Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling

Reviewed by Coral

With the final battle approaching, Harry, Hermione and Ron race - although not all that quickly, and with plenty of side adventures - to find and destroy all the horcruxes containing Voldemort's soul.

Wow, this was a bad book. I really, really did not enjoy reading this book. At all.

The tone was set pretty early on, with the whole 'move Harry from the Dursleys' debacle. First off, why even bother making a show of it? Why try and confuse the Death Eaters with a bunch of different Harrys for them to follow, leading off to a bunch of random places and one real place? That automatically puts everyone who was pretending and everyone at the places they were escaping to in danger. Why not just use a portkey to get to Tonks' parents house? But, more ridiculous, is that Tonks' parents' house wasn't even where Harry was being hidden. Instead he uses a portkey to get to Ron's house, which is the rendez-view point for all the fake Harrys, making the whole plan completely useless. They should have just taken him from the Dursleys to Ron's with a portkey and be done with the whole thing.

Not for the first time, I was left wondering how the rest of the Wizarding world can just sit by and let Voldemort get away with what he does. It's like they all are willfully blind to what's going on around them. All of the muggle born policies and such should have caused a greater uproar in the common people.

Minor things I still don't understand: When Voldemort ordered that all students be sent to Hogwarts, what happened to the foreign schools? Actually, the books never really focus very much on the Wizarding world outside of Britain. If Voldemort didn't have control there, maybe they should have thought to hide Harry outside of Britain? And, if Durmstang is so pro-Dark Magic, why didn't the Death Eaters send their children there?

How could Lily ever fall in love with James Potter? If Snape was supposedly her best friend, how could she love the boys who bullied him? And, if Snape loved Lily for years and years, I really don't see him turning against her by joining the Death Eaters. It makes no sense.

And, of course, it can't be a Harry Potter book without yet another Harry and Ron fight that removes Ron from Harry's side, although for once this one didn't last that long.

By the end of the series, Harry really has become the least interesting and least sympathetic character in it. Again, I dislike the whole 'prophesized' character on whom everything hinges. There were so many more interesting characters in the book that it could have concentrated on. Snape, for one. Or Draco. Even for a few chapters, for something different.

Oh, and Narcissa Malfoy sure picked a strange time to rebel against the Dark Lord. I know, she was just thinking about saving her son, but by withholding vital information about whether or not Harry was alive from Voldemort, she just guaranteed the death of her family if he had won the battle. And, at the time, he looked to be on the winning side. Seriously, how was she planning on explaining it? Oops, missed the heartbeat?

I hated the epilogue. It was a fanfiction type of ending (a very bad fanfiction). I would have enjoyed more about what's happened in the Wizarding world since Voldemort's death and less about who is married to whom and how many kids they have. I will leave aside my dislike for the Harry-Ginny and Hermion-Ron pairings and the fact that I'm not sure they would have had any real lasting power - in any group of friends, is everyone still with their high school sweetheart? Some people, sure. But everyone in a group? And, considering that James and Lily got together in school too, it's kind of a childish look at love in general - to say that despite everything else despicable about him, I agree with Voldemort that the houses should be disbanded inside of Hogwarts. They don't do anything except cause divisions amongst the students.

And, the last thing I will probably ever write about Harry Potter is: after everything that went on at Hogwarts and given him family legacy and the children who will be attending Hogwarts, why would Draco send his son there instead of to another school where his son could have a fresher start?

Grade: F