him to have more lives, and defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort? And how many more innocent people will need to die in the process?

With the death toll mounting, and Harry’s mental connection with Voldemort getting stronger with every moment, there isn’t much time. And then, Harry discovers the secret of the Hallows…

Style of Writing

This book follows the classic Harry Potter style, however this time more action packed and less dragged out than “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, the 5th book in the series, but still a bit tiresome anyway. Harry is older, but he’s still got that valiant and self-sacrificial attitude of “No, I have to do it myself, I can’t put anyone else in danger, me, me, me,” etc. Harry has the exact same persona we know. Furthermore, the relationships between the 3 main characters are strained and awkward. Ron and Hermione’s relationship is imprecise and utterly unbelievable for seventeen year olds. On the other hand, most of the side-line characters are well done, well motivated, and understandable.

As for the actual plot, in true J.K. Rowling style, the book starts off gently, then hops into some action straight away, and then starts to drift slowly around the middle while the reader wonders how she intends to wrap the whole thing up at this pace, and then just as the reader can’t possibly tell where this is all going she swoops in and starts piling on the action, twists, and in this case, the final resolutions. However, there are some good twists here, and the loose ends are all tied up in a particularly satisfactory manner for followers. The action makes up for most of the dicey characterisation, and when it was over I was pretty impressed with how it turned out actually.

However, without spoiling it, the final section wasn’t great, and should have been left out all together, and while I originally felt the ending was a bit of a let down, I ironically realised that it was actually the best way it could have turned out. And if you’ve stuck with the Harry Potter series from the beginning, you’d be happy for it to finish, and it’s worth reading it.

Recommended Reader Age Group

This is definitely not a story for little kids. In fact, your average nine or ten year old, even if capable of reading the big words, isn’t going to understand the complex plot line or the political and fairly adult themes. While I certainly wouldn’t say “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is an adult novel, it’s certainly aimed more at older children, say from 12+. And it’s also really for people who have read the rest of the series, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it for someone who’s had no interest in any “Harry Potter” novel before this and has never read any of them. This book is meant for the era of Potter fans who can appreciate it as it is meant to be appreciated.

Final Say & Rating

The book is definitely worth reading if you have followed the series until this book, it isn’t worth reading if you haven’t read any of the previous books as you’d be completely lost with the characters and their allegiances, etc.

My rating would be a solid: 8.5/10