Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by Jaclyn Lutanco-ChuaWARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I’m such a Harry Potter fanatic (at least of the novels, not so much the movies) that when the publishers of Book 7 announced when it would be released, I marked the date down on my calendar and all but counted the days till I could get my hands on it.
The week prior to July 21, I re-read all six HP novels, just to make sure that no name or term that would crop up in Book 7 would be unfamiliar to me. I also surfed every website there was devoted to the book and to JK Rowling, just to pick up news, hints, and little bits of enriching trivia. And yes, I ignored all those spoilers that kept popping up, as I was determined to truly make Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the suspenseful finish to the whole series that it was meant to be.
So now that I’ve finished the book, what do I have to say?
What I love:
• Finally! Voldemort shines! I know, I know, he’s evil, but here, he’s impressively evil. His role in the six books were merely “supporting;†here in Book 7, we finally understand why everyone in the wizarding world was afraid of him.
• Great fight scenes. And there are lots of them. I can’t wait to see how the major ones will look on the big screen once the film version is made. I especially look forward to The Battle of Hogwarts; in relation, it was nice to see the professors do something more drastic than hand out detentions.
• The cameo appearances of familiar faces. Viktor Krum makes an appearance! So does Cho Chang, the other members of Dumbledore’s Army, and Dobby the house-elf. And, yeah, so does Dolores Umbridge, but don’t worry, you’ll love what happens to her.
• Snape’s redemption. I didn’t know which made me go “Oh my God†louder—when I read the chapter devoted to Snape’s memories, or when Hedwig dies. And speaking of characters dying…
• Deaths that hit the spot. I was so caught up in trying to predict who between Harry or Voldemort would die that I forgot that there were other characters (good guys) who could possibly die as well. Quite a few of them did, and to be honest, they were those whom I least expected. Which I guess was why the deaths were all the more jarring. Again, I hope the movie does these death scenes justice.
My gripes:
• A dragging middle. I think there were too much pages devoted to Harry & Co.’s stay at Grimmauld Place and their camping all over England.
• Dumbledore’s life. The idea that he had a sketchy past seemed to have come out of nowhere. I wish there had been hints about it in the previous six books; it’s kind of off to think that he was this great, benevolent wizard for the first six books and then get sprung a new notion right out of nowhere.
• Too-short epilogue. I wanted to see more of what happened to the other characters, like Luna, the rest of the Weasley family, even the Dursleys. But, hmm, don’t you think the ending left room open for a Harry Potter 8?… Now that would be cool!
Available at leading bookstores for P1450.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I didn’t like the epilogue at all. i felt that it came straight from an ABS-CBN telenevola where you learn who gets married to whom and children named after a person who mattered.
I think JKRowling showed us the married Harry to tell us there would be no sequels.
I agree with your point about Dumbledore and intend to reread the first 6 books to see if there was foreshadowing of if this is just a late addition to tie up everything.
I also didn’t enjoy the camp scenes and just read most of the dialogue in those parts. Rereading the books to find out what I missed.
Good job.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
In fairness to me, I always believed in my heart that Snape was going to redeem himself. I agree with all your gripes.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
i re-read books 5 & 6 before reading book 7!
i agree with everything that you’ve said… i actually loved the book! the book is actually a major tearjerker (same as half blood prince)
i, too, have a lot of questions to ask about the other characters and what they ended up to be. i just wish that the epilogue could have been longer.
i feel for snape! super…the unrequited love!
July 25th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Just to add — I also wish there was more to Viktor Krum! Hahaha. He was my favorite Triwizard contestant…wouldn’t it have been cool if he had also taken part in a major battle against the Death Eaters?! Too bad he was relegated to an “extra” in Book 7
July 25th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
My thoughts on Dumbledore’s past:
I think it was needed to justify why he ended up dying. He was already dying when he was killed by Snape, because he was tempted to wear the Horcrux, which was also one of the deathly Hallows. The Dumbledore we knew from the 6 previous books would never have been tempted to wear the ring. The ambitious Dumbledore who once thought of ruling over Muggles, of course, would have been SORELY tempted.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
^i think dumbledore was hoping to see his sister again that’s why he wore the ring.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
i loved the book! wasn’t supposed to buy one, because my brother had one, but he had this long list of people who wanted to borrow his book… and i couldn’t wait to read. hehe.
