Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Angie of Angieville and "focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc."
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Publication date: July 2007
ISBN: 9780545139700
Source: Purchased (of course)
Really? I'm not going to bother with a summary.
Things I Liked:
Even after reading it before, I am amazed I can still fall into the story so easily again. I know what will happen, but the action is so non-stop and heart-pounding I get caught up in it anyway. And, having only read it once as fast as possible back in 2007, there were lots of delicious details I missed and needed refreshing. Rowling is a master of suspense and giving you just the right amount of info at once that you feel like you know something, but then later you learn you didn't really know it at all. I never once seemed to see any of her revelations coming. Lily and Snape, Dumbledore's family, the horcruxes, nothing. Fantastic story, exciting ending, and still fascinating enough to be reread often. I managed to reread it before I saw the last movie installment (mind you, I didn't see it for several months) and I was reminded how superior the books are to the movies. In my opinion.
Things I Didn't Like:
I was struck again at just how nearly ridiculous it becomes that Harry can have so many near-death or near-Voldemort experiences and get out every time. I think it stretched its believability to the max, but no one cares because we love Harry and his innate ability to get out of scrapes (with luck and his friends).
Read-alikes:
Nothing quite like it, but you know the first six Harry Potter books
For post-Harry withdrawals, I liked the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
a few here and there
mrg-factor: none
except occasional snogging
v-factor: ->->->
loads of this, though
Overall rating: *****
Do you have a favorite part of this book? What do you wish had been in the movie that didn't make the cut?
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
