The only thing that holds Book 3 back from being a five-star for me is the Malfoy-Snape-Potter story arc was growing wearisome for me. At a certain point, it became a distraction from the story, which is fantastic. This book does more to setup the end game of the series than any other.
Book two teeters on the edge of Young Adult and… not YA, which I guess would be just mainline fantasy. Now that the Wizarding World has been established, the books start to have a lot more fun. And yet, like all of them, they turn slightly darker with each new novel. I love the introduction to Dobby, and Lockhart is a great buffoon. I thought the ending was a little weak, but I won’t say more for risk of spoiling it. And, if you haven’t read Harry Potter—what are you waiting for?
Note: This review is for the Stephen Fry recording, not the Jim Dale version on Audible, the latter of which is complete shit.1
If you haven’t read Harry Potter and you’re over the age of 18, then this first book may be a bit difficult to get through. After all, it is about a 10-year-olds. However, it is worth dealing with the young adult story, which goes by quick enough, to get into the main story of Harry Potter and introduces you to the wizarding world. The beauty of this series is that each book grows more mature in terms of plot and depth, just as the characters grow.
Power-listen through Book 1 (the Fry version, please) and consider it your ticket to ride the Hogwarts Express into the best fantasy universe on the planet.
1 I downloaded the Fry version years ago—around 2007—and recently purchased the Dale version in 2018. Jim Dale’s reading was so awful, I couldn’t tell the difference between Dumbledore and Hermione. Yes, it was so bad, a 10-year-old girl and a 109-year-old man sounded nearly identical. And yes Albus Dumbledore is 109 in book one.