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4.62 AVERAGE
4.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's more a 2.5 than a 2, but I've rounded down because of the epilogue and the flagrant abuse of ellipses.
- Harry's grief: My greatest complaint about Half-Blood Prince is how little Harry grieves Sirius (even though it's only been two! months! since he died at the start), but thankfully Rowling grants Harry much more space to grieve Dumbledore and his parents in Deathly Hallows. He contemplates lost opportunities: the home he could have had; the chance to know Dumbledore better as a friend, not just as a teacher. Death is the end of possibility.
He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.
- Secrets and trust: Some critics view Harry's struggle to trust Dumbledore as a symbol of the struggle of (Christian) faith, but I think they're off the mark. Dumbledore is too flawed to rank as a saint, never mind as God.
Harry's crisis of faith is more about love: If Dumbledore loves Harry, then why does he encourage him to risk his life over and over again, without ever trusting him with a full explanation? Dumbledore's death forces Harry to reckon with his mentor's human weakness, and Harry struggles to gain moral insight into Dumbledore's character. Although he has already reconciled himself to James and Sirius' flaws, the situation with Dumbledore demands that Harry trust in a man who may have murdered his sister and is rumoured to have been bosom buds with Wizard Hitler 1.0.
Ultimately, Harry's love overcomes his doubts. As he digs Dobby's grave, he wonders, "Horcruxes or Hallows?" And Harry, filled with love and grief for Dobby, chooses to trust Dumbledore. The connection is made explicit when Harry thinks that Dobby's funeral should've been as grand as Dumbledore's. All the way back in Chamber of Secrets, Dobby's faithful love for Harry gives him the strength to stand up to Lucius, just as Harry's faithful love for Dumbledore gives him the strength to oppose Tom Riddle and Slytherin's Basilisk. Love perfects human frailty.
Had Dumbledore actually cared about Harry at all? Or had Harry been nothing more than a tool to be polished and honed, but not trusted, never confided in?
- The telling of tales: My favourite parts of Deathly Hallows are Kreacher's tale and Aberforth's tale, both of which prompt Harry (and the reader) to reevaluate characters we thought we knew. Kreacher's tale reveals that Regulus---the cowardly Slytherin Death Eater---to be almost as brave and as loving as his brother, while Aberforth's tale highlights Dumbledore's weakness---his desire for acclaim and glory and achievement.
Moreover, the teller of the tales, Kreacher and Aberforth, have been dismissed by Harry (and likewise by the reader) as non-entities, nothing more than two obnoxious grumps, but their tales reveal them to have deep personal histories, full of loss and pain and grief. They are not just npcs in Harry's quest to destroy the Horcruxes.
Grand plans for the benefit of all wizardkind, and if one young girl got neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was working for the greater good?
- Miscellany: A) Some say Umbridge is scarier than Voldemort because she's more real; but tbh, leaders of racist terrorist organizations are perfectly real, just less relatable to the white middle-class. And I think Rowling nails the psychology of men like Tom Riddle---terrified of death, since his death means the loss of all he loves: himself. Afraid to love, because love grants others power over you (the power to reject you, to abandon you) and thus demands a willed loss of control.
B) I'm still not a fan of the epilogue, which gives more Dursleys than Fawkes, and is more suburban conformity and less rebirth and embracing the messy pain of life. I think the epilogue should've been set during Victoire and Teddy's wedding because a) it parallels with both the opening of the novel (Fleur and Bill's wedding, disrupted by war) and the opening of the series (the murder of young couple, the Potters...and so the series ends with marriage in place of murder), b) weddings are classically associated with new beginnings and rebirth, and c) we could see how characters other than the main trio and Draco (characters like McGonagall!) are getting on.
C) Also, still not a fan of Snape. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He's a well-drawn character and I'm uber-jealous of his library living room and his job security, but he is not it at all.
D) The final battle between Voldemort and Harry is so silly. Harry's like, "Ya played yourself," and Voldemort's all, "Nani?!" And then Harry's throwin' out an Expelliarmus, cause he just verbally owned Tom so hard that he doesn't even have to try to kill him, and then Voldemort's own Killing Curse rebounds on him and that's how he dies. It made me laugh out loud. It's a total tragedy that the films chose not to adapt it.
Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he never grasped.
Leaving this place would not be nearly as hard as walking into the Forest had been, but it was warm and light and peaceful here, and he knew that he was heading back to pain and the fear of more loss.
Overall opinion
As far as I'm concerned, the series peaks during Books 3, 4, and 5 (aka the books with Sirius... Coincidence? I think not!). Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite, but I also love the Grimmauld Place stuff in Order of the Phoenix, which is definitely the most thematically complex book. My personal rating goes as follows: 3 > 5 > 4 > 7 > 1 and 6 > 2.
