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# Harry Potter J.K. Rowling • Scholastic
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/harry-potter-j-k-rowling-scholastic/
- Published: 2007-08-02T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:26:57.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Events, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By BYEMILYSKEHAN BOOKREVIEW*

I purchased the last copy of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” at the local Borders, half-satisfied by the possibility of leaving a young child sobbing because I’ve stolen the final 784 pages of magic. This fleeting curmudgeonry is quickly swept away as I’m drawn in by Rowling’s first sentence. I look up approximately 28 hours later, with a sappy grin on my face and an overwhelming feeling of closure.

In Potter’s final saga, Rowling abandons the formula that began to fade in the fourth book. Instead of the whimsical quotidian events of Hogwarts and the rising suspense of Voldemort’s newest plan to return to power, “Deathly Hallows” focuses on an entirely different set of events. The book begins with the grim reality of a world governed by dark power, with fascist symbolism galore.

Harry, Ron and Hermoine leave childhood behind and embark on a quest to find the remaining Horcruxes and carry on Dumbledore’s legacy. Rowling’s ability to intertwine past story lines with new mysteries is strongest in her final Potter opus, as twists and red herrings lead her audience — with bated breath— through a dramatically escalating journey that ends —how could it not— with a final, truly epic battle between good and evil.

Characters find redemption, grow up, and leave the living world with graceful, emotional description. While Rowling’s writing is not superb — her action scenes resemble an awkward love-child between soap opera exclamations and comic book violence— the substance far outweighs the style. Harry Potter’s world is as complex as it has ever been, an imaginatively rich alternate dimension that captivates as children’s literature rarely does.

Most of the book’s faults are due more to a lack of space than a lapse in talent— the pivotal loose ends are superbly tied up but readers are left wondering what happens to a handful of important characters, not to mention the ministry of magic. There is a naggingly slow hundred pages in the middle of the novel, and a few too many deus ex machina moments, where Harry miraculously escapes death eaters or Hermoine coincidentally pieces unrelated information together. A final gripe: Though the dark tone of the book is both appropriate enthralling, Rowling’s signature and offhand humor is mostly absent.

These faults can be forgiven, however, for their remedy would result in a 2,000 page episode. Furthermore, the glorious final chapters erase any doubts of Rowling’s skills as a master storyteller. (Warning: Plot spoilers ahead) Perhaps the strongest point in the book is the tear-inducing scene in which Snape finally gets redemption. The revelation that he has sacrificed his life and reputation because of his love for Harry’s mother is beautifully drawn out. A close second is Harry’s Christ-like journey to confront Voldemort (and an expected death), which is pulled off with less of a didactic, Narnian tone than a populist one. The battle of Hogwarts is awestriking, and the epilogue rightfully cheesy.

I’m still disappointed that no one came to cart me off to wizarding school when I turned 11, but the last chapter in Harry’s adventures is a wholly satisfying close. I’m ready for the movie.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/080207-10_01.jpg)

BARN BURNER: The latest Potter book is selling very well. (Photo: Photo courtesy Scholastic)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 2, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)