Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-21
• Released on: 2007-07-21
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 784 pages

Amazon.com
Readers beware. The brilliant, breathtaking conclusion to J.K. Rowling's spellbinding series is not for the faint of heart--such revelations, battles, and betrayals await in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that no fan will make it to the end unscathed. Luckily, Rowling has prepped loyal readers for the end of her series by doling out increasingly dark and dangerous tales of magic and mystery, shot through with lessons about honor and contempt, love and loss, and right and wrong. Fear not, you will find no spoilers in our review--to tell the plot would ruin the journey, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is an odyssey the likes of which Rowling's fans have not yet seen, and are not likely to forget. But we would be remiss if we did not offer one small suggestion before you embark on your final adventure with Harry--bring plenty of tissues.

The heart of Book 7 is a hero's mission--not just in Harry's quest for the Horcruxes, but in his journey from boy to man--and Harry faces more danger than that found in all six books combined, from the direct threat of the Death Eaters and you-know-who, to the subtle perils of losing faith in himself. Attentive readers would do well to remember Dumbledore's warning about making the choice between "what is right and what is easy," and know that Rowling applies the same difficult principle to the conclusion of her series. While fans will find the answers to hotly speculated questions about Dumbledore, Snape, and you-know-who, it is a testament to Rowling's skill as a storyteller that even the most astute and careful reader will be taken by surprise.

A spectacular finish to a phenomenal series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a bittersweet read for fans. The journey is hard, filled with events both tragic and triumphant, the battlefield littered with the bodies of the dearest and despised, but the final chapter is as brilliant and blinding as a phoenix's flame, and fans and skeptics alike will emerge from the confines of the story with full but heavy hearts, giddy and grateful for the experience. --Daphne Durham

Visit the Harry Potter Store
Our Harry Potter Store features all things Harry, including books, audio CDs and cassettes, DVDs, soundtracks, games, and more.

Begin at the Beginning

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Hardcover Paperback

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Hardcover Paperback

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Hardcover Paperback

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Hardcover Paperback

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Hardcover Paperback

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Hardcover Paperback

Why We Love Harry
Favorite Moments from the Series
There are plenty of reasons to love Rowling's wildly popular series--no doubt you have several dozen of your own. Our list features favorite moments, characters, and artifacts from the first five books. Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive (what we love about Harry could fill ten books!) and does not include any of the spectacular revelatory moments that would spoil the books for those (few) who have not read them. Enjoy.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

* Harry's first trip to the zoo with the Dursleys, when a boa constrictor winks at him. * When the Dursleys' house is suddenly besieged by letters for Harry from Hogwarts. Readers learn how much the Dursleys have been keeping from Harry. Rowling does a wonderful job in displaying the lengths to which Uncle Vernon will go to deny that magic exists. * Harry's first visit to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. Full of curiosities and rich with magic and marvel, Harry's first trip includes a trip to Gringotts and Ollivanders, where Harry gets his wand (holly and phoenix feather) and discovers yet another connection to He-Who-Must-No-Be-Named. This moment is the reader's first full introduction to Rowling's world of witchcraft and wizards. * Harry's experience with the Sorting Hat.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

* The de-gnoming of the Weasleys' garden. Harry discovers that even wizards have chores--gnomes must be grabbed (ignoring angry protests "Gerroff me! Gerroff me!"), swung about (to make them too dizzy to come back), and tossed out of the garden--this delightful scene highlights Rowling's clever and witty genius. * Harry's first experience with a Howler, sent to Ron by his mother. * The Dueling Club battle between Harry and Malfoy. Gilderoy Lockhart starts the Dueling Club to help students practice spells on each other, but he is not prepared for the intensity of the animosity between Harry and Draco. Since they are still young, their minibattle is innocent enough, including tickling and dancing charms.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

* Ron's attempt to use a telephone to call Harry at the Dursleys'. * Harry's first encounter with a Dementor on the train (and just about any other encounter with Dementors). Harry's brush with the Dementors is terrifying and prepares Potter fans for a darker, scarier book. * Harry, Ron, and Hermione's behavior in Professor Trelawney's Divination class. Some of the best moments in Rowling's books occur when she reminds us that the wizards-in-training at Hogwarts are, after all, just children. Clearly, even at a school of witchcraft and wizardry, classes can be boring and seem pointless to children. * The Boggart lesson in Professor Lupin's classroom. * Harry, Ron, and Hermione's knock-down confrontation with Snape.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

