Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

From the first page it's apparent that The Deathly Hallows is a very different beast from the previous books in the series. The epigraphs, particularly the sinister and apocalyptic quote from Aeschylus's The Libation Bearers, immediately establish a darker tone which only gets more pronounced as the story develops.

Unfortunately this book confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt something I had previously touched upon: as an alumna of Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, the real magic in the HP series, for me at least, lies in Hogwarts and the day to day running of the school. When you take the characters out of that setting, the story loses a lot of its sparkle. Whilst I enjoyed a lot of the first half of the book - the laying to rest of Moody's eye and the appearance of the silver doe in particular were beautifully written - I didn't feel like I really settled in to it until we returned to Hogwarts, and we all know what happened after that.

I can't help but admire the courage it must have taken for JKR to kill off so many of her well loved characters. A couple of the deaths knocked the wind right out of me, and I mourned the loss of Hedwig through the whole book. I was a bit disappointed at how quickly Snape was dispatched with but finally having his backstory revealed in the pensieve made up for it. I was surprised to find myself feeling sorry for the Malfoy family towards the end, and to be honest I was managing to hold it together in the final pages of the book until we encountered Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son. I hope that, like Severus, they're given a second chance.

All things considered I've really enjoyed reading the HP books, and it's been a good way to ease into the reading year. Unfortunately none of them quite scraped five stars but a couple came very close, and I have no doubt that if i'd first read them as a child I would hold an entirely different opinion.

4.5 stars.