Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

N.B. This review was written on 03-Aug-07 and after almost a year since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (HP7) released, it may not be so relevant after all. However, I am still posting it here so as to supplement my upcoming post.

I have finally just finished HP7, and am so overwhelmed, I think it deserves a proper review; without revealing the plot, that is. So, don’t expect a spoiler here.

At the end of book 6, we came to know that Harry did not plan to go to Hogwarts and finish his education. I wondered then that whether a HP book without Hogwarts as its backdrop would be as exciting as the others. All my doubts are laid to rest as Hogwarts is not entirely ignored. The book is as exciting as it can be. It holds your interest right from the beginning till the end. J K Rowling (JKR) keeps peeling the wrapper off the surprises and all the unanswered questions piled up inside you over the last few years while reading the first 6 books. The book answers all the questions, raises many new ones and answers them all too.

I usually judge a thriller by the climax whether it raises excitement inside you or not; excitement to the level of not wanting to put the book down. Here, there is no "climax" as such because the whole book itself is a climax. You just don’t want to put it down right from the word go. I hated the book to keep me so engrossed so as to not wanting to put it down when I had to tend to my infant daughter and my household chores. Then again, now that I have completed it, it seems to have left an empty space behind, which I doubt any other book will be able to fill, at least for a while.

It actually breaks my heart to think that's it. That's the end. No more Harry Potter books. I wonder what JKR herself is feeling: relieved? empty? free? And no more excitement and hysteria surrounding a book release. My husband, who is not much of a book reader as such, is almost thankful that it’s the last HP book and that I am done with it. Sometimes I think, how often does it happen that half the book lovers in the world are reading the same book at the same time? Very rare, I think.

To sum up, the book is enthralling, enchanting and exhilarating. It’s simply superb and unmissable. As for the rating, I know some people have rated it 5/5. But, I don’t agree with them. I would at least rate it 7/5.