* Hermione's disgust at the reception for the veela (Bulgarian National Team Mascots) at the Quidditch World Cup. Rowling's fourth book addresses issues about growing up--the dynamic between the boys and girls at Hogwarts starts to change. Nowhere is this more plain than the hilarious scene in which magical cheerleaders nearly convince Harry and Ron to jump from the stands to impress them. * Viktor Krum's crush on Hermione--and Ron's objection to it. * Malfoy's "Potter Stinks" badge. * Hermione's creation of S.P.E.W., the intolerant bigotry of the Death Eaters, and the danger of the Triwizard Tournament. Add in the changing dynamics between girls and boys at Hogwarts, and suddenly Rowling's fourth book has a weight and seriousness not as present in early books in the series. Candy and tickle spells are left behind as the students tackle darker, more serious issues and take on larger responsibilities, including the knowledge of illegal curses.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

* Harry's outburst to his friends at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. A combination of frustration over being kept in the dark and fear that he will be expelled fuels much of Harry's anger, and it all comes out at once, directly aimed at Ron and Hermione. Rowling perfectly portrays Harry's frustration at being too old to shirk responsibility, but too young to be accepted as part of the fight that he knows is coming. * Harry's detention with Professor Umbridge. Rowling shows her darker side, leading readers to believe that Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven for young wizards. Dolores represents a bureaucratic tyrant capable of real evil, and Harry is forced to endure their private battle of wills alone. * Harry and Cho's painfully awkward interactions. Rowling clearly remembers what it was like to be a teenager. * Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape. * Dumbledore's confession to Harry.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

* The introduction of the Horcrux. * Molly Weasley asking Arthur Weasley about his "dearest ambition." Rowling has always been great at revealing little intriguing bits about her characters at a time, and Arthur's answer "to find out how airplanes stay up" reminds us about his obsession with Muggles. * Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore, and more time spent with the fascinating and dangerous pensieve, arguably one of Rowling's most ingenious inventions. * Fred and George Weasley's Joke Shop, and the slogan: "Why Are You Worrying About You-Know-Who? You Should Be Worrying About U-NO-POO--the Constipation Sensation That's Gripping the Nation!" * Luna's Quidditch commentary. Rowling created scores of Luna Lovegood fans with hilarious and bizarre commentary from the most unlikely Quidditch commentator. * The effects of Felix Felicis.

Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem: A Conversation with J.K. Rowling

"I am an extraordinarily lucky person, doing what I love best in the world. I'm sure that I will always be a writer. It was wonderful enough just to be published. The greatest reward is the enthusiasm of the readers." --J.K. Rowling

Find out more about Harry's creator in our exclusive interview with J.K. Rowling.

Did You Know?

The Little White Horse was J.K. Rowling's favorite book as a child.

Jane Austen is Rowling's favorite author.

Roddy Doyle is Rowling's favorite living writer.

A Few Words from Mary GrandPré

"When I illustrate a cover or a book, I draw upon what the author tells me; that's how I see my responsibility as an illustrator. J.K. Rowling is very descriptive in her writing--she gives an illustrator a lot to work with. Each story is packed full of rich visual descriptions of the atmosphere, the mood, the setting, and all the different creatures and people. She makes it easy for me. The images just develop as I sketch and retrace until it feels right and matches her vision." Check out more Harry Potter art from illustrator Mary GrandPré.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Potter fans, relax—this review packs no spoilers. Instead, we're taking advantage of our public platform to praise Rowling for the excellence of her plotting. We can't think of anyone else who has sustained such an intricate, endlessly inventive plot over seven thick volumes and so constantly surprised us with twists, well-laid traps and Purloined Letter-style tricks. Hallows continues the tradition, both with sly feats of legerdemain and with several altogether new, unexpected elements. Perhaps some of the surprises in Hallows don't have quite the punch as those of earlier books, but that may be because of the thoroughness and consistency with which Rowling has created her magical universe, and because we've so raptly absorbed its rules.

We're also seizing the occasion to wish out loud that her editors had done their jobs more actively. It's hard to escape the notion that the first three volumes were more carefully edited than the last four. Hallows doesn't contain the extraneous scenes found in, say, Goblet of Fire, but the momentum is uneven. Rowling is much better at comedy than at fight scenes, and no reader of the sixth book will be startled to hear that Hallows has little humor or that its characters engage in more than a few fights. Surely her editors could have helped her find other methods of building suspense besides the use of ellipses and dashes? And craft fight dialogue that sounds a bit less like it belongs in a comic book? Okay, we're quibbling. We know these minor nuisances won't dent readers' enjoyment, at least not this generation of readers; we couldn't put Hallows down ourselves. But we believe Rowling, and future readers, deserved even better. Ages 9-12. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up—In this concluding volume, Rowling brings together the themes and characters familiar to her readers, providing thrills both expected and unexpected. Harry, Ron, and Hermione set out on the mission left to Harry by Albus Dumbledore, to search for the remaining Horcruxes, the hidden pieces of Voldemort's soul that must be destroyed to ensure his final defeat. Harry and his friends find themselves fugitives, but help comes from unexpected quarters and old friends. Harry is also searching for the truth about Dumbledore's life, as he tries to reconcile rumors about the man's past with the heroic headmaster he thought he knew. The legend of the Deathly Hallows, three magical objects that have the power to overcome death, proves to be related to Dumbledore's past as well as the present conflict. While the plot wanders somewhat on its way there, the final battle with Voldemort, involving a full range of friends and foes, is Rowling at her finest. The headstrong plot involves clues and characters from all of the volumes, building on details and tying up loose ends. An underlying message about the power of truth and redemption is reflected in a range of characters, combining with mythic allusions to give depth to the series as a whole. Hallows continues the darker tone of Half-Blood Prince, and there's no Quidditch to be found here, though there are comic moments. Fans of the series will devour this lengthy tome and will be left hoping for more tales from this fully fleshed out fantastic world.—Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

