Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, book review. (J. K. Rowling)

I suppose, ten years after this book was first released, everyone knows everything there is to know about it, so if you've seen the films and read the reviews, there's not much point in my continuing . . .

WRONG!!!

These book have so much more depth than the films (although the last two films did portray this one extremely well) and there's no substitute for sitting down with your beverage of choice and sampling one of the greatest books you will ever read, is there?

Of course, getting there might put some people off, this is after all the seventh book, and not forgetting the seven hundred and sixty seven page leviathan that is book five, but I'd encourage anyone who asked to just go for it - because without reading the other books, you'll never have the pleasure of this one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Harry, Ron and Hermione aren't returning to Hogwarts to finish their seventh year, instead they have Horcruxes to find, pieces of Voldemort’s soul infused in magical objects, and once found, they'll have to destroy them. With the Minister of Magic overthrown, the Order of the Phoenix in taters, Severus Snape as headmaster at Hogwarts, Dumbledore dead, Harry's face plastered all over the magical world as Undesirable No 1, our intrepid trio have their work cut out, but with growing skill and confidence, a little help from a house Elf, they steal a Horcrux from Dolores Umbridge, escape the ministry - albeit not unscathed - find the sword of Gryffindor, escape Voldemort in Godric’s Hollow - Harry's birthplace – rob Gringotts bank, escaping on a Dragon, enter Hogwarts, virtually undetected, (freeing it of Snape's tyrannical rule), and all before the battle for Hogwarts has even begun.

My Harry Potter Collection, so far! I know, I'm mad aren't I?

Despite knowing what's around the corner, this book still had me on the edge of my seat, because you forget don't you? The little intricacies, the little differences to the films, and however good a film is, re-reading this thrilling book again, underlines just what a stunning story the author has created.
Concluding such a series can't be an easy thing for any author, let alone one who became so famous before she was even halfway through the overall story, but this book is handled with both care, passion and the seriousness that death, destruction, murder, and a battle to rival even that of Tolkien's, Battle of Pelennor Fields, needs, and with such skill, that it makes me want to go right back to the beginning, for what won't be the last time I'm sure, and start them all over again.

For twenty years we've been enjoying the ups and downs, twist and turns of Harry and his friends, and I see no reason why I won’t still be re-reading these truly astonishing books in another twenty.

Need I say it? FIVE BIG FAT GIANT GOLD STARS.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, book review. (J.K.Rowling)

Oh yes, oh yes oh yes!!!

I could hurl a hundred superlatives at this book, most of which you've probably heard before, but they’d all be deserved.

So, Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, and what a year.

I like to think of this one as a history book: not one of those big boring books that goes on and on about a long forgotten civilisation, a King or a Queen, but a book about Harry's past, his connection with Voldemort, and one that delves deep into the Dark Lord’s past, by way of memories in the pensieve in Dumbledore's office; memories that the headmaster has spent many years collecting.

Harry has inherited his god-father's house and the vile elf, Kreacher, who he puts to good use following Draco Malfoy. Harry knows that Draco is up to something, he overheard him threatening the owner of Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn alley, he just doesn't know what.

There are potions to master, (somewhat helped by an old potions book he finds in the spares cupboard, annotated and proclaiming to be the property of the half-blood prince; there's Snape to avoid, quidditch to play and an uncorrupted memory to extract from their new potions master, Professor Horace Slughorn; who taught Tom Riddle before he became Lord Voldemort.

There are girls, there's snogging and there's Ginny Weasley, who Harry is starting to see in a different light.

To top it all, there are Horcruxes to find, hidden objects that contain parts of Voldemort's soul, and this is where these books are so clever. It is here, in book six, that we discover that Tom Riddle's diary - which Harry destroyed in The Chamber of Secrets, (book two) - was in fact a Horcrux. Dumbledore has already destroyed another, Voldemort's grandfather's ring, and with Horace Slughorn relinquishing his untainted memory, they now know that they have four more to find, excluding the part of soul that resides in Voldemort himself.

So, over five hundred pages in and the adventure begins, but Draco has succeeded in his task, Death Eaters have entered the school, the dark mark hangs heavy above the astronomy tower, Dumbledore is disarmed, Harry immobilised, Snape . . .

I know that most of you already know the ending to this book, you've probably seen the film, but I put it to you, that unless you have read this book, you do not know the ending.

The battle between the Death Eaters and The Order, Snape and Malfoy's escape, the burning of Hagrid's hut, and the most moving part of all, Dumbledore's phoenix and its lament, echoing hauntingly through the corridors and classrooms of Hogwarts.

If a book could have more than five stars out of five, this would be the one. Simply put, this book if stunning.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, here I come.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, book review. (J.K. Rowling)

This might lose me a few followers or anger a few Potter fans, but I'm going to say it anyway, this book is just too long. 

There are moments of pure genius, the whole Ministry of Magic escapade towards the end is really good, and the way Professor Umbridge gets under your skin and frustrates the reader as much as she does the characters in the book, is great, but other bits are just too long winded. 

Take Hagrid's brother Grawp as an example, I know he has to be there, so as to affect the ending, but it could have been done quicker and more effectively, as could the whole of the beginning. 

The time it take for Harry to be attacked by dementors, summonsed to the Ministry of Magic for trial, found innocent, explore his Godfather's house and get to Hogwarts, is frustratingly slow. 

Again, I realise that some of what happens, happens for a reason and adds to the overall story, but cleaning the curtains in one of Sirius Blacks reception rooms is totally unnecessary.  

Unlike the film, Dobby turns up, Hermione goes on about SPEW again, which is also unnecessary, and we get an insight into how much Sirius and Snape hate each other; all the while, Voldemort is gets stronger, Harry is falling in love and The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts - the aforementioned Umbridge - is implementing evermore draconian punishments.

I like the conflicting emotions that Harry has over Cho and Ginny, the isolation when Dumbledore ignores him and he's banned from quidditch, and the solace he finds in Dumbledore's Army. I like Christmas at St Mungo's (wizard hospital) and the introduction of Luna Lovegood, but it takes over seven hundred pages before the world accepts that Voldemort is back, and it could have been done quicker. 

In conclusion then, if you want to know the whole story, it's a book you have to read, but compared to The Goblet of Fire, and the two books that follow, this one is a bit of chore. 

Four stars then, because in spite of the negatives, hidden within those many pages are moments of pure pleasure.