Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter, #7
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Still good?
No.
Previously:
This book made me angry. Really angry. I didn't even realize how angry at first. It's not really an issue with the end itself (although I do have issues with that); it's an issue with the writing. I complained in a previous review about how the Pensieve is one of the worst writing cop-outs ever. So here's a cool story: when it takes 100 pages of exposition to make the ending make sense, you're doing it wrong.
Sure, I could tell you about how once again this book is longer than it needs to be. But honestly, that didn't bother me as much this time. What bothered me the most was how neat J.K. Rowling was trying to make everything. It's like she's going, "Hey, look! I was able to clear something up at the last minute! Aren't you proud of me?" The saddest part is that I really loved how neat the ending was when the book first came out. I thought it was so clever.
Now, I realize how annoying endings like those are.
It's also like she just discovered that there's such a thing as grey morality and rushed in to make sure that we see a sympathetic side of the omg-evil characters and don't see Dumbledore as a saint. See, if she'd really started working on that a few books back, I'd buy it a bit more. All we have to go on is that a sixteen-year-old wasn't able to muster up the courage to kill someone.
But probably the worst part was the fact that it did seriously take 100 pages of exposition to explain the end. First we have all the Snape's memories in the Pensieve bit. Then we have the whole "Harry's dead but not dead" bit. Then we have like 5 pages of actual ending.
Oh, and the epilogue? Ugh.
Sorry, the fact that the only way J.K. Rowling could figure out how to explain a Happily Ever After is to show that everyone had lots of babies (yes, I know, and Neville is a professor) is really troubling to me. It actually makes me really angry.
Anyway, I'm quite glad I re-read the entire series. I'm likely to read the companion books, like Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them, as I never read them at all. Stay tuned!
Oh man. This doesn't encourage me to keep going with the reread...
ReplyDeleteDid you end up continuing? Honestly, I'd say it isn't worth it that much, except to maybe have some pop culture understanding.
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