Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) – J.K. Rowling

Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of locating and destroying Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. Never has Harry felt so alone, or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him.
In this final, seventh instalment of the Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited. The spellbinding, richly woven narrative, which plunges, twists and turns at a breathtaking pace, confirms the author as a mistress of storytelling, whose books will be read, reread and read again.

** There WILL be spoilers for this book and previous books so if you haven’t read them yet, BEWARE. You’re gonna get spoiled! **

Ahhhh, at last, my Harry Potter re-read is finally over! I started back in September 2013 when I decided that I wanted to re-read the entire series via audiobook and a year and a half later, that re-read has come to a close! The experience was absolutely delightful and so much fun to experience both through a different format and much later on in my life.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS has always been the big question mark book in the series as far as how I would rank it. I had a clear favorite and I had clear least favorites (I love them all, but you know) but DEATHLY HALLOWS was just such a DIFFERENT book than the rest and that made it hard to place. There’s barely any time at Hogwarts (until the Battle of Hogwarts — ohhhh let’s not go there yet), no Quidditch, and a whole lot more focus on, well… the END. The books grow darker over time but this is definitely the one with the most hardships, evil, and battles but it also has a incredible amount of bravery and victory.

I’m still finding it hard to place this book in a line-up but I will say that this was the book out of the series that really evoked the most feeling from me as I was listening. Of course, there are some MAJOR losses as far as favorite characters go and even though I knew they were coming, it didn’t soften the blow any less. In fact, no matter how much I missed Sirius and Dumbledore, their deaths in the previous books didn’t really tug on my heartstrings for whatever reason… and they really do make up some of my favorite characters! But when I was listening and realized that this was the last time we’d see and hear Lupin and Fred alive… GAH. Then once we had to see them after they’d been lost in battle. MY HEART. I think maybe because I made more of personal connection with those characters along the way. Sirius was Harry’s godfather but I always felt like Lupin was more of a father-figure. And it just pains to me lose Fred because the Weasley twins are some of my absolute favorites.

Besides the obvious deaths though, I really finally connected with so many of the characters. I’m not a Harry/Ginny shipper but I really understood their connection a bit more in this book. I felt love between friends and love amongst families. I think everything just really stepped up a notch in this book and actually, I feel like J.K. could have really dug into those moments a bit more to wrench some more emotion out of it but… that could also not impact me as much from so many re-reads!

I’m actually excited to start this process all over again. I’d definitely like to re-read this series every couple of years or so. Maybe next go around I’ll switch back to print! But I will say that there’s definitely a reason why we’re all so in love with Harry Potter. There’s some real magic in there besides what Harry can do with a wand. This series is utterly captivating and from childhood to adulthood, I will always hold the Harry Potter series in my heart.

Ranking after re-read of book #1: [1] // [6, 4, 5, 7, 3, 2]
Ranking after re-read of book #2: [1, 2] // [6, 4, 5, 7, 3]
Ranking after re-read of book #3: [3, 1, 2] // [6, 4, 5, 7]
Ranking after re-read of book #4: [4, 3, 1, 2] // [6, 5, 7]
Ranking after re-read of book #5: [4, 3, 1, 5, 2] // [6, 7]
Ranking after re-read of book #6: [6, 4, 3, 1, 5, 2] // [7]
Ranking after re-read of book #7: [6, 4, 3, 7, 1, 5, 2]

“The View from Goodreads” is a featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

Severus Snape // Character Obsessions: Lily, suppressing emotions.
I really REALLY love Snape’s connection with Lily — and it’s the most amazing to look back on the whole series and see HOW MUCH that impacted EVERYTHING. I think the book definitely does a better job of bringing out that friendship and exactly how much Snape cared for Lily. There’s an extra scene that the movie cut out where Snape and Lily are teenagers — later on in their Hogwarts years — and maybe because I’m a YA reader? I’m not sure, but I felt like that was a REALLY important moment of their friendship. They weren’t just two eleven or twelve-year-olds who were friends because they lived near each other and they were both capable of magic. Despite their different tastes, different upbringings, different groups, they were still best friends. I think that really reminded me exactly how strong that relationship was so it made everything MUCH more powerful. Snape and Lily weren’t just classmates. They used to be best friends and that makes his loyalty to Lily even more respectable to me (not like having a crush and falling in love isn’t, but the friendship aspect of it feels much more powerful).
Although I will say, I DO love the movie version because Alan Rickman as Snape forever <333

Kept Me Hooked On: Full series re-read. WOW, I don’t know if I’ve EVER done a full series re-read from start to finish. I’ve meant to but I don’t think I ever made it all the way though. I’d pick up a book here and there or start in the middle, jump around… This was so great!
Left Me Wanting More: Emotion. This book really, really gave me the feels, more so than any other Harry Potter book buuuuut I feel like there could have been JUST a touch more — time for the death scenes to really sink in, time for the romances to really blossom — and it would have totally wrecked my heart in a good way.

Addiction Rating
Re-read the WHOLE THING.

Do it, friends. You won’t regret it. Especially if it’s been a long time since you’ve read the books! I watch the movies all the time but reading them (again) is a totally different experience.

BOOKS LIKE HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

(Click the cover to see my review!)

Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

Recently Read

Brittany S.’s favorite books »

INSTAGRAM

pagesplotsandpints

I ended up selling a lot on @pangobooks recently

Who are your favorite audiobook narrators? I defin

How have you rated Goodreads’ most popular books

✨ Book Recommendations for fans of Stacy Willing

No thoughts, just aesthetics… The petals were

With 91 books read in 2023 so far, I’m back with

Here we are with another @pangobooks haul! Selling

The Dead Romantics was either going to be a hit or

Load More Follow on Instagram

3 thoughts on “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) – J.K. Rowling”

Alexa S. March 18, 2015 at 4:28 pm

Just following along as you reread the series makes me want to do a reread as it’s been a couple of years since I last did it! But seriously, this series is still so dang epic, and I can’t imagine I would feel any other way but the crazy passionate love I have for it upon embarking on a reread. Loved seeing all your thoughts, B!
Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook March 18, 2015 at 11:39 am

I started re-reading HP via audiobook last year, too, and I read books 1-4, but then I had to stop. I had some personal losses then, and I just can’t bring myself to read about the losses in the next three books.

It’s interesting how you describe how you felt with the deaths of Sirius and Dumbledore compared to your feelings about the deaths of Lupin and Fred.

I still think that the most emotional death in the book, for me anyways, is Sirius. And although I understand what you mean about how Lupin acted more like a father-figure to Harry, to me, my emotions get all crazy with Sirius’s death because of how Harry feels. And although I was so so so sad when Dumbledore died, I also felt like he had lived a long life. I didn’t feel that way about poor Sirius (or Lupin and Definitely not Fred). Fred’s death was awful, though.

Anyway, yay for completing your HP re-read!
Kristin March 18, 2015 at 11:19 am

I’m starting my Harry Potter re-read this month! I can’t wait to revisit this series since it had such a HUGE impact on my life <3