Thoughts About "Harry Potter"

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - 4 Stars

Likes:

1. The atmosphere of the magical world; the introduction to it and the continued information given as new things are brought up. It makes the world easy to imagine.
2. The touch on subjects that children wouldn’t necessarily understand (although, with how Generation Z is, maybe they do have some understanding of these topics nowadays). The heavy topics probably shouldn’t be in a children’s book but, you know, kids these days.
3. The children can be a bit irritating, and the teachers can be too strict or too favorable towards the house they represent, but that’s pretty realistic to how people are in real life. I enjoy seeing that kind of realism in stories.
4. Although the plot was mediocre, at least it existed throughout the book, unlike some.

Dislikes:

1. The bending of rules to fit the author’s narrative (or whatever); Harry definitely should’ve been in trouble instead of becoming seeker but whatever. Could’ve, at least, had another first year seeker pop up in another house, so that Harry wouldn’t look like a complete Gary Stu (a male Mary Sue).
2. Although I said it’s realistic and that I like that, I am not very fond of the favoritism shown for the houses, specifically Gryffindor (which gets the most of it). Those last minute points were complete, utter bullshit. And no, me being a Slytherin has nothing to do with it; I was more of a Hufflepuff in the past but, you know, life changed me.
3. The Gary Stu and Mary Sue qualities within Harry and Hermione; for Harry, practice should make perfect, not first tries, and Hermione, you fail at very few things, which isn’t very realistic, in my opinion, especially for a beginner.
4. The ending was over too quickly; this dislike has never changed with each time I reread this. It should’ve been a bit longer, especially the fighting sequence, but I suppose the rushed ending somewhat fits for a children’s book.

Favorite Character(s): Fred and George Weasley

Least Favorite Character: Hermione Granger

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - 4 Stars

Likes:

1. As annoying as it is, I like the continuity of most everyone just turning on Harry over any given matter; realism, people can flip on you real quick for any reason, friend or family or classmate.
2. Consistency in character behaviors of various sorts (how their personalities are and how they'd generally act); however, sooner or later, this'll be a dislike for me if no one starts developing some decent character development (it makes the characters fall flat when they're always acting the same; you have to grow better or worse, not stay in the same place forever).
3. I liked the letter Harry got towards the beginning, warning him of underage magic use, even though it wasn't him. It still annoyed me a bit, though.
4. Surprisingly, the rivalry of Slytherin and Gryffindor, though it gets a bit too... It becomes a bit much sometimes, honestly.

Dislikes:

1. The school doesn't do much about the bullying constantly occurring, at least from what I can tell.
2. Ron and Harry should've been more severely punished for the flying car incident instead of mildly.
3. Children accidentally save the day by not doing very much, other than some research and a quick "final" battle, although the confrontation lasts most of the chapter unlike in the previous book.
4. Plot armor (the more obvious sort).
5. Background characters get some screen time but only for the sake of plot (and likely will vanish back into the background again in the upcoming novels).
6. Some moments/events are random and don't really add much to the general plot, while also somehow occurring in a way that'll lead straight into the plot again, still remaining mostly pointless.
7. Ginny; she's just...there, really, to be this book's plot device.

Favorite Character(s): Fred and George Weasley

Least Favorite Character: Lockhart

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - 3 Stars

Likes:

1. The introduction to new locations/places within the universe; it adds to the atmosphere, and one’s imagination (you can picture what you saw in the films or something of your own creation).
2. The Marauder’s Map is pretty epic.

Dislikes:

1. Almost everyone hasn't gone through any character development; they just seem the same, they haven’t gotten worse or better in personality and behavior, and it’s gotten to the point where that should be occurring.
2. This book feels like a side plot/filler season. Probably because it’s the only one that doesn’t involve Voldermort trying to kill Harry.
3. I didn’t care all that much about most of the new characters that were introduced.
4. The time turner stuff wasn’t very interesting; a bit confusing, to me, actually. I'm almost certain it just exists so that they can fix everything they didn't like occurring, therefore saving the day again.
5. Repetitive information; the death of Harry’s parents and introductions to recurring characters, and places, is unnecessary to repeat after it’s already been done once. If it needs to be done, make it a single sentence, not several paragraphs.

