Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

London, England (United Kingdom)

I know 2020 wasn't the best year to reread the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling outed herself as a TERF, and that is not okay in the least bit. But it being such a bad year (and the fact that I was doing DoorDash full time for 3 months, needing a good audiobook series to listen to), I wanted to return to something I enjoyed during my teenage years.

But it didn't quite hold up.

I know it's hip to hate on wildly popular things such as this series, and I'm not just trying to do that. But, rather than creating an amazing series, I think Rowling just got lucky that there was a dedicated fan base that read her books and filled in the gaps to the world on their own. Harry Potter isn't what it is because of Rowling - it is what it is because the reader's found the Harry Potter world and completely ran with it.

What I mean by that is Rowling's characters aren't that interesting or inspiring. Harry is whiny, Hermione is shrewd, and Ron is dumb. Snape is an asshole (don't even get me started about his "arc"). Dumbledore is a jerk that took advantage or Harry's blind loyalty. But readers and fans immersed themselves in the world of Hogwarts, and they created their own (much better) versions of the characters. This series could have totally flopped if it were not for sheer luck and the fact that Warner Brothers picked up the series to turn into movies.

Okay, let's get on with the review of the 7th book.

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So Voldemort has taken over the school, and Harry is trying desperately to find the remaining Horcruxes to destroy them, ultimately making Voldemort mortal so Harry could kill him. The story is a classic good vs. evil loosely based on Nazism. There's a fight for "magical supremacy" and the cleansing of magical blood.

One thing that bothers me so much is that Rowling and The Order of the Phoenix are fighting for the fact that your blood/your family doesn't define you. So why is it that Harry's bullies/rivals, Malfoy, Crab, and Goyle's fathers are all Death Eaters? That's lazy writing.

The Battle of Hogwarts contains unnecessary throwbacks...in order. Barf. I'm not even going to say any more about it.

And then, there's Harry's death - or should I say, his resurrection. The fact that Harry was the last horcrux, that was amazing. That tied everything together, and if Harry died, that would have been a beautiful arc. Dumbledore would be seen as the antihero that he is, and Harry's bravery would be proven once and for all. And how beautiful would it have been to be guided into the spirit world by his family? I almost feel like Rowling wrote the whole series intending for Harry to die, and then somebody told her she couldn't do it because it's a "children's series."

The NY magazine called his survival "the Jesus exception." It's true, because nothing else makes sense. The fan base filled in the blanks for this one too, but still not very well. Harry should have died. Then this book would have gotten 5 stars.

But in all honesty, if you haven't read the series, it's worth the read. It's one of the defining series of my generation, and it helps you connect to others. (That's the Hufflepuff in me). If you don't think about it too hard, you'll probably enjoy yourself. Just be sure to get the books from the library, we are not in the business of supporting TERFs around here.

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 3/5

Writing: 2/5

Plot: 3/5

Character Development: 1/5

Message: 2/5

Challenges Satisfied:

London, England - United Kingdom (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)