‘Deathly Hallows’ Not For Very Young Readers

PHILADELPHIA -- Review does NOT include spoilers.

A mere 28 hours after squeezing my way out of the packed bookstore filled with Harry Potter fans, I finished the last book in the series.

Although I do not think I will go around saying “This Book Is So Awesome,” as the group Harry and the Potters sing about book six, the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” book is good.

It is not the light-hearted fun with a one big, but not long adventure that the first books in the series were. It is almost the opposite, with the entire book being the adventure and only a few incidents of light-hearted fun sprinkled throughout the book.

From the very beginning of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” it is clear this seventh book in the series is going to very different from all the others.

Before the first chapter begins, author J.K. Rowling includes quotes from Aeschylus’ “The Libation Bearers” and William Penn’s “More Fruits of Solitude.” These were thought important enough to be included in the audio book version of “Hallows.” The last book in this children’s series is being introduced by a quote from a Greek poet, most of whose work is too pithy for many adults, let alone children.

In this 759-page book, death No. 1 happens on page 12, and Potter fans will need their box of tissues for the next death on page 55. And that’s just the beginning.

As Harry Potter readers will know from reading the previous six books and from the hype that has been lapped up and regurgitated by the media, this book is about the wizarding war and the deaths continue to pile up throughout the book. Some characters of which readers were previously unaware lose their lives, but quite a few well-known characters are also buried. Reading this book put quite a dent in the contents of my tissue box.

Bookseller Barnes and Noble lists the ideal age range for this book as 9 to 12. If I were a parent of a child of that age, I’m not so sure I would want him or her reading this. And I definitely would not want my child reading it without reading it myself and being there to discuss all the deaths and other plot points that may trouble readers young and old.

Rowling has done such a good job creating characters that capture the hearts and minds of readers that it is all the more devastating when they die.

Although today’s TV shows and movies may be filled with death, fights and casual violence, this book’s violence is anything but casual. Rowling makes sure her living characters pay respect to those who have died. Death and serious injury do not go unremarked in her books.

Readers have seen before in books five and six with the deaths of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore that Rowling does not skimp on describing how her characters are dealing with death. Most notably, Harry Potter has gone through the mourning process and he continues with that in book seven as friends drop like flies.

“Hallows” resolves a number of plot points, including, although many readers may previously have thought it impossible, humanizing Harry’s aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley.

The book answers the questions left from book six: Is Severus Snape a true Death Eater? Will Harry die? Is Albus Dumbledore really dead? What are horcruxes?

Wand lore plays a very important part in the resolution of the final battle, and this lore is completely new to this book, although the truth about magic at its elementary level has been discussed in previous books. This makes research, heart, courage and reasoning ability more important in the final battle than power and magical ability. Although, this is a very good message to send to us muggles who must live out lives without magic, it was a not the final blowout I had been expecting.

I’m still trying to decide if the final fight was a let down or not. Somehow, I think it will be drastically changed when they get around to making the movie, since there were more words than bangs and blasts. The movie, according to Internet Movie Database, is due our in 2010, so if you want to know what happens, go get the book.