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!!!
a lot of loose ends here and there. hated the fact that fred died. and they didn’t dwell much on the deaths of tonks and lupin.
kainis kasi i was sooooo relieved that george was ok when he got his ear blown off, but then JKR goes and kills fred off anyway. grrr… oh well. then i had to read a few of the HP forums to see if i guessed right on how neville ended up with the sword in the end… i’ve started reading from book 1 again. you really need to know your HP history to tie things together in the end. must be why some people who aren’t readers sit with their mouths open (scratching their heads pa at times) while they watch HP on the big screen. you really have to know your HP stuff to completely understand, otherwise… duh! 
but yes, i love it that i was right about snape and him conniving with dumbledore. i must say that although the epilogue was indeed cheesy, i loved it that harry named his second born albus severus.
argh! JKR M-U-S-T write another one!!!!!!
July 25th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
I think the epilogue wasn’t necessary at all.
And yes, I so love the chapter “Prince’s Tale”. I wasn’t really expecting it.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
i agree. the epilogue was too short.it shouldve shown what happened to the dursleys.
i love the surprises about snape.
i hate that dumbledore had so much secrets na parang i couldnt believe it was the same dumbledore i knew from books 1 -6.
and sorry, but i hated that harry named his kids albus dumbledore, lily and james.blech.
overall, i loved book 7.
i hope the movie version is just as good, or better.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
just finished book 7! got to a late start because i had to reread all 6 other books… but it paid off! it really ties up everything together, pagnabasa mo uli na sunod sunod.
i always KNEW snape was good! (well, hula lang.) akalain mo yun… “Sev” turned out to be a bigger hero than dumbledore.
and harry being the 7th horcrux! a really popular prediction after book6 came out. kala ko tuloy JKR was gonna kill off harry in book 7 for sure. i kind of think it would’ve been better if she did, para tragic.
July 25th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
J.K. Rowling is brilliant! What a way to end an equally brilliant series! I read book 6 to prepare for Deathly Hallows (and book 5 to prepare for the movie and boy! I’m glad I did!). Book 7 is definitely in my “Best Books” list. I love that the book has a lot of twists and turns and Rowling ensured that we get a lot of action! To be honest, I abhor Snape, that’s why I can’t stop crying when Dumbledore asked if he has grown to care for Harry, after all this time and Snape said, “Always.” That’s one of my favorite parts. If the director/s do this right, Deathly Hallows is going to be a phenomenal movie.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:06 am
I only read book 1. I promise to read all of them… in order
July 26th, 2007 at 12:28 am
What?!!? She touched on my twins?!? Wahhhh!!!
July 26th, 2007 at 4:14 am
brilliant author!
i always knew about snape being the good guy, so even before harry went to the pensieve..i got emotional with snape’s death..specially the “look..at..me” moment..thats soooo sad! =(
he really loves lily & til his last breath, he wanted to see atleat those eyes..=(
and it made me more sad when harry saw his memeories..behind snape’s cruel image was a really great & brave guy!
who wouldnt cry when dumbledore asks him if he cared for harry over the years..and he angrily said with tears flowing down his cheeks “always!” =(
cried a lot with dobby’s death..he really loves harry & still saved him eventhough he’s already free serving him..his last words “harry..potter” saddened me a lot! and harry’s dugging dobby’s grave without using any magic was so hurtful.. =(
cried hard with “the forrest again”
its so hard to read..harry willing to sacrifice himself & cant even say goodbye with his friends.. =(
awww.,theres a lot of things i wanted to share but it’ll be endless!
overall i like the book but didnt like much the epilogue..
i surely will miss Harry Potter series! =(
July 26th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Corny yung epilogue. Yun lang. Ang daming characters pero konti lang yung inexplain.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Hmm… I think Snape’s “always” referred to Lily Potter, not Harry. When Dumbledore asked him if had grown to carry for Harry, Snape replies “For him??” (as if in disbelief) and conjures a Patronus… a doe…which was Lily’s Patronus. So when Dumbledore says “After all this time…?” it meant “After all this time you still love her?”
“Always.”
Hay… who would’ve figured Snape would be the romantic?
