Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (2007, Hardcover)

I could not wait until this last installment of the Harry Potter series finally hit the shelves. I reserved my copy months in advance at my local Walden Books store. I even started counting down the days until its release. Yet, once I had the book in my hands I felt a mixture of excitement, anticipation and regret. After all these years of waiting for the next installment, ever since I finished the first book, I was finally going to read my last Harry Potter book. I could not wait to find out how Harry, Hermione, and Ron's journey would end, but I couldnt help feeling upset that, once read, it would be over. No more staying excited for the next installment to arrive.

That being said, once I cracked open my crisp copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the pang of regret I had felt about this being over, gave way to an overwhelming happiness to be back in this wonderful world of magic J.K. Rowling created. Once I had started, it was all over. I could not stop reading. I had to force myself away from the pages to eat. Each page revealed just enough to make it a necessity to read the next. As any Harry Potter fan knows, this series is so gripping, each line begs you to read the next.

Speaking of The Hallows specifically, I would have to say that it is an edge of your seat story and the most spine-tingling of the 7 book series, and Rowling wastes no timing jumping into the thick of it in the first chapters. Many chapters, I had the feeling of walking through a haunted house, every muscle tense, in anticipation of the next arm-twisting details. Hallows throws twists and turns at you every few pages, throughout the entire book. As it is the 7th book and the main characters are reaching maturity, the books content is much more adult in nature. There is not much more I am comfortable saying, without giving away precious pieces of the final books plots. It was a wonderfully written emotional rollercoaster, that can be ridden over and over again.

After having read Book 7 twice, I am still amazed by J.K. Rowling. It is mystifying how much detail and planning went into these books. The character development, the subplots, the reference towards other epic stories written in history. Coming into the 7th installment, you would not think it possible to tie up so many tresses, as Rowling did. There have also been, looking back, so many clues and hints in the previous 6 books towards the ending of this adventure.

This series is a very complex story, which Rowling wrote for children; however, I would have to disagree with these being children's books. In writing the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling has inadvertently entertwined the literary worlds of child and adult. The Harry Potter series, I believe, will be on the bookshelves of child and adult alike for generations to come.