Starting Off Right. A Harry Potter Review.

The Harry Potter Series

Author: J.K. Rowling

Publication Date: June 26, 1997 – July 21, 2007

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Genre: Fantasy/Magic

---

Synopsis:

Six years of magic, adventure, and mystery make this luxurious boxed set the perfect gift for Harry Potter fans of all ages.

Follow Harry from his first days at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, through his many adventures with Hermione and Ron, to his confrontations with rival Draco Malfoy and the dreaded Professor Snape. From the thrilling search for the Sorcerer's Stone to the Triwizard Tournament to the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, each adventure is more riveting and exhilarating than its predecessor

Jenn's Thoughts: Let me just start out by saying, if you haven't read Harry Potter, you are missing out. Maybe you haven't read it because it's popular, and you don't like to read what everyone else is reading, or maybe you don't want to read it because it's a 'kids' book. Well yes, it is immensely popular, but did you ever think that it might be for a reason? Yes, it did start out as a children's book, but as Harry aged, so did the readers, and the story matures with them. I felt as though I was growing up with the characters.

I read the first Harry Potter book in grade 7, my teacher had recommended it to me because she noticed that I really liked to read. Well I'm extremely happy that she did because this was one of the best series I've read and still is. There were only three books out at the time, but the wait for each new one was worth it.

So now for the review. If you haven't read these books, for some strange reason, you may not want to read this. I can't promise that there won't be any spoilers.

Harry Potter starts out when Harry is just turning 11. He has had a terrible life living with his aunt and uncle. On his 11th birthday he finds out he's a wizard and his life drastically changes, for the better. He attends Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry. In his first year he makes some great friends, Ron and Hermione, and some enemies, most of Slytherin house, most of all Malfoy. He also find out that he is extremely popular for banishing the darkest wizard of all time, Voldemort, when he was only a year old. Not something he's especially happy about as that is the reason his parents died and he was stuck living with is aunt and uncle.

Over the seven years that he attends Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione get in all kinds of trouble and break a lot of rules, but things usually turn out for the best. Harry learns that Voldemort isn't dead and basically spends those seven years thwarting him. Finally, after all of the different adventures, through lots of tears and favorite characters dying, Harry defeats Voldemort once and for all and saves the wizarding community and unsuspecting Muggles. Finally earning a reason to be famous through his own efforts, not that he wants it, and having his own family to go off to Hogwarts in safer times.

Each book is definitely better than the last in this series, and it really is a must read for everyone. I had a hard time putting these books down on the first read, even now, having just had my seventh read through, they were hard to put down.

JK Rowling has written a masterpiece. I will definitely be sharing this story with my kids. I hope they enjoy it as much as I have and still do.

Meghan’s Thoughts: Letters in Cardboard boxes was a story about so many things, about loss, love, forgiveness, sadness, friendships, family, and much more. This book provoked in me a series of different emotions. I felt sadness, not just plain sadness, I felt it in a multitude of ways. I felt it like an emptiness you feel when something big is gone from your life, I felt like a heavy burden when you feel there is nothing you can do to change the outcome of the future, and I felt it in a heart-aching way when your heart is broken by your own doings or others. Aside from sadness, I also felt joy, anger, envy, resentfulness, loneliness, love, the warmth of unexpected companionship, triumph, and more. After all these things I could feel the way Parker felt like she was sinking in a whirlpool of all these emotions combined. This book was very well written to instill these feelings in the reader so effortlessly.

This story takes you on the journey of one woman's loss of her Grandmother. The woman's name is Parker, and her Grandmother has been the only one constant in her whole life, making loosing her an emotional roller coaster that she's stuck on against her will. Parker's parents travel the world for their careers, leaving Parker at home. She wasn't alone though because she had her Grandmother. They were the best of friends, even though, of course, they had their rough patches in Parker's teenage years as she was feeling abandoned by her parents and angry at them for not being around like everyone else's parents. But even when Parker lashed out in her anger, her Grandmother stayed strong by her side.

Upon realizing that her Grandmother is sick and that she is loosing her, she starts remembering all the love her Grandmother has shown her growing up and feels that maybe she didn't return the sentiment as much as she should have. They used to send letters to each other often, pretending that they were vacationing in far away places. I loved reading some of the letters Parker's Grandmother wrote to her, she would use the location and theme of her letter to send a heartfelt message to her granddaughter, it was beautiful really. Parker really has no one else, until she meets two close friends of her grandmothers that ,aside from the the sickness taking place, she probably never would have known. One being a young girl her grandmother was mentoring at a nearby high school, the other an older gentleman who happened to be madly in love with her grandmother but due to certain circumstance they could not be together. With these two new found companions at her side, she takes this incredibly hard journey of letting go of the person she loves most and losing a major piece of her life.

The road is a hard, emotional struggle to say the least. This was a great read, and really reaches into you, makes you think what it would be like to have to lose that person you hold dearest to you. You will most likely feel your heart break while reading this.

I would recommend this book for sure. It's a great story for anyone who's lost someone, or even if you haven't, Slovin's wonderful writing can take you to that place.