Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #1
Release Date: April 11, 2003
Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult
Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He’s never worn a Cloak of Invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry’s room is a tiny cupboard under the stairs, and he hasn’t had a birthday party in ten years.
But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that’s been waiting for him… if Harry can survive the encounter.
Review:
I feel like one of the last people in the world who hasn’t read the Harry Potter series. When it first came out I just didn’t think it would fit my reading personality. Then when I decided to venture Book Blogging EVERYONE seemed to have read this series and LOVED it. So my interest was peaked but I held off because I didn't want to read it and have it not live up to the high expectations that I already had in my head for this series/book. I'm glad that I was finally talked into reading this series. It may have started a little slow but it picks up speed!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone starts off when Harry is a baby, shortly after You-Know-Who has murdered Harry’s parents. Then the next time we see Harry he’s a young adult living a miserable life with the equally miserable Dursley’s who happen to be his emotionally abusive Muggle (non-magic human) aunt, uncle and cousin. The older Harry is getting the more really weird things start happening and he doesn’t know why. See he’s been led to believe that his parent’s were killed in a car accident which is the furthest thing from the truth. See young Harry is a wizard, he just doesn’t know it yet.
Then the letter from Hogwarts arrives and things start to get a little clearer for Harry.
This is also the point in the book where I really started to really become engaged in the story. Up to this point in the book I was pretty lukewarm on what I was reading, it started off a little slower than I usually like. Then when the letters from Hogwarts start arriving and Uncle Vernon starts going a little whack-a-doo that is when I truly became invested in the the book. This is also the point where a whole host of new characters are introduced to us. My personal favorite is Hagrid. He’s this big loveable “giant” that is sent to make sure that Harry makes it to Hogwarts on time.
Once Harry is at Hogwarts there’s a whole bunch of new characters that keep the pace of the story chugging along and kept me interested. George and Fred Weasley are AWESOME and are good for a chuckle here and there. Ron and Hermione become Harry’s constant companions and then there is Draco Malfoy….I just want to punch that kid in the throat! I have a love/hate relationship with him. In that I truly LOVE to HATE him. The teachers at Hogwarts are pretty great too. Even evil Professor Snape.
The most interesting part of the second half of the book was the introduction of Quidditch. Which is the favorite game of the magic world. I thought that the Quidditch was well described and the training and games were well written in the book.
Then there is the twist at the end. I NEVER saw that coming at all. Just when I thought I knew who the bad guy was then this twist is thrown in just to say “nope you’re wrong.”
Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by this first book in the series. I wish the beginning of the book had moved a long a little faster than it did but it didn’t prevent me from liking the book any less. I thought that characters in this book were well-developed and well written too. There wasn’t a TON of action in this book but it’s also the first book in the series and the author is building up EVERYTHING that is Harry Potter for later books so I’m letting it slide this time.
Rating: 4/5
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