So when your choosing your first review how do you chose it?
Of course the only place for me to start is with The Harry Potter Series... I can honestly say that this book has been with me through so much and has guided me in ways that only book lovers could understand.
Now I know there are thousands of reviews of the Harry Potter Series and I know this is my first review but I must admit that I found myself closer to Ron and Hermione than Harry for nearly the entirety of the series; Harry was an amazing character but there was something about the way J. K. Rowling developed Ron and Hermione that made me relate more.
Of course I was going to relate, the first book was released when I was 11 and each year I received another book as it was released, literally growing up with these characters that have become so real to so many people. I found myself more attached to Ron and Hermione for many reasons; mainly that you could see them develop at a different pace to Harry, Harry has known hard work and hard times and therefore little adaption was needed... he had more of a 'just do it' attitude whereas Ron and Hermione seemed to develop. They learnt to be more independent and rebellious; of course this started pretty early but you could see Ron and Hermione becoming stronger and weaker together.
The love for this series runs deep in so many of the reading world; there are not many out there that would openly admit to not liking this series, I mean what's not to like about three 'children' growing up in a world full of danger and mystery and staying the closest of friends; even when anger and fear drive them apart but love brings them back together.
Personally my favourite element to this whole series is two fold; firstly the loneliness of Harry is portrayed so well, the total loss of everything, the gain and then more loss... poor Harry never gets a lucky break. But in consideration of this, without this loss Harry wouldn't have formed such deep relationships with his friends and their families; he wouldn't have been so desperate to be so close to Dumbledore for a father figure, he wouldn't have risked everything to save a member of his family he only just met? Why do I think this is portrayed so well... because Harry is desperate yes but at the same time he uses it to his advantage, he finds strength in his loss and uses it to eventually defeat Voldemort.
The second element to this is that it doesn't follow the 'usual' process for a story following this kind of line; for once the main male character didn't get the main female character, Harry's love for Ginny is deep and unnerving for those simply glancing into their relationship. However the true magic is when Ron discovers his love for Hermione; how all the teasing and arguments grow into a fierce fierce love for each other... how all the stereotypes of the 'nerd' and the 'ginger' are broken after years of hiding their emotions?
Okay... so any good review will have to talk about the world development; who wouldn't want to live in the wizarding world? Like really come on... J. K. Rowling thought of everything; some books only give you a snippet of the world and she created an entire holistic view. Now if I have to pick my favourite element of Her world development I would say it was extremely difficult; it could be the invention of a whole new sport, or the modes of transport or even the way that people who haven't even completed school (not to mention banned from magic) could become a professor in the best Wizarding School in the world. But alas no... my favourite and I mean absolute favourite element is the concept that none of the wizarding world could relate or even comprehend any of the Muggle world... especially the clothes... I mean pure genius and had me in fits of laughter with the images coursing through my mind.
Now flaws with this series....
In all honesty I find it difficult to find some of these flaws; the only concern is the lack of some answers towards the end... why characters suddenly change from 'bad' to 'good'... why things happened in the order that they did? However you could throw flaw after flaw at this series and no one would bat an eyelid at it!!!!!
This series is one of the most loved, most respected and the most cherished accomplishments of modern British writers. J. K. Rowling didn't just inspire a generation of readers but also challenged every generation of writers since to top her. Which I think is yet to be accomplished.
So what are your thoughts on this... what would you change about the story if you could have stepped into J. K. Rowling's shoes for the day? Leave your comments below.
Many thanks,
Helen Marsh
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