MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! If you’ve been following along with the blog for the last few days, then you’ve seen my daily reviews of Harry Potter leading up to today with the final novel. For me, the magic of Harry Potter is a Christmastime story, and I have thoroughly enjoyed re-reading and reviewing these books leading up to Christmas, as both the series and Christmas itself means so much to me. Have the merriest of Christmases, and I hope you enjoy my final Harry Potter review (and choose to read the series, if you have not done so already).

From Goodreads: Harry Potter is leaving Privet Drive for the last time. But as he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid’s motorbike and they take to the skies, he knows Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters will not be far behind.

The protective charm that has kept him safe until now is broken. But the Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything he loves. And he knows he can’t keep hiding.

To stop Voldemort, Harry knows he must find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them.

He will have to face his enemy in one final battle.

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The end. Finito. Terminé. It is done, and I always have a hard time accepting it. The wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter so enraptures me each time I read it that I am able to think of little else.  While many of the novels themselves are on the long side, I still feel as if more could be said. Spanning from around 300 pages at its shortest to over 850 pages at its longest, the series itself encompasses over 4000 pages that grip readers and bring them into this world through amazing themes, events, characters, and connections to the real world, as discussed in some of my prior reviews. Likewise, it presents a fantasy world that allows our imaginations to run rampant, especially in regard to the question of “what if.”  What if it really did exist…

This seventh and final novel in the Harry Potter series is just as amazing and gripping as the first (and all those that come in-between).  Of course, it follows in its predecessor’s footsteps with its dark undertones as Harry, Hermoine, and Ron attempt to find the final Horcruxes before the battle with Voldemort, one Harry knows must take place in order to fulfill the prophecy. With Dumbledore gone, Snape in charge of Hogwarts, and the death eaters infiltrating The Ministry of Magic, the wizarding world is in chaos, and people, both magical and muggle, are dying left and right…

From the very beginning, the novel strums our emotional chords as the magic surrounding Privet Drive is about to expire, sending the awful and repulsive Dursley family away once and for all as their safety is now in question. Although these muggles are ones we love to hate, Rowling finally adds a piece of sentimentality in the form of Dudley, and readers know that this is going to be an emotional read from beginning to end.  How can it not, as it dives deeper into the recess of good versus evil.

While absolutely amazing, the death toll in this novel will leave readers in a somber mood for days, as it does me, no matter how many times I read it, and no matter how much I try to prepare for what I know is inevitably coming–because even though they are fictional characters, they have become a part of my life just the same.  And while I wish Rowling didn’t do it—I’d love for this to have been all roses and butterflies—it just wouldn’t carry any validity or as much steam had Rowling not made these difficult decisions to kill off some of our most beloved characters.

And Snape?  While I still find his actions appalling from book one to now, I can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness for him while reading this novel, and I rejoice over his ultimate decisions because we finally know the absolute truth behind the man we’ve hated for so long. The “why” is important, and though he chose not to live life in a way that made him happy, his choices helped lead to justice for the Potters, and that is worth so much. Just writing a review of such a riveting novel brings all the emotions to the forefront again, and I cannot say it enough: this series, this book, this world, is amazing. Five stars.

I own this beloved novel and entire series in both hardcover and audible.

Did you know that you can listen to this novel for FREE with a FREE TRIAL of Audible for 30 days? Try it today!

Kindle | Audible | Paperback | Hardcover

Have you read the short prequel to the Harry Potter series, yet?

