Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling

Today's review comes courtesy of a returning favorite of Anbaric Lights', the incomparable Book Monster. She's tackled a subject bittersweet in my heart, the final volume of the Harry Potter series. Bitter because it ends the adventures of everyone's favorite teenaged wizard, and sweet because, MAN! What a finish!

When I first finished the Deathly Hallows, I found myself depressed and sad that I would have no more exposure to Harry's world. For those of you feeling likewise, I recommend the movie versions (almost all great, see my review of The Half-Blood Prince here) or the audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale.

Warning, plot spoilers are present in this review. Do not read on unless you have read the first six volumes of the series. Now, without further ado, take it away Bookmonster!

-SirReadsalot

Harry Potter Seven is not like all the other Harry Potter books because there are many more deaths and very little of the book takes place at Hogwarts because Harry, Ron, and Hermione must carry on with Dumbledore’s quest to destroy Voldemort’s horcruxes since he has died. Instead of Voldemort trying to take over, he already has gained power and Harry and his friends are trying to take it back. I do not like this book as much as the others in the Harry Potter series because Harry does not go to school and I really liked Hogwarts. I also found the many deaths made the book much more depressing than the others. This book will finally reveal if Snape’s intentions are good or bad. I think that wearing the horcrux, an object carrying part of someone’s soul, while searching for what would destroy it was a very unwise choice of Harry’s. It was clever of J.K. Rowling to create horcruxes because it made the book more than just Harry and his friends attempting to kill Voldemort. The deathly hallows, another great concept of J.K. Rowling’s, led Harry, Ron, and Hermione off track to find the objects that might let someone conquer death and gave them more to do than just hunt for horcruxes. If you like adventure, magic, and are willing to read long books, then this is a book for you. I am very intrigued that the movie is going to be in two parts and hope it will make them more detailed.

A note from Sir Readsalot: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is scheduled to be released in November 0f 2010, with part 2 to follow in July of 2011.

JK Rowling Official Site

The Tiger Rising- Kate DiCamillo

Today's extra special guest blog comes courtesy of the awesomely- monikered Book Monster. Get ready for an in-depth look at a relatively unknown book from an extremely well known author...

-Sir Readsalot

I read The Tiger Rising, a Newberry Honor book, by Kate DiCamillo. In this book someone named Rob saw a tiger in a cage in the woods and Beauchamp owned him and asked Rob to feed the tiger. Then Sistene, one of Rob’s close friends talked Rob into using the keys to the tiger’s cage Beauchamp gave him to set the tiger free. I think Kate DiCamillo was good at showing Rob’s emotions. When describing Rob’s discovery she wrote, “He was so astounded at his discovery, so amazed, that he stood and stared.”
At times The Tiger Rising was hard to follow, for example when Beauchamp randomly decided to have Rob feed the tiger out of everybody and gave Rob the keys to the cage. I also think this book had interesting vocabulary, like when Kate DiCamillo wrote, “The fog was hugging the ground.” I did not like how The Tiger Rising ended with a problem. I was drawn to this book because I have read other books by Kate DiCamillo and liked them, though I do not like tigers. I recommend this book to people that like moving, as opposed to thrilling stories.

Tiger Rising was a National Book Award Finalist in 2001.

Kate Dicamillo's Website