Harry Potter: Readers' reaction

Four young people give their views on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Four young people give their views on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Hannah Cagney (17) from Dundrum, Co Dublin:"I thought it was amazing, definitely the best of all the books. I thought the book had an amazing finality, it really was the end of the whole series.

JK Rowling has brought everything full circle, answered all the questions really well. There was an impressively high body count. When Harry's owl Hedwig was killed off near the start, I thought that if he could die, anybody could.

I thought the whole plot about finding out about Dumbledore's character was quite surprising. There was a whole layer in that part of the plot that I hadn't thought about. I didn't think the epilogue was necessary."

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Katie McEntegart (18) from Phoenix Park:"The first chapter was long-winded and over-descriptive, perhaps because Harry wasn't in it. I was surprised when Mad-Eye Moody died early in the book. It really made you think about who was going to die next.

"I don't think the ending was ruined by anything that was said on the internet. Even if you had figured out what was going to happen, it still came as a bit of a shock the way it was done. It wasn't the best of the series - that was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The last one was higgledy-piggledy because so much of the action took place away from Hogwarts."

Dominic Wogan (12):" Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowswas the best of the seven books. It answered all the questions we wanted answered. It was much more grown-up than the other books. It was a lot darker and Harry is a lot angrier in it and shouts even at the people who are trying to help him. It was a book that once you pick up, you can't put down again. I stayed up until 3am every night since I bought it to finish it.

"I loved the chapter where Harry escapes from a bank on a dragon and when he went to Godric's Hallow where his mum and dad died. I'm not sure the epilogue is necessary. It's like a separate book."

Daniel Farrell (18) from Ballinteer, Dublin:"It was brilliant. I really loved it. I think it would be my favourite book because it was so different. They usually build up slowly to a big showdown with Voldemort, but with this one there was full-scale war from the very beginning.

There's so much drama in it. Mad-Eye Moody dies within the first 50 pages and so many loose ends are tied up. There were small pieces from the other books that become important, but there were also unresolved questions. There was a good ending, but I thought the epilogue was weak."