And if you missed them, read my review of:

The Sorcerer’s Stone #1

The Chamber of Secrets #2

The Prisoner of Azkaban #3

The Goblet of Fire #4

The Order of the Pheonix #5

The Half-Blood Prince #6

From Goodreads: When Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens, the war against Voldemort has begun. The Wizarding world has split down the middle, and as the casualties mount, the effects even spill over onto the Muggles. Dumbledore is away from Hogwarts for long periods, and the Order of the Phoenix has suffered grievous losses. And yet, as in all wars, life goes on.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, having passed their O.W.L. level exams, start on their specialist N.E.W.T. courses. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate, losing a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Harry becomes captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, while Draco Malfoy pursues his own dark ends. And classes are as fascinating and confounding as ever, as Harry receives some extraordinary help in Potions from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

Most importantly, Dumbledore and Harry work together to uncover the full and complex story of a boy once named Tom Riddle—the boy who became Lord Voldemort. Like Harry, he was the son of one Muggle-born and one Wizarding parent, raised unloved, and a speaker of Parseltongue. But the similarities end there, as the teenaged Riddle became deeply interested in the Dark objects known as Horcruxes: objects in which a wizard can hide part of his soul, if he dares splinter that soul through murder.

Harry must use all the tools at his disposal to draw a final secret out of one of Riddle’s teachers, the sly Potions professor Horace Slughorn. Finally, Harry and Dumbledore hold the key to the Dark Lord’s weaknesses… until a shocking reversal exposes Dumbledore’s own vulnerabilities, and casts Harry’s—and Hogwarts’s—future in shadow.

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is another amazing installment in the Harry Potter Series. On the plus side, the wizarding world is once again standing behind Harry and Dumbledore, aware that they were telling the truth about the return of Voldemort. On the negative side, however, many have met a premature death in the fight against pure evil. These are dark times, and though it seems impossible, the events that unfold in this novel are even more ominous than those that came before it.

This is the first time readers are given a glimpse of the life that Tom Riddle led before becoming Lord Voldemort, beginning with his ill-conceived birth, and taking us through his time and actions in an orphanage and later his acceptance and studies at Hogwarts. Finally, we are able to begin to put together the pieces that made Voldemort who he is today—a killer intent on ruling forever and riding the world of mudbloods—anyone who isn’t a pureblood witch or wizard. I really enjoyed this backward glance into the life of our foe, Voldemort, as the puzzle pieces began to come together, and it is impossible to not be curious about the life and times of someone so inherently evil. Readers learn much about Voldemort’s heritage, and perhaps the most important detail comes to light in this novel in terms of his life: the horcruxes. As the truth becomes clear concerning how Voldermort survived his backfiring curse the night he attempted to kill Harry, the race against time begins.

This is an extremely engaging novel and, though sinister in tone and ominous in nature, it is an amazing tale that will leave you glued to the pages; it will haunt you long after it’s over, especially as the unthinkable happens in this novel, an event that had me so aghast that the tissues by my side were not enough to do it justice. It is the beginning of the end, and while I do not want this amazing world that Rowling has created to end, I am more than ready to see justice served. Five stars.

I own this beloved novel and entire series in both hardcover and audible.

Did you know that you can listen to this novel for FREE with a FREE TRIAL of Audible for 30 days? Try it today!

Kindle | Audible | Paperback | Hardcover

Have you read the short prequel to the Harry Potter series, yet?

And if you missed them, read my review of:

The Sorcerer’s Stone #1

The Chamber of Secrets #2

The Prisoner of Azkaban #3

The Goblet of Fire #4

The Order of the Pheonix #5

The Deathly Hallows #7

For me, the magic of Harry Potter is a Christmastime story. The first time I ever read the series, the first time I ever watched the movies, I just felt like they were definitely Christmas stories, ones of magic and beauty, and I’ve held onto that feeling for years, possibly because the earlier movies tended to come out around the holidays, or perhaps because J.K. Rowling always included Christmas in some way in each novel, but regardless, Christmas means it’s time for Harry Potter once again. Or at least, it did. It used to be that every Christmas season, I’d rewatch all the movies (usually in one sitting), and if I had the time, I’d re-read the entire series as well leading up to the holiday. But it’s been years since I’ve done this due to life and some other personal things. This year, however, the pull of nostalgia for my teenage years and the feelings of happiness Harry Potter always brought to me came flooding back, and I decided that I’d once again re-read the entire series, re-watch every movie (including the extended versions of some that I’d never seen before), and oh my, the magic of Christmas lives once again! And with that, I decided that since I’m back into blogging after so many years away, and since I haven’t posted about Harry Potter since 2013, that this Christmas season, I’d go in order and re-review each book from the prequel to the final novel as we lead up to Christmas day, partially for myself, and partially to spread the joy and cheer of Harry Potter as I know it this Christmas. Enjoy!

