books by s.r.

Genre: Fantasy

Hey guys!  I’m doing something a little bit different this week for my post.  Back in late August or the beginning of September, I started rereading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.  Since the books are so long and it’s taking me awhile to get through them, I figured I’d do a review post that combined my brief thoughts on the first half of the series!  I’m hoping that, before too long, I’ll be able to post a second review like this, giving my brief thoughts on the last half of the series.  (First I need to actually sit down and commit to finishing reading them though, ha!)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Rating: 4 of 5 Swords

Complete honesty here – the first Harry Potter book was really hard for me to get into.  The first time I read them, my Aunt had agreed to read them with me, and that was supposed to give me incentive to start on them.  😉  It took me a long time to make it through the first few chapters, but the story automatically became more interesting to me when they officially got to Hogwarts.  Experiencing the magic of Hogwarts for the first time through Harry’s eyes is so much fun, and it was probably my favorite part about this book.  However, in my eyes, the slowness of the beginning makes it lose one star for me.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Rating: 4 of 5 Swords

The second installment in the series felt just as slow for me, which is again why it loses another star.  While the magic of Hogwarts hasn’t worn off just yet and the struggles of friendship between Ron, Harry, and Hermione definitely provide comical moments in the story, I also just found this book hard to get into.  However, Ginny getting involved in the Chamber of Secrets was such an amazing twist, and I really enjoyed the latter half of this book.  Ginny is also one of my favorite book characters, so that’s probably why I really enjoyed the last half so much!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Rating: 4 of 5 Swords

ANOTHER FOUR OUT OF FIVE SWORDS, I KNOW.  Don’t kill me, but Prisoner of Azkaban is my least favorite book in the entire series.  I’m not even really sure why, to be honest, but there’s just something about it that I don’t like.  That being said, it introduces another one of my favorite book characters, Remus Lupin.  Lupin was a character I immediately connected with for his kindness – and let’s not forget the fact that he hands out chocolate all the time.  My spirit book character is Lupin.  And despite all of the plot holes it causes in the series, I really enjoyed the magic of the Time Turner.  Including it in the book did make a lot of events in the past questionable, but I thought J.K. Rowling did a nice job including a unique element that we hadn’t seen before.  (Though it is rather sad that by never seeing it again in the series, it induces about a hundred more plot holes.)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Rating: 5 of 5 Swords

YES MY FAVORITE BOOK.  Goblet of Fire is my favorite Harry Potter book for so many reasons, and I could probably craft an entire post about why it is so.  However, I’ll try to keep this as brief as I can. 😉  Goblet of Fire is amazing for many reasons: 1) Harry goes to stay with the Weasleys and honestly, which of us wouldn’t want to go stay with the Weasleys?  2) THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP.  This is probably my favorite part in the entire book just because while I don’t really like sports myself, I always thought Quidditch would be the neatest thing to watch.  (Also, wouldn’t it be super fab to stay in those magic tents?  That’s my kind of camping.)  3) The Triwizard tournament.  Obviously this is the main plot of the book so it’s a big deal, but I loved how it made the school year at Hogwarts unique.  If it had been a normal school year for Harry and his friends, I feel like the book would have lost a lot of interest because it would’ve been the same exact scenario four books in a row.

So, there are my thoughts on the first half of the series!  Hopefully it’s coherent and not just me flailing because HARRY POTTER, am I right?

What’s your favorite book in the Harry Potter series?  Feel free to comment below!