Reviews

Goodness me thank god that’s over! Naturally, I understand why this book series has seven installations but that doesn’t mean that when I committed to a reread that I exactly comprehended just how many pages seven books encompasses and that it would take me almost half a year to slog through. I had a good time with some very mixed thoughts, and here we’re about to embark on the last set of my thoughts because finally I’m done!

The language choices used in this book are pretty much the same as they have been since the fifth book and the genre is adhered to with our mysteries being that of houcruxes, hallows and Dumbeldore’s life and the coming of age bits being obvious through character developments. The biggest change we see in this book is within its structure as previously each study would have an introductory segment, followed by going back to school and ending going back home. As we don’t have this firm change in setting and instead end up hopping about a lot in this book, the events of the story become extremely blow by blow. The structure is very standard in a way that lacks flow and makes it feel like events are happening in blocks: wedding, run away, ministry, Ron’s departure, Godric’s Hollow, Ron’s return, Mr Lovegood, Malfoy Manor, Gringott’s break-in, back to Hogwarts, final battle. These events have very little flow between them although this feeling is not helped by how familiar I am with the events, I have to admit. Regardless it was an overarching issue I had.

Now I’d actually like to open my more specific thoughts on the end of the book - the final chapter: I don’t like it! I’m of the opinion that time-skip endings are bad. They make me, personally, feel uncomfortable and upset and there are so many other ways to satisfyingly conclude a series. Again I get why this was selected from a functional standpoint, it indicates peace and a new generation and people have moved on. As it is objectively functional, I just wish it were pulled off better. The final battle ends with Harry hoping his slave I’ll make him a sandwich and suddenly we’re watching him and his wife (Ginny - I’ve spoken about my thoughts in this couple before please don’t make me go on I think they’re insufferable) send their poorly named children off to school. The names are diabolical. Albus Severus? Sir, you HATED Snape! Hated him! Hated him so so much! And he hated Harry because he was holding a 30 year old grudge! They don’t even pretend like Snape secretly was fond of Harry the whole time they merely reveal he is not actually evil. Also all of their children have legacy names based on Harry’s relationships! You’re telling me Ginny had ZERO input naming her children!? I had to Google their full names and “Lily Luna” is the only name where it’s not a dead person but why Luna? She’s not even in this epilogue! And you know who else is barely in the epilogue- Hermione! She’s not even on the last page in my copy! Where on earth is she? Goodness… I swear Scorpius gets more page space. And the marriages mean that Harry now has parents which is lovely but it also means that half of his friends are now his family which is very weird! I could go on but it makes me genuinely angry how the final chapter instead of feeling heartwarming just feels like an excuse to introduce all of these offspring I care not for.

Within the first section of the book I was very fond of the indexing of character development in that Ron has been reading up on how to treat women well (I found it very goofy how his present to Harry was the guide he’d been following) and implements these strategies throughout the book. It was very “she fell first but he fell harder” of them and I love how much it signifies maturity, especially when he asks her to dance before Krum does which is a callback to book 4. I also completely adore Luna Lovegood and how fond Ron is of her as he calls her “always good value”. It’s impossible for Luna not to grow on the people within the book, they all love her so much which makes me very happy. You’d think the ministry sequence and them fleeing for the first time would feel more important but as I said the events are so blow by blow that everything towards the start of the book feels murky. You wouldn’t believe it that “being nice to house elves” is actually a major plot point that been set up since book 5 but here we are. Also the scene where Lupin tries to run away from home seems super unnecessary to me I’m afraid, thus I’m choosing to ignore it. Lupin should have had more of a role following Sirius’ death, it was a lost opportunity on all fronts amd instead he got married to someone half his age.

That being said, for all of Ron’s character growth he is extremely unlikeable in this book - what on earth did they do to him? He goes from being the representative of the magical world in their friendship group and Harry’s certified best friend to being a complete bumbling moron who is insensitive, irrational and occasionally racist. All of his good moments happen because Hermione is there (my heart feels happy reading about them falling asleep holding hands, that scene in the film used to make me so happy as a kid) and then when he does his big dramatic stork off you’re left wondering how we actually got to this point. It seems so immature of his which completely juxtaposes what the book seems to want to position him and his growth. The scene where he breaks open the houcrux and Harry is subject to watching himself in someone else’s jealous sexual fantasy is absolutely atrocious and then the way Hermione reacts to his return is also baffling but I enjoy how awkward it seems. There’s not enough consistency with their growth I suppose, the events of the story seem to contradict the preferred reading.