July 26th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
i love the fact that snape’s good after all… i’ve always belived that. and yeah, it was a surprise that he’s such a romantic
i love that neville’s grown up to have more confidence in himself
though i’m glad that harry ended up with ginny, and ron with hermione, i really thought that the epilogue was unnecessary… maybe because it definitely ended the series… im gonna miss it
i loved that part when they had 7 harry’s for the escape… brilliant! although hedwig and mad eye died…
overall, it was OVERWHELMING!!! i had to drop the book for a few minutes, a few times, really, just to recover from everything. haha
LOVE IT!!!
July 27th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
the epilogue wasn’t really wat i expected.. felt like it was added the last minute like j.k forgot it should have an ending.. ;p but still the book was great! kept me up all night.. couldnt put it down… though the middle part of the book was quite dragging.. but hey the wizards and witches throwing spells at death eaters makes up fot it.. plus the remarkable twist about severus snape… love it!!!
July 27th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
My fave chapter was Prince’s Tale.
Couldn’t believe that Snape was actually in love with Harry’s mom.
The epilogue was so-so. Looks like it was written to emphasize that there’ll be no HP 8.
July 28th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
i hated the epilogue! it was so cheesy!!! it’s like somnething out of a teleserye.
anyway, i really really liked the book. a lot of my predictions came true such as harry being one of the horcruxes and snape being good all along. i miss sirius. since he died, i’m always hoping that he’ll come back. i was expecting ron or hermione to die, hehehe. pero kawawa naman cguro si harry kase halos lahat ng loved ones niya namatay na.
i’m so sad. no more harry potter books to wait for. =(
July 28th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
I love the book, its very informative. although i am sad that this seems to be end of harry potter series. I hope there will be a continuation of his life from a teenaga harry to adult harry, more books about his adventures , like what job did he took after school or did they get to finish their seventh year? parang there’s still so many things about this magical world that could be explored. I cried at deaths of good people in this book, mad-eye , dobby, snape… I love this book and I am happy that harry didn’t die.
July 28th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
I’ve just finished the book last night. A lil bit late i know but it was good timing. I would like to congratulate Ms. JK Rowling for writing one of the best books ever! Grabe – it kept me on my toes till the end. Never knew who’s going to succeed until the last page. I was sad about the deaths of those characters whom i have grown to love. But I never expected the ending the twist in the story is really brilliant. Best book among the 7!
I agree about your gripes though… and i’d like to know how george tok fred’s death
July 29th, 2007 at 4:01 am
i cried more in book 6 than i did in 7. in fact, the only part i cried over in deathly hallows was when dudley was saying goodbye to harry. what a change of heart!
July 30th, 2007 at 10:19 am
i also just finished reading book 7 and it was over all a great book. I cried so much in this book with all the deaths involved but i cried most hard when Dobby died and Harry digging the grave manually…i couldn’t stop crying throughout that chapter. I loved that elf…and oh it was really nice that Kreacher had a change of heart too when Harry gave the fake locket to him. I was also touched with Dudley’s change of heart when he said goodbye to Harry…didn’t expect his heart will soften after the Dementor attack…hehehe! I was also surprised to learn about Snape’s past…i mean I know he’ll turn around in the end but i just didn’t expect it to be that dramatic. I also agree that the Epilogue was too short…i wanted to know what happened to the rest of the Weasley’s too and Draco and Dudley and Luna. And naming the second son Albus Severus was kind of corny to me…..hehehe…James and Lily were ok but Albus Severus? it was too much. The fight scenes on the first few chapters and Hogwarts Battle was heart stopping. I mean i’d love to see the professors in action when the movie comes out 2yrs from now. (especially Professor Flitwick!)All in all it was a great book and for those who hasn’t read all the books are missing half of their life. hehehehe! It’s just sad that it has to end…nothing to look forward to anymore. =(
July 30th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
love the book! but too sad it will be my last journey w/ harry. I really didn’t like the way they added Dumbledore’s family history, sobrang pinilit lng, all along the bar man at hogsmeade was his brother pala. The piece of shattered glass from Sirius given to Harry, how did it became connected w/ Abeforth didn’t get it, when did it happen?
July 30th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
the epilogue that was included in the book was, according to JK Rowling, not the original epilogue she’ve written. The original epilogue contains a very detailed “family tree” of what becomes of the characters. She plans on publishing a Harry Potter encyclopedia. HP and RW became aurors, i forgot what HG did become, but she’s also in Ministry of Magic. According to JK, they revolutionized the Ministry of Magic.
