19 Mar 2017

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Series Review / Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling


Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry.

Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.

Full of sympathetic characters, wildly imaginative situations, and countless exciting details, the first installment in the series assembles an unforgettable magical world and sets the stage for many high-stakes adventures to come.


Published:     7th March 2017
Publisher:  Bloomsbury
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Books 1 to 7, Harry Potter



MY REVIEW

One of my New Year resolutions this year was to re-read Harry Potter.  The last time I read the Harry Potter books was back when they first came out; purchasing them as soon as they came out and then reading them instantly, so its been a while.  I decided this time that I would listen to them on audio book, mainly because Stephen Fry (who is amazing) is the narrator and because I thought it would be interesting to read it in a different way to what I had read it before, so I can see whether I still enjoy the experience just in a different way of reading it.

As you can see I have given these books and the experience a massive 5 stars.  I absolutely loved it!  I started listening to it at the beginning of January and literally just finished it a day ago.  It has taken me a while, bearing in mind I only listen to audio books to and from my journey to work but I have looked forward to listening to these books.  Not once did I lose my place or think that it was getting boring.  Apart from obviously enjoying following Harry, Ron and Hermione I especially enjoyed the characters of Snape and Dumbledore.

In conjunction with listening to the audio books, I also watched the movies.  When I had finished watching one audio book I then watched the movie.  I hadn't realised how many bits were missing from the movie!  There are so many different scenes - some that I think were important and some that were just 'filler scenes' but still added to the actually story - that were missing.  If you have watched and love the Harry Potter movies but have not yet read the books you should, there's so much more you can learn from the books than with the movies.

Finally, one of my most favourite things about the audio books has to be the narrator, Stephen Fry.  I think he is an amazing chap anyway but his voice with these books just fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle.  Boy's voices and girl's voices, he can do both very well.  There were times when I had completely forgotten that it was Stephen Fry narrating because the voices were that good! 




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