Review: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Format: Paperback

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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.

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For those of you who have never followed my bookish blogging and ramblings before, here's a not so secret confession: I love the Harry Potter series.  I mean, I LOVE the Harry Potter Series.  I LOVE THESE BOOKS! 

So, like I'll be talking about Harry Potter and other people are like:

I'm the one over here like:

Anyway, this year I have been re-reading my way through the Harry Potter series, and I thought as I did so, I would review each book.  Here's my review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Re-reading this book for something like the 12th time was just as awesome as reading it for the first time!  I remembered why I love the characters so much.  I remembered why I loved Hermione with her bushy hair and her attitude and her smarts! 

So, let's get down to it:

What I Love:
* The story.  This whole story was very well developed.  Many first time authors struggle with getting it right, but J.K. Rowling nailed it her first time out of the gate.
* Those characters!  I mean Fred? George?!  HERMIONE?!!?!?!?!  I just love these characters.
* That Hermione, Ron, and Harry became friends even though Ron and Harry didn't care for Hermione in the beginning.  They know as well as I do that “There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.”
* The friends in this book stand up for each other.  But they aren't afraid to tell each other when they are being stupid either.  Real friends are like that - they just lay it all down on the line, but they still have your back.
* The quotes that come out of this book (especially from Fred and George) are just gold!  I mean, how can you not love the following lines:

“Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet or –"
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mum.”

“We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!”

“Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”  

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

Now, I would be lying if I said I loved everything about this book.  There were a few things I didn't care for:

* Draco Malfoy.  Hated. Him.  He was a classist, sexist, arrogant little prick.  His character gave off the attitude that it was okay to treat people like you are better than them.  Nobody is better than anyone else.
* Snape.  I know so many people fell in love with Snape over the course of the series.  I didn't.  He started out verbally abusing Harry and his friends, and he never really changed throughout the series.  I don't jive well with people or characters who think it's okay to verbally abuse (or abuse in any way) other people, especially children.

So, there you go folks!  Now, tell me some of your favorite and least favorite things about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.