My most favorite chapter is the “Prince’s Tale”. The twist that was presented is very unexpected. Although, all these times I believed that Snape is a GOOD guy all through out. When Snape said to Harry “look at me” before his final breath was like Snape is looking into Lily’s eyes. No wonder, it was always indicated in all the previous books that Harry’s eyes is like his mother’s.
According to JK Rowling, she intended to kill Mr. Weasley but didn’t push through with it. Instead, she killed Lupin and Tonks.
I really cried on the parts where Fred and Dobby died.
I was really touched when Dudley suddenly became emotional when they were leaving.
although, there are parts that makes me stop and check the consistency of the story, I still consider it as good.
What happened to Kreacher when HP, RW and HG didn’t return to 12 Grimmauld Place? How come HP and RW was able to apparate without an apparition license? How come when HP was walking to the Forbidden Forest and used the stone, Dumbledore is not one of the people with him? How come the Horcruxes suddenly became so easy to locate?
I’d be rereading the series starting from Book 1…
did anybody noticed the similarity of Dumbledore and Snape with that of Jesus Christ and Judas? =D
July 30th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
j., how could you even think about that last line in you post? let alone say it. i don’t think anyone wants to go down that road. criminey.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
ako din im gonna re-read the whole series!
OMG, that epilogue you were telling us about would have been better (and less corny, i suppose)… may i ask where you got that information? =D
July 31st, 2007 at 11:19 am
i just finished my copy, hehehe! totally loved it! though i share the same sentiments of the other readers, epilouge was short, I would like to know more about the other characters that survived…
July 31st, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I love harry potter book 7, and I cried during the scene where Harry saw his parents, sirius & lupin. I hate Dolores Umbridge more than Voldermort. I really dislike Snape but I trust Dumbledore when he said he trusts Snape so I’m just waiting for Snape to show his true colors. Yup! the camping trip was a drag but its important to the story coz HP had no idea where to go next so for a while they were running around in circles searching for the next clue.
About the epilogue, JK Rowling stated that she intended it to be vague. She plans to write a HP Encyclopedia , its about what happened to the other characters.
Overall, I was contented with the finale book, sad but contented.
July 31st, 2007 at 2:00 pm
for those asking about where I read about the epilogue here is the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/
and elsie, it was just an opinion on my part, and just decided to share =) don’t mean to offend anyone.
August 1st, 2007 at 6:54 pm
guys the transcript from JKR’s live chat is available at leaky cauldron!
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:47 am
hey! about Dumbledore’s past…I think what happened to his family gave him a deeper understanding of the idea of selflessness and also, it’s the reason why he trusts other people so much…because deep inside, he knows that he had done worse things than other people…Lastly, I think his being known as a muggle protector is his way of atoning for past mistakes ;P
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:40 am
just finished bk 7, got it late coz ive reread books 1 to 6…i really cried a river with dobby’s death..and with harry dugging the elfs grave really touches me..without using any magic at all.
August 4th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Well, obviously many felt ‘bitin’ on the epilogue. Jk finally adressed the issue and said that she intended it that way, as she has written two drafts for the epilogue and chose the shorter one because she did not want the ending to be crowded and unfitting for the rest of the book.
HOWEVER, she announced that she would release a HP Encyclopedia. WOOOOOHOOO. That would probably answer all our questions and give all the information we need regarding what happened with all our favorite characters. =)
August 26th, 2007 at 1:11 am
I want to thank the very kind saleslady at National Bookstore who gave me a copy even though I didn’t get a reservation last year. I was so excited that finally the saga will wrap up after about 7 years of waiting.
The story was great although the part about camping around london was soooo dragging i have to skip a few lines just to get ahead with the story. I really cried when Dobby died but screamed with triumph when Mrs. Weasley whammed Bellatrix. It was sooo exhilarating. But the bit that I cried the most was when Snape made Harry look into his eyes just to see Harry’s mom’s eyes for the last time. Now that is love… I always knew in my heart Snape has something good inside him and never believed he killed Dumbledore for his evil plot… Hurrah for JK Rowling!!! I never regret the day I picked up the first Harry Potter book even way before it became popular. It opened a door for a new adventure in my life!!!
August 28th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Honestly, the epilogue was really “corny.” Anyway, am I the only person who doesn’t like Ginny for Harry? I would’ve liked it better if Harry ended up with Cho.