SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

July 27, 2007 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part One)

July 27, 2007 by Betsy Bird   Leave a Comment

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.  Bloomsbury (British edition). $34.99.

Big honking multi-pronged spoiler alert.  But you knew that anyway, did you not?

I’ve known Harry Potter for eight years now. Eight years is a long time to know anyone, fictional or not. Since I first met him, Mr. Potter has remained a fixed point in my life. He’s been more real than passing acquaintances. His stories, coming out as they have every couple of years, were always something to look forward to. And now he’s gone. Rowling has finished her series and as I write this I just finished the book a scant five minutes ago. I won’t tell you the ending. I couldn’t if I tried. But finishing this book, and officially ending my acquaintance with Harry and his world, is an odd experience. It doesn’t feel as if I’ve lost someone so much as I wish they hadn’t left me behind. I read the last sentence of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" just six minutes ago now and it’s going to be one of the better remembered last sentences I carry with me from here on in.

The end has come. Usually at this time of year, Harry would be looking forward to going back to Hogwarts to finish out his final year. Now he finds he can’t. His birthday is looming and any day now Voldemort is going to personally see to it that he finishes the job he started many years ago. Harry has a quest of his own, however. Before Dumbledore died he saw to it that Harry know that his goal in life was to find the horcruxes that contain pieces of Voldemort’s soul and destroy them one-by-one. With Ron and Hermione by his side, Harry sets out to do just that, but finds his path is not an easy one. The world as he has always known it is coming to ruins. The Ministry has fallen under Voldemort’s sway. The good guys are dying, the bad guys surviving, and Harry and friends are losing hope. Fortunately, help is always available to those who seek it. The end is most certainly near.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Satisfying. That’s how I’d describe it. A satisfying, death-filled, torture-happy, magnificent read. I always felt that with Harry Potter, as he grows up, so too grow his adventures. "Sorcerer’s Stone"/"Philospher’s Stone" was always the kid-friendliest of the books, followed closely by "Chamber of Secrets". Really, it was when "Azkaban" hit that Rowling felt free to go as dark as she dared. Turns out, she dares quite a lot. The near simultaneous release of this book with the filmed version of "Order of the Phoenix" meant that I found myself accidentally comparing the two. In the book of "Phoenix" there’s a scene where Umbridge comes mighty close to torturing someone close to Harry. Reading this, I figured that this meant that none of the our two best buddies of Harry would ever suffer in the same way. Well I figured wrong wrongdy wrong wrong. It’s not like Rowling doesn’t prepare you, of course. The opening sequence of the book contains enough nastiness to scare away anyone who sees these books as cotton candy light kiddie affairs. There’s some mature stuff going on here. I mean, how many children’s books get away with having an older male character with an inordinate (unhealthy?) love of goats? I ask you.

The most impressive aspect of this book, to me, was that it never did what you expected of it. Rowling has had to hear and digest more predictions regarding her book than anyone should have to deal with. In spite of that, the story is not the predictable little package you expect it to be. Rowling goes back to every previous book, digging up facts and characters and details that we, the readers, have probably forgotten. I got the definite sense that of all the Harry Potter fans in the world, Rowling is probably the biggest. She MUST have reread everything she wrote prior to writing this title, right? Even if she didn’t, her sense of story is so developed that innumerable details were prepped and prepared long before they became important in this final tale.

I was fond of all the little details as well. The fact that James and Lily were 21 when Harry died makes a lot of sense. I was just amazed that Rowling decided to put actual years on her tombstones. That certainly anchors the series in time, does it not? As a Snape fan (yes, I am the biggest fangirl nerd dork in the known universe) Rowling definitely delivered in the unrequited love department. Somehow I suspect that the Snape fan clubs out there have possibly expired from sheer delight and joy. Come to think of it, Rowling seems to have decided to give the public what they want in a very tangible way. You wanna see Neville stand up and beat down the bad guy? Check. You wanna see Mrs. Weasely kick some nasty Bellatrix butt? Check. Stand up and cheer moments do not lack here.

Admittedly, some people are a bit pissed off that Lupin and Tonks end up dead without so much as a by-your-leave. And some would have preferred not to see the dead rise up and do a walkabout. None of this bothered me in the slightest. In battles, people die. I would have been much more upset if we hadn’t seen how Fred had died. I did wish that Rowling spent less time skulking about in the woods with her heroes. For an interminable amount of time these three just sit around doing nothing but kvetch. I understand that Rowling feels a need to let things get worse before they get better, but about the time Harry’s wand broke I was so depressed that I could hardly read any further. I had to keep glancing at the cover of my book (British edition) to reassure myself that things would have to get better later.

There are questions left unanswered too. What, for example, is the deal with Harry’s ancestry? The guy has no living relatives and a huge inheritance for some reason. Wherefore? I was hoping for some background on this one, but I guess Rowling will answer such concerns in that encyclopedia of Potter knowledge she’s promised to make. I’d also like some confirmation that Severus got a big old funeral with lots of attention and maybe a wing of Hogwarts named after him. At the very least.

(CONTINUED IN PART TWO)

Filed under: Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

July 2022

Review of the Day: Listen to the Language of the Trees by Tera Kelley, ill. Marie Hermansson

by Betsy Bird

June 2022

Review of the Day: Zia Erases the World by Bree Barton

by Betsy Bird

June 2022

Review of the Day: Book of Questions / Libro de las Preguntas by Pablo Neruda, ill. Paloma Valdivia

by Betsy Bird

June 2022

Review of the Day: Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall

by Betsy Bird

May 2022

Review of the Day: The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Notes on June 2022

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day: Listen to the Language of the Trees by Tera Kelley, ill. Marie Hermansson

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Banana Fox and The Gummy Monster Mess | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Mock Newbery Update – Our List of First Half Suggestions

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

by

The Classroom Bookshelf

by

The Yarn

Shark Week, Vanilla Ice Cream, and the Honda CRV: Bob Shea and Brian Won Team Up for ADURABLE

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Best Middle Grade Books 2021 | SLJ Best Books

SLJ Book Reviews Editors’ Favorite Quotes from 2021 Best Books

Best Picture Books 2020 | SLJ Best Books

Best Picture Books 2021 | SLJ Best Books

Best Chapter Books 2020 | SLJ Best Books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2022


    COPYRIGHT © 2022