From Goodreads: There is a door at the end of a silent corridor. And it’s haunting Harry Pottter’s dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror?

Harry has a lot on his mind for this, his fifth year at Hogwarts: a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey; a big surprise on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; and the looming terror of the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. But all these things pale next to the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named—a threat that neither the magical government nor the authorities at Hogwarts can stop.

As the grasp of darkness tightens, Harry must discover the true depth and strength of his friends, the importance of boundless loyalty, and the shocking price of unbearable sacrifice.

His fate depends on them all.

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If there was only one thing I was allowed to say about this novel, it would be this: “I hate Delores Umbridge!!!” a sentiment, I know, is shared by many, if not all, Potterheads.

Unlike the first four novels in this enticing series, I was less familiar with the many events that take place in this fifth installment, as it’s the longest book and also the worst movie, in my opinion. The movie itself was excessively choppy and off-kilter, as far as I’m concerned, so I didn’t watch it as much as the first four movies. But, where the movie is stifling and inconsistent, the novel contains in-depth detail and really brings home the many atrocities and difficulties that Harry and his true friends face during their fifth year at Hogwarts, and re-reading this novel has given me a new appreciation for the storyline that the movie so vastly failed to portray.

As much as I hated everything that was happening to Hogwarts and Harry, especially as the entire wizarding world, it seems, is so quick to stand against Harry (wow with the “What have you done for me lately” attitude, wizards!), this novel has some great themes, especially for young adults struggling through their own identity crisis as they battle their way through high school. And it really shows just how much people would rather look the other way than see the truth, or deal with anything unpleasant, which can again be equated to the real world as the entire bullying epidemic has come to the forefront.

What I found to be the most interesting aspect of this novel, however, was the way the Ministry of Magic attempted to control Hogwarts and its teachers, subjecting them to multiple unfair observations and write-ups, firing at will. This is not so different from the reforms happening in the real world in terms of education, with states and the government attempting to flay teachers based on poor student performance without taking anything else into consideration. And though I really doubt that Rowling was thinking about education reform when she wrote this novel, I found that it still had a very heavy social commentary on education and the powers that be attempting to control it with little to no knowledge of teaching or how the system really works. With the Ministry’s long-reaching hands now up to its elbows in the running of Hogwarts, the system begins to crumble. A very interesting concept indeed. Five stars.

I own this beloved novel and entire series in both hardcover and audible.

Did you know that you can listen to this novel for FREE with a FREE TRIAL of Audible for 30 days? Try it today!

Kindle | Audible | Paperback | Hardcover

Have you read the short prequel to the Harry Potter series, yet?

And if you missed them, read my review of:

The Sorcerer’s Stone #1

The Chamber of Secrets #2

The Prisoner of Azkaban #3

The Goblet of Fire #4

The Half-Blood Prince #6

The Deathly Hallows #7

For me, the magic of Harry Potter is a Christmastime story. The first time I ever read the series, the first time I ever watched the movies, I just felt like they were definitely Christmas stories, ones of magic and beauty, and I’ve held onto that feeling for years, possibly because the earlier movies tended to come out around the holidays, or perhaps because J.K. Rowling always included Christmas in some way in each novel, but regardless, Christmas means it’s time for Harry Potter once again. Or at least, it did. It used to be that every Christmas season, I’d rewatch all the movies (usually in one sitting), and if I had the time, I’d re-read the entire series as well leading up to the holiday. But it’s been years since I’ve done this due to life and some other personal things. This year, however, the pull of nostalgia for my teenage years and the feelings of happiness Harry Potter always brought to me came flooding back, and I decided that I’d once again re-read the entire series, re-watch every movie (including the extended versions of some that I’d never seen before), and oh my, the magic of Christmas lives once again. And with that, I decided that since I’m back into blogging after so many years away, and since I haven’t posted about Harry Potter since 2013, that this Christmas season, I’d go in order and re-review each book from the prequel to the final novel as we lead up to Christmas day, partially for myself, and partially to spread the joy and cheer of Harry Potter as I know it this Christmas. Enjoy!

