[First read: 2007. 2 stars 
 Second read: 1st March, 2016. 3 stars.] 
 Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003. 
 Here's a big fat review (longer than I usually write, more rambling and less coherent) that will focus on the series as a whole, as well as just this book. 
 The first time I read this book-all those years ago when it first came out-I was pretty much fed up with Harry Potter at that point. It was too big: nothing deserves to be that big, not even Jesus, and it was, quite frankly, boring. So I skipped through the book and didn't really pay much attention. I also didn't see the film until much, much later and as a whole, the big pile of fandom just passed me by in to the void of nothingness behind me. 
 As the years passed by, I wanted to dip my toe back in. I was feeling a bit nostalgic, I admit, but I also wanted to see if the magic of Harry Potter that everyone was going on about was there for me, too. TLDR; it is not. 
 This book, the final of the series, is definitely one of the best of the series but it has some serious faults. You can definitely see the pressure that J.K. was under from, oh look, you lot, to finish the book and get it out so they could make the next film. I don't think this was quite the ending she really wanted and that is quite a big disappointment, though we can't hold the author accountable. (It's all your fault, really.) 
 We still have two protagonists who haven't changed much in seven years: Harry and Ron have been the same semi-intelligent, slightly amusing and stupidly brave boys that we met in the first book. Hermione, I am glad to say, has changed from book to book, though there were a few moments when she really went a bit dodgy. As far as the other characters, I have to say they were all pretty much background and dull. I still can't get over how Luna Lovegood just turns up and randomly becomes an important character without actually saying or doing much at all. I also think a lot more could have been done with Neville: I thought he was pretty great and the way he ended the series was wonderful. It's very difficult to enjoy a series of books when you don't like (not hate) the main character. Did anyone really care if Harry died at the end, as long as Voldemort did as well? I didn't. 
 I was also not a fan of the way most of the unpleasant characters were either fat or ugly. Most of the weird characters were a bit odd-looking, as well, and it just felt like an easy get-out of having to think of interesting characters who didn't conform to type. 
 The thing about fantasy is that it's usually mostly the locations and settings that really make it magical. Harry Potter is extremely limited in location and that really made it feel small and closed off. Yes, Hogwarts is a fun Scottish castle, but really how much do we know about Hogwarts; how much did we really see? We barely explore the place and the places around it. I understand that magical people are pretty much hidden away, but it always felt like such a lacking world. Hogwarts was no more magical than Harry's cupboard, really (enchanted ceiling notwithstanding). 
 The Deathly Hallows never quite felt like the ending it should have been. It was definitely the best written of the set, which just shows how a writer learns from their previous mistakes (which, sadly, a lot of authors don't seem to do) and the flow from preceding book to the follow up was better than it had been earlier on. 
 I can't really see myself ever reading these ever again, unless I really run out of things to read. I find that rather saddening, because I can remember a time in my childhood-during the first few years of the earlier books and films-when I really loved this series. I remember the two weeks I really wanted to be an actor so I could be in the film and elope with whoever it was that played Sirius (Gary Oldman, I know, but back then I didn't care). I strongly remember that I felt bad for being in love with Draco for about a year, too (I have a thing for blondes). I will look back fondly on my mis-remembered feelings on Luna and treasure my rekindled love for Hermione. I think I am incredibly lucky to be of an age where I grew up at the right time for this series, but I'm also not supremely disappointed that the magic is no longer there. 
 Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Shop | Etsy