Reading book seven of the Harry Potter series is a lot like saying goodbye to a close friend. Many fans, like myself, have grown up with our hero and followed the series as he grew up to be the hope for muggles and magical creatures alike.
Fortunately, J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" made the long-awaited finale well worth the 10 year wait.
But since the book is so much like bidding farewell, the read was somewhat difficult to a longtime fan.
Following the tone of the previous books in the series, "Deathly Hollows" offers moments of humor, angst, suspense and sadness. Only this time, knowing it was the last book made the reading experience a bit more emotional.
You want to know what happens. You can't wait to see how things will end. Will Voldemort ultimately perish? Will Harry die, too? Is Snape good or bad? And just how many characters will J.K. Rowling kill off in the final story?
But because the whole series, and especially this book, are written so well and are so different from most other books in the mainstream market, part of the reader wants to drag it out for as long as possible because once it's over, it's really over .Rowling says she will not write another Harry Potter book.
While the book is sizeable, coming in at 759 pages, it is fast-paced with important action happening throughout the entire book.
This makes for an easy read that leaves the reader wanting to keep turning page after page to find out what will happen to Harry and his friends.
Starting from the first page, the story is engaging. Within the first few chapters, we see what is going on among the Death Eaters and the members of the Order of the Phoenix.
The book begins shortly after where "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" ends.
Harry is preparing to leave behind his past and move on to follow the bidding of Dumbledore and to look for the last of the seven Horcruxes created by Voldemort.
"Deathly Hallows" brings the end of Harry's sad, tumultuous childhood as he comes of age. This also means the end to the magical protection spells cast on the Dursley's home, preventing evil beings from reaching him. Readers see the end apparent of Harry's relationship with his only surviving blood family and his departure from the unhappy home of his youth.
Harry still struggles with all of the same issues he has had throughout the previous books in the series, but now he must also come to terms with his becoming a man on his birthday.
Like in the other books, Harry's birthday is an important occurrence in the book, only this birthday - turning 17 and coming of age - is perhaps the most important birthday, with the exception of his 10th birthday, seen in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." It has major implications for how his life will change.
And don't forget that amid all this, Harry and his peers must deal with the rise of Lord Voldemort and his minions of darkness, who not only have plans to take over the world, but also throw some additional curveballs at Harry.
A major highlight of the book is the reprisal of many characters we have met and grown to love, or hate, throughout the series. To name a few: dementors, Olivander the wandmaker, the journalist Rita Skeeter and Dolores Umbridge, the deplorable official in the Ministry of Magic and a former Hogwarts professor of the Dark Arts.
But reader beware. A full-out war has ensued in the magical world. There are casualties from both the good and dark forces. The deaths of these characters, some well-known and beloved and others not as much, is something the reader must constantly deal with.
Following the progression of the series, the Harry Potter books have gotten darker, and this story was no exception.
But keep in mind that because we're dealing with a world of magic and Harry's thoughts and memories, the death of a character does not necessarily mean we've heard or seen the last of them. Even after the death of many of his mentors, Harry can still rely on their everlasting guidance that did not die with their bodies.
This ability to stay connected is something we have seen in earlier books and is the only way we have had the ability to meet Harry's parents, who died nearly nine years before the series began.
All in all, Rowling protects the integrity of the Harry Potter series in this final installment and gives the fans of the "boy who lived" closure by tying up many of the loose ends left from the series.
Most importantly, after reading the book, it is clear that the importance of it is not necessarily who dies and who survives or even the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort. It's that the reader understands that love, hope and friendship can ultimately defeat death.