I found the Hallows to be an interesting plot point as they are a very exciting concept with a whole legend surrounding them. They diminish how cool the hallows seem by referring to the elder wand as the “death stick” which unfortunately sounds like a bizarre euphemism that I couldn’t take seriously. Also the lore regarding wand ownership gets really messy here and feels like everything is written just for the sake of convenience.

The final battle obviously brings with it a lot of deaths but it feels vital to mention that to get to this point we’ve already lost Hedwig, Harry’s wand, Moody and Dobby. These losses tugged on my heartstrings but always so temporarily that they lacked impact because the fast pacing meant we never got any time to consider the implications of these deaths. There’s an appropriate tension surrounding the final battle which was actually aided by the fast pacing and I think that’s this allowed some of the more quiet moments to really stand out. For example, Fred’s death is very well written and deeply upsetting. A comic relief character dying as they tease danger does indeed shatter any last rose tints you may have been holding onto. Furthermore, the reveal that Remus and Tonks had died so shortly after becoming parents feels so macabre and miserable. It hit me far more than I thought it would considering the circumstances.

Meanwhile Harry’s funky fake death is just weird and features yet another totally insufferable Dumbledore monologue. This particular monologue made zero sense and felt like mental gymnastics to justify everything we’d learnt over the last 500 pages. Alongside this we have a Snape memory sequence that is equally just one long justification of all of his confusing behaviours and yet I still feel nothing towards him. He’s not a well written character. The twist good guy gimmick doesn’t work when we know that his hatred towards Harry was quite genuine! And the Dumbledore justifications do t work when we know that the guy was completely nonchalant about raising a child for slaughter. It feels like role reversal, why is Snape the one bothered about that? And also yikes what a plot point? It’s a very dark concept and one that the subsequent trauma will never be touched upon (which is probably for the best considering the cargo on Harry’s trauma train is starting to exceed weight limits).

The actual final bit of the final battle actually underwhelmed me. It was like… a paragraph long duel. So instead I’d like to bring attention to the true stars of the final battle: Neville and Luna. Truly standout characters, especially how proud you end up feeling of Neville for being so heroic and destroying Nagini, his growth for a side character really does make you smile. I’m glad that those two weren’t killed off just for the sake of it like so many others (seriously, why did we need to kill Hedwig?). Hermione and Ron get to kiss halfway through the final battle too which is nice for them but that scene didn’t live up to the hype that I held it to as a child (the age is dog eared in my copy and the book naturally falls open to it I’ve reread that page so many times in my childhood). I think the timing was too emotionally discordant and then it is followed too quickly by saving Malfoy from fiendfyre which just so happens to be able to destroy Houcruxes which is convenient.

Overall, I think the finality of the book is handled well and I don’t have too many qualms with how the final battle was written. It is the actual ending I have the most gripes with, it frustrates me to no end how that is how we opted to conclude a seven book long series! In the other books the endings often had me weeping or tugged at nostalgic parts of my heartstrings. This one’s ending just makes me mad! But, hey! It’s over.

Like I’ve said before, these books handle themes of love and grief (actually explicitly stated in this one during Dobby’s funeral I think). These themes are admittedly strong. They really carry the story and give so much heart to both the stories and Harry as a protagonist when you know that he is so attached to grief that it ends up filling him with love. A sappy sentiment but I’m a sucker for all things twee. These heavy themes allow the books to have some really hard hitting emotional moments that end up coming back in the resurrection stone scene as comfort. Each death and instance of grief leads to this moment of profound comfort and a sense that grief is a byproduct of being so completely loved. Very bittersweet indeed.

The Harry Potter books aren’t bad. They’re nostalgic and the first few carry a deeply comforting escapism to them with the latter ones being emotionally powerful with overall engaging stories within each individual book. I’d say the first and third are the strongest, but I wouldn’t have stuck out this reread if I had hated every second of it. There’s a warmth I have towards the stories even if I found many parts frustrating and I think overall we could all do with a healthy dose of nostalgia from time to time (although maybe not in seven book levels of excess). Perhaps the fact I feel sad to be departing from the world shows that I am fond of the books.

So maybe it was worth my time. :)

delgellert's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

danielapaca's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

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