Despite being a hardcore Harry Potter fan, I’ve only read the entire series once and this book all the way through only three times. It’s finally time to reread the whole thing and officially write my reviews!

Read: Jun. 16 – Jun. 18, 2025

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Audience: Children, Middle-grade
Book contains: child abuse, referenced murder, danger/peril, attempted murder

Purchase a copy from Indigo.ca

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Nostalgia at its Finest

On his eleventh birthday, Harry Potter discovers not only that he’s a wizard, but that he’s famous! Attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry finds that much darker things are happening, and someone is intent on stealing the Philosopher’s Stone, the key to immortality and riches beyond imagining!

I first read this book back when I was ten or eleven myself, and now at twenty-three, I’m finally rereading them and writing my reviews. At first glance, the writing is simple and childish, and there are plenty of technical mistakes in the story, but the messaging, plot, and whimsy are all top notch!

The story follows the point of view of Harry Potter, a young wizard, during his first year at Hogwarts. Told in third person, it usually sticks closely to Harry and his thoughts, though the first chapter as well as a few other chapters within (usually during Quidditch) slip away from Harry to show the other characters and what’s going on elsewhere.

There was an excellent audiobook reader that I found on YouTube, channel name Stoic Johnson that I listened along to in the mornings. He has each individual chapter as well as the whole compiled audiobook available. As of this review, he’s just finished book 2. What an engaging and energetic audiobook reading!

Harry is your typical protagonist, and he’s very easy to like. He’s cheeky and clever and has a penchant for rule-breaking if his actions are for “the greater good.” While not a saint, Harry’s heart is in the right place, as seen through his immediacy of sharing the first thing he ever has to share. Ron is his close friend, who’s a bit ruder and more self-centred, only because he’s never had the spotlight to himself. And Hermione, completing their trio, who is bossy and intelligent and holds school above all other things, softens after finally making some friends.

The main trio are familiar characters, as you see this combination in a lot of other books, but never quite like this. They all have their flaws, their weaknesses, but each of them has strengths that cover for the others. It’s a balanced group. Harry’s relationship with authority is something interesting and often frustrating but completely understandable, after his hard life with he Dursleys. He’s learned not to ask questions and that he can’t trust adults, which allows for the trio to justify most of their sneaking about business without the logical leap of “talking to a teacher”.

Part of the childishness of the writing is that the teachers are so incompetent, and the school’s rules are a bit wonky, but that can be explained away as typical children’s book writing (where the adults must be a bit incompetent for the child characters to take charge), and the rules of the world can be chalked up to the magical world being a bit messy. Rowling definitely put a lot of effort into making the world fun and exciting and a little bit scary, though the technical mistakes (such as incorrect dates and one-off characters that never come back and impossible classes and schedules) make it harder to enjoy unless you push that concern aside. Otherwise, the pieces of the plot all click together and while sometimes the descriptions seem long-winded, they’re whimsical and fun enough not to be boring (of course you want a whole page about the wizarding candy!).

This children’s book is over 80,000 words, but it almost could’ve been longer, encompassing a whole year of Harry at Hogwarts as it does. It keeps things simple with a few main characters, a few suspects and red herrings and the whole mystery along with Harry’s classes. The chapters are long, only seventeen of them, each packed full of different things that move the plot forward in a big way. No wasted scenes—Rowling takes even something fun and heart-racing like a Quidditch game to advance the plot.

While I don’t agree with the author’s personal views, I highly recommend this book centering around love and acceptance to all young readers. It ensnares the imagination and opens up a new world of magic. (And displays quite a few obvious writing tips and tricks that you can learn along the way!)

Related Reviews:

Harry Potter Book 1: The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Book 2: The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Book 3: The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Book 4: The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Book 5: The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Book 6: The Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Book 7: The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts Book 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling
*The Shadow Atlas Book 1: Initiate by Jenny Sandiford