Book Review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

OK, I know I’m very late to the party but I was already grown up when these books first started coming out so I was never going to be one of the first to devour Harry Potter. But just like with Twilight, I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

I also wanted to hate this book. But I didn’t. It is exactly what the hype says. A reasonably written children’s magical adventure, extremely filmic because of its simplicity, with a main character everybody can relate to and/or wish they were like.

It took a long time to set up the premise of the story but the second half absolutely flew by, filled with interesting, layered and flawed but lovable people.

I think I would recommend this as the last book a child and their parent might read together as a great stepping stone into the rest of the series to be enjoyed by the child on their own as their reading ability grows.

3 stars

*First published on Goodreads 16 December 2012