I'm not going to do a Chapter by Chapter review for this; I think the book is best treated as a whole. I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a second time and my opinion of it changed considerably. The first time I read it, I was disappointed with the conclusion and I believed that the first three quarters of the book far exceeded the conclusion in terms of plot, suspence, and even how well-written it was. I thought that Harry should have died to make a more fitting resolution. However, after reading it a second time, the ending seemed fitting to me; I even warmed to Harry's forray into the afterlife which I absolutely detested the first time around. While I still mantain that the first three fourths are the stronger part of the book, the ending no longer seems so bad.

I felt that Rowling did an absolutely wonderful job with the middle portion of the book where Harry, Hermione, and, partly, Ron where living in different forests throught England. The despair that began to creep amongst the trio and its effects where wonderfully described by JKR and felt all to real. I thought that this was the best written part of the book. I loved the allusion to the Lord of the Rings by having the Horcruxes have the same physical and mental effect on the trio as the One Ring had on Frodo.

I also thought that Rowling was wise in making Voldemort's reign eirily similar to Hitler's Nazi reign over Germany. Reading about how the Ministry went from taking Muggle-Borns in just for an 'interview' and registering them reminded me all too well of reading about how the Nazi's slowly enforced anti-jewish laws in Germany. I also relished comparing the resistance on 'Potterwatch' to the French underground resistance during World War Two. All in all, I think that this third of the book was the most interesting, suspencful, and best written.

After that, I would say that the beginning third of the novel did an excellent job of setting the tone, albeit a dark one. The constant, sinister presence of Voldemort and the Ministry was excelently portrayed by Rowling, throughout the novel, but particularily as she set it up in the beginning. Also, I thought that the action scene in the air was superbly crafted. The H/G kiss was also good.

As for the conclusion, I think that it was fitting, but could have been better. The action of the final battle never really captured my imagination like battles in previous scenes had done. However, in all fairness, it is certainly much more difficult to craft a battle when its hundreds of people fighting as opposed to only ten or twenty. I still believe that Harry's little forray into the afterlife was ill-advised, but I no longer think it was stupid and annoying. One touching part in the finale was when Harry was marching to what he believed to be his death and brought back all his lost loved ones. I think the final part of the book, besides Harry's walk to his percieved death which was wonderfully written, could have used more of this type of emotion.

Overall, I think that the dialouge was terrific and the characters excellently crafted. However, I think Rowling's strenght as a writer is portraying angst, despair, anger, and sorrow. The ending lacked these emotions and therefor was less powerful then, say, reading about Dumbledore's death at the end of the 6th book. If I were to grade the book, I would give it a 94%. It was a great book and the conclusion to a phenomenal series, but I can't help but feeling that Rowling left a little on the table and the book never reached its full potential.