My Ink on The Deathly Hallows
If you've gone this far with Harry Potter, then you're so invested in the characters and the outcome that it didn't matter if Rowling wrote down a book consisting of nothing but the grocery list of Filch, you'd still eat it up.

Fortunately, Rowling didn't give us any fluff and delivered on a great ending to one of the greatest literary series of all time. The reviews were mixed when this book first came out, and there was some speculation that this was mainly due to the shortage of advanced copies, and the fact that people actually had to read it in a set amount of time and give their thoughts on it quickly.

But they shouldn't have been mixed because you couldn't ask for anything more with this finale. There was a complex plot, with our three heroes rummaging through the scenes of the series that we all know so well. There were twists, losses, gains, and a great epilogue.

If you are mad at the ending, know this: this isn't Cormac McCarthy. Rowling isn't looking to beat the millions of kids who grew up reading her books over the head. She ended it the exact way it needed to be done.

My wife and I enjoyed reading the book and we felt at a loss when it was all said and done. Like old friends, the characters had become a part of our lives, and now we have no knowledge of what will beset them in their futures.

If Rowling ever gets the bug to write either a prequel or the continuing history of the Hogwarts students, then no one could blame her; as we would all secretly be hoping for such unabashed gluttony as well. But she did the right thing while ending it on top. People want more, but the story is told.

anticlimactic conclusion to a phenomenal series
I was disappointed with Deathly Hallows. The book for the most part is an engaging and entertaining read, but I felt the ending was a letdown. JK Rowling has shown herself over the course of the previous six books to be a master of the surprise twist, of taking the expected, the conventional, and standing it on its head; in comparison, the conclusion here feels flat and cliche to me. After having raised my hopes in book 6 (Half-Blood Prince), Hallows brought me right back to where I was at the end of book 5 (Order of the Phoenix): disillusioned. It was not the ending that a series like this deserves- but then, perhaps there *IS* no ending that could have lived up to all that the rest of this series has been.

In Deathly Hallows, we learn a lot more about Albus Dumbledore's backstory and family history- and find he is only human after all. The question of Severus Snape is resolved in a way that many of us fans will have anticipated, but played out in a manner that I found oddly unsatisfying. After terrorizing us for seven books, big scary Voldemort turns out to be just another 2-dimentional bad-guy, a petty villain. We lose several beloved characters. And Harry, in the end, gets what I suppose he has really wanted all along- the chance to be just an ordinary guy, out of the glare of the spotlight of fame; but, funny, I thought the whole point was that he is NOT a mere Muggle.

Great Storytelling to the End
The time has come. Harry's about to turn seventeen which means that all of the charms protecting him at the Dursley's house will disappear and he must leave Privet Drive before Lord Voldemort arrives to kill him. Needless to say, the first sixty pages of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS are riveting and by the time the action slows, you're ready for a long deep breath. Anyone who's read the previous books knows that Harry's mission is to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes that contain bits of Voldemort's soul, and then kill Voldemort. No easy task. The Dark Lord now controls the Ministry, the Giants, Dementors, Azkaban, and many others. Spies are everywhere and there's a price on Harry's head. But Harry's one clever--if not lucky--teenager and, with Ron and Hermione's help, he launches the most difficult quest of his life.

For a 607 page book, the story moved incredibly fast, and I couldn't put it down in many places. In slower sections, Rowling does a great job of showing Harry's anguish, impatience, frustration, and grief over those he's lost. Harry's mission prevents him from attending his final year at Hogwarts, so readers don't get to see other key characters as much, yet this only exemplifies Henry's sense of displacement and loneliness as the months drag on.

The ending was satisfying on many levels, though the epilogue was a bit disappointing. A conversation between seven or eight characters--many of them new--was hard to follow. There was no back story and almost no inner monologue to shed light on what had transpired with familiar characters since the final confrontation. Still, for Harry Potter fans, THE DEATHLY HALLOWS is a must read and it saddens me that the saga's come to an end.