The last, and arguably best, of the Harry Potter series.

The forces of life and death circle each other as the final battle draws near...and our heroes find themselves facing their most desperate struggle by far.

Anyone who's followed Harry Potter thus far, and is keen to know how it ends.

Rowling's talents as a writer see their most expert use to date. Notably, her sense of immersion: you can really picture yourself amidst the narrative, in a way that most books struggle to achieve with such clarity.

Also, her command of set-up and pay-off is superb. Half the plot of this book hinges on obscure details from the very first book, and it still manages to feel totally organic.

And, more specific to Deathly Hallows: the series spent six books setting up a remarkably elaborate formula, and in the finale, very cleverly upends it all at the first opportunity.

The ending leaves the vast majority of characters' fates unspecified. For a series that relied a great deal on its extensive and vibrant supporting cast, this is a great dissapointment.

Two of the main set-pieces, the Ministry and Gringotts sequences, also leave much to be desired. Both robberies are poorly planned and collapse at the first hurdle, but not in a way that is entertaining. On a narrative level, a lack of foward planning was always the main characters' biggest flaw; on a meta level, I've always felt that Rowling missed a number of chances to make the sequences more elaborate.

Be thankful that the ending stood up to what the books before it had promised. Most authors would buckle under that level of scrutiny.

A little sad, in the way that reaching the end of an era always does.

Is a justly-celebrated talent.

If you loved Harry Potter #1-#6, there is literally no reason not to read #7.

If the series has always left you cold, then skipping to the finale is not going to help you.

JK Rowling is unlikely to ever write anything else that matches the impact of Harry Potter. But that's okay, because these seven books are enough.

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Created Jul 19, 2017 at 10:37am • Submit your own review...