Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | Book Chat

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter #1

Published: July 1st 2008 (first published in June 26th 1997) by Bloomsbury Publishing

Edition: Hardcover, 223 pages (UK)

Genre: Middle Grade/YA Fantasy

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy. He lives with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley, who are mean to him and make him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. (Dudley, however, has two bedrooms, one to sleep in and one for all his toys and games.) Then Harry starts receiving mysterious letters and his life is changed forever. He is whisked away by a beetle-eyed giant of a man and enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The reason: Harry Potter is a wizard!
The first book in the “Harry Potter” series makes the perfect introduction to the world of Hogwarts.

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My Review:

Hello bookworms and welcome back! This is my first review of 2016, and what better book to review first than the long-overdue Harry Potter? Finally, FINALLY I am reading this series, after I sent shockwaves to many of you book bloggers when I stated the fact that I have never read this series – I have only, in fact, seen the first three/four movies. 

As of today, I can say that I have read and finished the first book in the Harry Potter series. It was lovely. It’s such a strange experience, reading a series that for many people, was their childhood. Being seventeen and discovering this series definitely feels strange, but I love it nonetheless. 

Now I sit here thinking: how can I review such a well-loved series? The answer is, there is enough feedback on this series that it no longer needs a professional review from me. So instead, I will continue this book chat by giving you the things I loved about this book (because there was nothing I didn’t like about this series). 

It was like watching the movie in my head

As I mentioned earlier, I have in fact seen some of the Harry Potter movies, and I know the first movie very well and it made reading this a very wonderful experience. Now that I have read the book, I applaud the movie producers for sticking so accurately to the book! I am very, very pleased with that. Knowing everything that would happen in the book did not detract from my enjoyment of this book at all. 

The humour

I found myself smiling multiple times while reading this. The humour translates well, and I found myself smiling at Ron’s comments and the banter between the characters. 

The characters

I have easily warmed up to all of the characters in this series already. I love Hagrid, and I feel that after reading the book, I am much more fond of him in the book rather than the movie. He’s just an adorable character and his love for dragons – I can totally relate, dragons are so cool. Ron is also such a sweet character and I adore him in the book, once again, much more than in the movie. Dumbledore is portrayed as a little bit more strange in the novel than in the movie – in which he is portrayed as kind, wise and powerful. 

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There’s not much else I can really say about this book except that I really enjoyed it and I am so glad that I have finally jumped on to the Harry Potter train. While I may not be super hyped about it, it’s definitely a lovely, easy read and a total pleasure.

I will most likely not be doing any reviews of the following books, unless I feel there is something more for me to say, but you can keep up to date with my Harry Potter reading journey over on Twitter! 

Have you read the Harry Potter series yet? If so, is it one of your favourites?