Favorite Character(s): Fred and George Weasley

Least Favorite Character: Peter Pettigrew

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - 4 Stars

Likes:

1. The usual world building; you expect nothing particularly new to be added within the world BUT instantly, you get hit with a new location, a new perspective (like the first book, only it's not relating to Harry, it's relating to Voldemort), some new characters (of a variety: background, sideline, etc), and some new information to further establish what's been going on in this world that hadn't been exactly known in previous books (only, new information is always a given; it's what makes the story either interesting or boring). And it just grows from there, the universe; I'm glad it expands to such an extent sometimes with each passing book.
2. The usual decent characterization; returning characters, new characters, the same deal as previous books, basically. The addition of more characters is not yet a bad thing for me; you add in someone new in the last book without me having heard/seen a mention of them beforehand, no thank you, sir. Lastly, there's actually been some development with these characters, negative/positive; they finally feel like they're growing into themselves, thus creating a more permanent set of traits in their personality, thus you start knowing what to expect from them now (some people are now just generally assholes, some people are wanting to be more helpful to others than they'd been before or ever been, some people are growing braver and braver while others are getting more cowardly and mean, etc).
3. Main plot returning with a bang; quite a way to lead into Voldemort's proper return into the series (the crazy ass tournament thing that could've killed them all if they weren't so lucky/talented/both). Action packed with drama/peace/both (until the end, where it's only drama).
4. The writing remains easy to comprehend, is more mature (as it should be), a bit darker than before, still immersive, surprisingly feels less dragged out, even with the unneeded scenes existing.

Dislikes:

1. Unneeded scenes/moments; quite a bit could've been cut out completely, as it was very irrelevant. Interesting enough sideline shenanigans, sure, but not necessary to further the story. The book would've still been lengthy without them. Thankfully, I wasn't bored to tears.
2. Gloating parents (looking at you, Mr. Diggory)
3. Villain monologues

Favorite Character: Fleur Delacour

Least Favorite Character: Ron Weasley

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 3 Stars

Likes:

1. The usual world building; some new characters, some new information, the usual stuff as I’ve said.
2. More character development occurred.

Dislikes:

1. The main plot is getting boring, uninteresting. I felt bad for characters being punished by Umbridge but that’s about it. I didn’t care much for anything else. Some interactions were pleasant. Most just dull.
2. Some moments are irrelevant, so this book could’ve been shorter.
3. The writing seemed a bit sloppy. The dialogue, sometimes, makes people seem like robots. The words seem forced.
4. Lackluster ending; the final confrontations are becoming very similar to each other. Villain monologue, big fight, villain is “killed”/runs away, everyone cheers/feels sad about something that happened towards the end.
5. Leave the chosen one talk with Anakin Skywalker.

Favorite Character(s): Ginny Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Hermione Granger

Least Favorite Character: Umbridge

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 3 Stars

Likes:

1. The usual things I’ve been listing here (look at the previous reviews).
2. Luna, Neville, and the Weasley Twins’ general existence. <3
3. How short this book is compared to the previous few.

Dislikes:

1. The usual things I’ve been listing here (look at the previous reviews).
2. Harry is annoying in this book.
3. This could’ve been a few chapters longer.
4. Hermione didn’t seem like her usual self here (like Harry).
5. Lupin and Tonks don’t seem like a good pair.
6. Fleur did not deserve the judgment she got from the Weasleys. Unnecessary drama.

Favorite Character: N/A

Least Favorite Character: Ron Weasley (he has so many negative traits as a personality; envious, rude, obnoxious, etc.)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 2 Stars

Likes:

1. All the death and destruction; no one is safe. Your favorite can die, just like your least favorites can live.

Dislikes:

1. Pushing my way through finishing this series; felt like a chore.
2. The pacing was too slow for a long ass book. Something interesting should’ve been happening non-stop.
3. Harry’s character growth goes backwards.
4. I don’t see how Lily and James ended up together, unless Lily was secretly a twat herself.
5. Harry coming back to life shouldn’t have happened.
6. The Dursleys should’ve been killed off.
7. The descriptions of battle seemed a bit clumsy (in writing; too much happening at once).
8. Hermione and Harry would’ve been a better couple.
9. The epilogue; very ridiculous names for the children. Should've been more bittersweet of an ending, honestly, since so many folks died.

Favorite Character: Dobby

Least Favorite Character: Literally all of the Death Eaters