From Goodreads: Every time a lad came fowling on the St Kilda stacs, he went home less of a boy and more of a man. If he went home at all, that is…

In the summer of 1727, a group of men and boys are put ashore on a remote sea stac to harvest birds for food. No one returns to collect them. Why? Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they have been abandoned to endure storms, starvation and terror. And how can they survive, housed in stone and imprisoned on every side by the ocean?

________________________________________

Told in the third person, this novel follows Quilliam and the group of boys and men who journey to the stacs of St. Kilda for what they believe will be between 1-3 weeks at most, only to find themselves marooned on the inhospitable rocky island for what turns out to be nine months. Nine months of thinking their families were raptured and that they were forgotten; nine months of sleeping in caves, scrounging for food once the birds migrate for the winter, and losing hope of ever leaving the island alive. If you’re looking for another Lord of the Flies type read, know right now that this is not it. Written for ages ten and up, I, unfortunately, don’t feel this novel would hold the attention of an MG or YA reader–not a lot happens, the language is difficult to decipher, and the characters tend to blend together. However, for a lover of historical fiction, one interested in the now abandonded island of Hirta in Scotland and the people who once went fowling on the stacs, this novel lends some insight and can actually be great fun, although slowgoing at times. Yes, it’s a bit of a hard read, but again, with the right amount of interest and insight going in, I think an adult reader could and would find this an intriguing tale.

It is 1727 in Scotland. From there, the reader ought to know that the way of speaking is archaic. Going into the novel with this in mind, and the knowledge that the Scottish dialect can be difficult to understand here and there will help the reader navigate some of the discussions held within the novel. Likewise, going in with knowledge of the stacs, St. Kilda, Hirta, and the fact that a group of fowlers did indeed find themselves left on the island for 9 months lends credibility and a sense of understanding to the read. I finished the novel before looking up any of these things, as I didn’t realize they truly existed until reading the author’s afterward, which suddenly spiked my interest tenfold, and is something I wish I had noticed was written down at the bottom of the book cover–or perhaps had been noted in the synopsis. Upon watching some videos and learning the truth behind what the characters in this novel experienced, and being able to literally see the type of inhospitable atmosphere the characters found themselves in, the novel was suddenly brought to life in a way that simply reading had not done for me (note to reader–the picture on the cover is indeed a stac and not just an embellished picture as I originally thought). Suddenly, I found that the novel was actually quite intriguing after the fact, and it made my slog through to the end, to find out why no one came for them, much more enjoyable. Because I went into this novel blind and not realizing it’s historical fiction, that the stacs and Hirta are real places, and that the events transcribed, while fictional, follow many a truth, the novel was not as enjoyable as it could have been for me. So again, I think it is really important that readers familiarize themselves with these places prior to going into the read, and below, I’ve included a video I watched on YouTube that really made me understand where the characters lived and where they were marooned on the stacs. It will make your read all the better. Three stars (which probably would have been higher had I gone into it with a different understanding and mindset).

I was provided an ARC of this novel by Flatiron Books and MacMillan through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Where the World Ends releases tomorrow, Dec. 3, 2019.

Did you know that you can read this novel for FREE with a FREE TRIAL of Audible for 30 days? Try it today!

Kindle | Audible | Paperback | Hardcover

Seriously–watch the video below! St. Kilda and the stacs are so amazing!