Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

Summary I feel a little sad that there will be no more Harry Potter books.

Harry has left Hogwarts to dedicate himself to the quest for final Horcruxes, together with his friends Ron and Hermione. Harry is also searching for the answers he feels Dumbledore has left unanswered and his feelings for his beloved old headmaster veer from anger and bitterness to painful loss. Voldemort continues his rise and nowhere seems to be safe anymore. With three gifts, bequeathed by Dumbledore to our intrepid trio, they set off on their deadliest task yet and know that this could be the end of everything they hold dear, even themselves. With Voldemort ever closer our hero must not hesitate; the final battle is coming and no one knows what the outcome will be.

The seventh and final instalment of the Harry Potter series sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hour of its release. To say it was eagerly awaited would be an understatement. It was like holding the holy grail when my copy arrived (pre-ordered of course) and I savoured the moment before I actually opened the book; this would be the last time I would hold a Harry Potter book that I had not read, once I had finished this, that would be it, no more. That lasted about three seconds, I read the book in almost one sitting, this was to get me complete and undivided attention, no telephones answered, no friends welcomed in if they called, just this long awaited last piece of the puzzle and me.

And did it deliver? You bet your sweet behind!! There are many loose ends that are tied up here, lovely little snippets of additional information that enable to not merely understand why and event has occurred but understand the characters personality (JK Rowling is so good at this), why they would react a certain way. There are of course many revelations not just for Harry but for the reader and some suspicions you may have had about some characters are found to be true! The end of the book really takes you there and back before you reach the conclusion and I am not surprised that Rowling cried when she had completed it, it was emotionally draining for me and I was only reading it!! It has been said that this and the Half Blood Prince were really one book splint into two, rather than two separate stories, and I do believe that to be true.

I would still say that Half Blood Prince is my favourite but it’s a close call and very difficult to separate the two. All I can say is that you will not be disappointed when you read the Deathly Hallows. How can a series of books, written for children (although admittedly I think us grown ups were considered a bit more in the writing of the last three) become something so entrenched in peoples imaginations? It’s simple, I KNOW that I was destined to go to Hogwarts, that I have special powers that I remain ignorant of and that there is more to life than the world we see around us, it is only by some fluke that my true destiny was never fulfilled and that Harry Potter was written as a way of letting me experience a little of what could have been – also, JK Rowling isn’t too bad a writer. I feel a little sad that there will be no more books, but in a way, it was good it has ended leaving you wanting more, and now I have my own daughter, I cannot wait until she is old enough and we can read them together.

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