- Harry's grief: My greatest complaint about Half-Blood Prince is how little Harry grieves Sirius (even though it's only been two! months! since he died at the start), but thankfully Rowling grants Harry much more space to grieve Dumbledore and his parents
Spoiler
and DobbyHe let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.
- Secrets and trust: Some critics view Harry's struggle to trust Dumbledore as a symbol of the struggle of (Christian) faith, but I think they're off the mark. Dumbledore is too flawed to rank as a saint, never mind as God.
Harry's crisis of faith is more about love: If Dumbledore loves Harry, then why does he encourage him to risk his life over and over again, without ever trusting him with a full explanation? Dumbledore's death forces Harry to reckon with his mentor's human weakness, and Harry struggles to gain moral insight into Dumbledore's character. Although he has already reconciled himself to James and Sirius' flaws, the situation with Dumbledore demands that Harry trust in a man who may have murdered his sister and is rumoured to have been bosom buds with Wizard Hitler 1.0.
Ultimately, Harry's love overcomes his doubts. As he digs Dobby's grave, he wonders, "Horcruxes or Hallows?" And Harry, filled with love and grief for Dobby, chooses to trust Dumbledore. The connection is made explicit when Harry thinks that Dobby's funeral should've been as grand as Dumbledore's. All the way back in Chamber of Secrets, Dobby's faithful love for Harry gives him the strength to stand up to Lucius, just as Harry's faithful love for Dumbledore gives him the strength to oppose Tom Riddle and Slytherin's Basilisk. Love perfects human frailty.
Had Dumbledore actually cared about Harry at all? Or had Harry been nothing more than a tool to be polished and honed, but not trusted, never confided in?
- The telling of tales: My favourite parts of Deathly Hallows are Kreacher's tale and Aberforth's tale, both of which prompt Harry (and the reader) to reevaluate characters we thought we knew. Kreacher's tale reveals that Regulus---the cowardly Slytherin Death Eater---to be almost as brave and as loving as his brother, while Aberforth's tale highlights Dumbledore's weakness---his desire for acclaim and glory and achievement.
Moreover, the teller of the tales, Kreacher and Aberforth, have been dismissed by Harry (and likewise by the reader) as non-entities, nothing more than two obnoxious grumps, but their tales reveal them to have deep personal histories, full of loss and pain and grief. They are not just npcs in Harry's quest to destroy the Horcruxes.
Grand plans for the benefit of all wizardkind, and if one young girl got neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was working for the greater good?
- Miscellany: A) Some say Umbridge is scarier than Voldemort because she's more real; but tbh, leaders of racist terrorist organizations are perfectly real, just less relatable to the white middle-class. And I think Rowling nails the psychology of men like Tom Riddle---terrified of death, since his death means the loss of all he loves: himself. Afraid to love, because love grants others power over you (the power to reject you, to abandon you) and thus demands a willed loss of control.
B) I'm still not a fan of the epilogue, which gives more Dursleys than Fawkes, and is more suburban conformity and less rebirth and embracing the messy pain of life. I think the epilogue should've been set during Victoire and Teddy's wedding because a) it parallels with both the opening of the novel (Fleur and Bill's wedding, disrupted by war) and the opening of the series (the murder of young couple, the Potters...and so the series ends with marriage in place of murder), b) weddings are classically associated with new beginnings and rebirth, and c) we could see how characters other than the main trio and Draco (characters like McGonagall!) are getting on.
C) Also, still not a fan of Snape. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He's a well-drawn character and I'm uber-jealous of his library living room and his job security, but he is not it at all.
D) The final battle between Voldemort and Harry is so silly. Harry's like, "Ya played yourself," and Voldemort's all, "Nani?!" And then Harry's throwin' out an Expelliarmus, cause he just verbally owned Tom so hard that he doesn't even have to try to kill him, and then Voldemort's own Killing Curse rebounds on him and that's how he dies. It made me laugh out loud. It's a total tragedy that the films chose not to adapt it.
Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he never grasped.
Leaving this place would not be nearly as hard as walking into the Forest had been, but it was warm and light and peaceful here, and he knew that he was heading back to pain and the fear of more loss.
Overall opinion
As far as I'm concerned, the series peaks during Books 3, 4, and 5 (aka the books with Sirius... Coincidence? I think not!). Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite, but I also love the Grimmauld Place stuff in Order of the Phoenix, which is definitely the most thematically complex book. My personal rating goes as follows: 3 > 5 > 4 > 7 > 1 and 6 > 2.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
adventurous
emotional
sad
I genuinely don’t know what say I’m at a loss that I’ve finished the series!? I think I’ll have to sit for a while and come back to really write a thorough review so for now I’ll say Battle at Hogwarts? Legendary! The emotional damage? unmatched! I gave 4 stars only bc the middle drags a bit but the payoff was well worth it! A bittersweet but satisfying ending to an iconic series. 9/10 would cry over it again!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced