Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Over the past few years, J.K. Rowling has made statements that are TERF, or against the trans community (especially towards male-to-female). These statements are completely against the thoughts and ideas of the creator of this blog. I have been and always will be an ally for any member of the LGBTQIA+ community. You exist, and you are valid. If you are struggling and need to talk to a counselor, there are many resources available at thetrevorproject.org.

Reminder: This review is of a series and not an individual book. While I will write a synopsis for each book, I will do my best to not give away blatant spoilers. With that being said, the end of one book more or less is the start of another, so information from the end of the previous book may play a role in the plot of the next book, thus I have to give away the spoiler. Read the synopsis at your own discretion.

As Harry approaches his 17th birthday, the protection the Dursleys provided is reaching its end. The Dursleys are forced to move away to protect themselves, and Harry is moved by the Order to the Burrow until he loses “the Trace”: how the Ministry can track underage witches and wizards. Once there, Harry learns that both Ron and Hermione have every intention of helping Harry find and destroy the horcruxes. While celebrating his 17th birthday, meaning that he is now of-age, Minister Scrimgeour shows up to dispense with Dumbledore’s will. Hermione received a copy of The Tales of Beedle Bard, Ron received the Deluminator, and Harry received the snitch he caught in his first quidditch match. Harry was also supposed to receive the Sword of Gryffindor, but the Minister said it was not Dumbledore’s to give.

While attending Bill and Fleur’s wedding, the Ministry fell. Harry, Ron, and Hermione (for sake of typing, I am going to be referring to them as HRH) fled to London to try and escape the Death Eaters. They end up meeting a pair, which they were able to attack and obliviate. When those Death Eaters returned to Voldemort without Potter, they were tortured. HRH go and stay in Grimmauld Place with the hope that they are safe since they are secret keepers. There, they discover the identity of RAB, Sirius’ brother. Hoping that the real horcrux would be in the house, they ask Kreacher if he has seen it. Kreacher tells them that Mundungus Fletcher had been through the house and taken things to sell. Fletcher tells them that the necklace horcrux was taken by Dolores Umbridge, giving them a plan for their next steps.

HRH use polyjuice potion to change their appearance to Ministry workers. As they go to the Ministry with the intention of finding Dolores. They find her in the court chambers where she is interrogating Mudbloods, believing that anyone muggle-born is incapable of being a witch or wizard. They recognize that the necklace she is wearing is the horcrux they are looking for, so they attack her. Once they gain control of the necklace, they make a run for it, but a Ministry official was able to grab on. The official apparated with them to Grimmauld Place, so HRH had to give it up as a safehouse. They then choose to trek in the wilderness in order to stay hidden from Voldemort.

As they try to destroy the horcrux, they learn that the horcruxes cannot be destroyed using regular magic. They realize that was why Dumbledore wanted HRH to have the sword. Until they can figure out where the sword is, they trade-off wearing the necklace so it never gets misplaced, but wearing it means that they tend to be angry than usual. Eventually the stagnation and horcrux becomes too much and he leaves Harry and Hermione.

Harry and Hermione decide that they need to go to Godric’s Hollow, thinking that Dumbledore may have hidden the sword in Gryffindor’s birthplace. There they meet Bathilda Bagshot, who is Nagini in disguise. Once she gets Harry alone, she calls for Voldemort, but Harry and Hermione are able to escape seconds before he could arrive. They go back into hiding. While they were in Godric’s Hollow, Hermione was able to pick up an exposé of Dumbledore, where she finds the same weird design in a letter he sent to Grindelwald.

While on watch, Harry spots a doe patronus. When he followed it, he finds the sword of Gryffindor at the bottom of a lake. While trying to get it, the necklace horcrux tries to drown him instead of letting him get the sword. Thankfully, Ron returns in the nick of time and is able to save Harry. Harry lets Ron destroy the horcrux, but sees that Ron’s biggest fear is that Harry and Hermione are together. Harry reassures Ron that he loves Hermione as a sister and that she was very upset when Ron left. When Ron returns to camp to let Hermione know that he is back, she begrudgingly accepts back in their group.

Believing that it is not a coincidence that the weird design has showed up in multiple places, HRH head to Xeno Lovegood to learn about the mark. This mark is the sign of the Deathly Hallows, based on a story from Tales of Beedle Bard. In this story, there is an elder wand, a resurrection stone, and an invisibility cloak that together can make you invincible to death. Believing that he has the invisibility cloak, Harry is sure that he will need the other two hallows for his fight with Dumbledore. As they discuss this, Xeno Lovegood calls for the Death Eaters to come, hoping that he could exchange Harry for his daughter, Luna.

While they are running away, Harry accidentally says Voldemort’s name which is being tracked by the Ministry. This calls the Snatchers to HRH believing that only members of the Order would be willing to say Voldemort’s name. Hermione disfigures Harry’s face so they cannot tell it is him, but the Snatchers still believe that it is him. They take HRH (and Dean Thomas who was previously captured by the Snatchers) to Malfoy Manor, but as they are about to call the Dark Lord, Bellatrix catches her eye on the sword of Gryffindor. Since it is supposed to be in her vault at Gringotts, she decides to torture Hermione to see if she took anything else. Harry and Ron are taken into the cellar where they find Mr. Ollivander, Luna, and Griphook, a Gringotts goblin. Realizing that they are going to need help getting out of there, Harry uses the mirror Sirius gave him to ask for help. In return, the person behind the mirror gave them Dobby. Dobby is able to help them escape, but he ends up dying from Bellatrix’s knife. They go to Bill and Fleur’s cottage and bury Dobby there.

Since Bellatrix responded so badly to her vault being broken into, Harry is sure that there is a horcrux inside. With that gut feeling, HRH make a deal with Griphook that if he can get them into the vault, they will give him the sword. They go in using polyjuice potion, but do not plan for the waterfall that exposes any magical enchantments. Once they get to the vault, Harry recognizes Hufflepuff’s Cup, believing it is a horcrux. As they enter the vault, they learn that there is an enchantment that causes anything you touch to multiply as a form of anti-theft. They are able to get the cup, but just, losing the sword to Griphook in the process. He leaves them to figure out how to get out of the bank by themselves, so they take the dragon that is guarding the lower vaults and fly him out of the bank. They land in a lake as the dragon takes a drink.

When Voldemort finds out that the cup was stolen, Harry was able to access his mind and learn where the other horcruxes are. He learned that the final two horcruxes are Ravenclaw’s diadem, which is at Hogwarts, and the snake, Nagini. Knowing they would not be able to apparate into Hogwarts, they apparate into the neighboring village of Hogsmeade. There they meet Dumbledore’s brother who is willing to help them into the castle. Once in the castle, Harry goes off to find the diadem while Ron and Hermione go to the Chamber of Secrets to obtain a basilisk fang. Once the two horcruxes are destroyed, Harry heads to the Shrieking Shack where he believes Voldemort is. There they see Snape killed by Nagini. When Harry goes too him, Snape cries memories for Harry to use in the Pensieve. After using the Pensieve, Harry learns what he must do next in order to end this once and for all.

Oof… I think I essentially wrote another novel. I tried to read this before, probably around 2009, but I gave up around the Gringotts scene. It always felt like so much happened while at the same time nothing. Unfortunately, now that I have read it, I gave up right when the action was starting to happen. For a very long time in the novel, it felt a lot like “I have no idea what I am doing but you have to just stick around”, which makes the book more believable, but less entertaining. I think the reason why I was so willing to keep reading this time is 1) for the blog, but 2) because I had seen the movies. I had an idea of what was going to happen which drove me forward. It should not be like that, but that is where we are.

I think part of the reason it is hard to read is because we have read A LOT of pages to get to this point. Even to get to Gringotts, you have to read over 500 pages in this book alone. Though there is only 200 pages left after that, it is hard to keep pushing to finish. For that reason, I think I am going to give this book a 2.75 out of 5 stars.

Compared to the Movie

This book is the only one to receive 2 movies. The first movie tracks until Dobby’s death, while the second movie really focuses on the Battle at Hogwarts. There is little that is not included in the movies, although some things are changed or moved around. Actually, I think the first movie especially has add-ins to try and emphasize the emotions when they were hidden in the woods. I personally like the adaptations, although there were clearly moments that were added for comedic or dramatic effect. More or less, they are pretty spot on.

If you guys have any thoughts or ideas, feel free to leave a comment, find me on the social medias at @elizabooksblog, or email me at elizabethslick@elizabethsbookstore.blog. And as always, I’ll see you all in the next book!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Now that the Ministry is aware that Voldemort has returned, Minister Fudge is removed and Minister Scrimgeour is his replacement. His first task is to deal with the headlines that begin to reach muggle ears, including deaths and a bridge collapse.

Harry receives a note from Dumbledore stating that he will collect him from the Dursleys. They head to a village where Harry convinces Professor Slughorn to join Hogwarts. Pleased with Harry, Dumbledore takes Harry to the Burrow (the Weasley house) to stay for the rest of the summer. Before he lets him go, however, Dumbledore explains that he wants to have private lessons with Harry this year. In the Burrow, Harry learns that Bill, Ron’s older brother, is engaged to former Beauxbaton champion, Fleur Delacour, much to the chagrin of the other Weasleys. The family heads to Diagon Alley to get everything they need for the upcoming year, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione catch Malfoy heading to Borgin and Burkes in neighboring Knockturn Alley.

As they head to Hogwarts, Harry and Neville are invited to attend a lunch in Slughorn’s train car. These meals become known as the Slug Club, a collection of students that Slughorn sees as potentially beneficial for him to know. On the way back, Harry uses his invisibility cloak to sneak into Draco’s car to see if he gives any information about what he was doing in Borgin and Burkes. Malfoy catches him and attacks Harry, intending for Harry to never make it to the castle. When he finally does thanks to discovery from an Order member, Harry and his fellow students learn that Professor Slughorn will be taking over Potions, while Snape will become the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Since Professor Slughorn’s standards for his N.E.W.T. classes is less than Snape’s, Harry is able to take Potions. Since he didn’t think he would be able to take the class, he did not have a textbook yet, so he borrowed an old copy from the school. The book was originally owned by the “Half-Blood Prince”, though there is no information as to who that witch or wizard could be. Using the book, Harry has instructions that improve the potion making process, causing him to quickly excel in the class. Much to Hermione’s frustration, Harry was able to win a bottle of Felix Felicis, also known as liquid luck.

When Harry attends his first lesson with Dumbledore, he learns that they are going to be going back through memories to get a better understanding of Tom Riddle and how he eventually became Lord Voldemort. Through these memories, Dumbledore gives Harry an idea of the air of pain and anguish that Voldemort experienced as a child and eventual adult. It also gave them an idea of what Voldemort found important. However, they were missing one huge memory, a memory that Harry would have to recover himself from Professor Slughorn.

As the Quidditch captain, Harry had to choose who would be on the team this year. Both Ginny and Ron made the team, which caused a lot of people to believe that Harry was only giving the team spots to his friends. With that pressure, Ron started to lose faith that he could be good enough for the team and his performance began to slip. Harry, trying to think how he could help his friend, pretended to slip Felix Felicis into Ron’s drink, letting him think that he would be able to make lucky saves. Following the match, Ron was kissed by Lavender Brown in front of the entire common room. Hermione was hurt that Ron would kiss someone blatantly in front of her, and they stopped talking to each other after that.

Returning from a Hogsmeade trip, fellow Gryffindor Katie Bell is cursed by a necklace. Believing that Malfoy was behind it, Harry tried to explain to McGonagall, but she believed Harry just held a grudge against him. When Draco crashes Slughorn’s Christmas party, Harry overhears Snape say that he took an Unbreakable Vow with Draco’s mother to help him this year. This information just cements in Harry’s mind that Draco is up to something very bad.

When Ron accidentally eats love-potioned chocolates that were for Harry, Harry takes him to Professor Slughorn. After receiving an antidote, Slughorn offers Ron and Harry a drink of mead. However, the mead was poisoned, causing Harry to save Ron’s life. They learn that the mead was supposed to be a gift for Professor Dumbledore, leading Harry to believe that Malfoy was behind the attack once again.

As he tries to figure out how he could get the memory from Slughorn, he realizes that he needs some luck. He takes the liquid luck and is able to finally get the final piece of the puzzle: Voldemort created 7 horcruxes in order to prevent him from dying. In order to kill Voldemort, he would have to eliminate all of the horcruxes first. He also learns that he destroyed one in his second year: the diary from the Chamber of Secrets. He also learns that Dumbledore had destroyed another one: the ring from Slytherin. He also learns that the other Horcruxes are more than likely a locket that Voldemort’s mother used to own, a cup from Hufflepuff, an item from Ravenclaw, and Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. When Dumbledore believes he knows how to get another horcrux, he takes Harry. There they try to decipher the tricks and spells placed by Voldemort in the hopes of destroying yet another horcrux.

I think that this book was probably the coolest in the sense that we finally started to understand who Voldemort was and why he became the Dark Lord. Since this is the last time Harry will be able to get help from Dumbledore, it provides this big crescendo of now that we know what brought us here, let’s start the war. It is very well written, although there were a few times where you wanted to just scream at the book to give us all the information instead of making us work for it. It does drag sometimes since Dumbledore continues to only give us information in short spurts. Overall, I would give this one a 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Compared to the Movie

Once again, the movie got the broad strokes, but it missed a lot of really cool things. For example, the movie only showed the memory of Tom in the orphanage, but missed all of the memories of his mother before his birth. I think that out of all the longer books, this movie was probably the best. It covered what it needed to cover, but we can’t forget that the book obviously filled in holes that the movie just didn’t have time to cover.

One of the weird things they changed was the Christmas at the Burrow. In the book, Harry is visited by Scrimgeour and Percy as they try to convince him to be the face of the ministry. However, in the movie, the Burrow is visited by a bunch of Death Eaters that end up blowing the Burrow apart. The Burrow is still standing in the 7th book. This scene is a very weird addition to the series.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

While with the Dursleys, Harry and Dudley are attacked by 2 dementors. The Ministry accused Harry of using magic inappropriately, which caused him to be expelled. However, Dumbledore was able to convince the Ministry that they should schedule a hearing rather than expel him outright. Trying to increase his protection, Harry is moved to Sirius’ house, home of the Order of the Phoenix, the anti-Voldemort movement. The Order takes Harry to his hearing where he is acquitted of the charges.

As they head back to school, the students learn that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Dolores Umbridge, a Ministry official. She believes that the best way to teach the students defense is by giving them a theoretical education rather than one based on practice. When Harry defends his position that Voldemort has returned, Umbridge punishes him by making him write lines stating that “I must tell lies” using his own blood.

As the students become frustrated with the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Hermione asks Harry if he would be willing to teach a group of students the defensive magic he has learned over the past years. This group of students becomes known as Dumbledore’s Army, a play on the Ministry’s biggest fear.

Throughout the year, Harry has dreams about a room in the Ministry called the Department of Mysteries. He believes that these dreams are connected to Voldemort, but does not want to ask Dumbledore for help since he has barely seen him. However, when Mr. Weasley is attacked right before Christmas, he immediately seeks help from the Order to get him to safety. Having confirmed that he has a direct connection to Voldemort, Dumbledore sends Harry to Professor Snape for Occlumency lessons in the hope of protecting Harry’s mind. Harry found the process difficult and rarely practiced, leaving his mind vulnerable.

Since Umbridge has shut down Harry every time he speaks about Voldemort and the papers refused to discuss his return, Hermione gets Harry to do an interview with Rita Skeeter for The Quibbler, a anti-Voldemort paper. Umbridge continued to place more and more restrictions on the students in the hopes of maintaining order, but faced backlash everytime. Two of the biggest rule breakers were the Weasley twins, who had created a line of joke products called Weasley Wheezes. These products would become a huge problem to Umbridge, one that would cause her great stress.

Having spent the summer trying to create a pact with the giants to fight against Voldemort, Hagrid returns to Hogwarts. However, he did not return alone; he also brought home his half-brother Grawp. Fearing that Umbridge was going to have him fired, Hagrid asks Harry, Hermione, and Ron to look after him.

When a member of Dumbledore’s Army rats on the group to Umbridge, Dumbledore is forced to explain a group he had no part of. He covers for the students, causing him to be removed as Headmaster. He avoids request, but is forced to be on the run.

In his final Occlumency lesson, Snape is asked to leave the room, but accidentally leaves a memory he avoided Harry seeing in the Pensieve. Harry, intrigued, looked in and saw that his father was a bully towards Snape, concerning him. He contacts Sirius to ask about it, with the Weasley twins creating a large distraction resulting in them leaving the school for good.

Harry sees a vision of Sirius being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. Concerned, he tries to contact him but is unable to. He is caught in the process by Umbridge who believes that he was trying to get orders from Dumbledore. With help from some members of Dumbledore’s Army, he escapes Umbridge’s grasp and begins the journey to save the only family he knows.

I think this book is when we really start to see Harry as resentful. So many of the adults in the Order want to protect him because they see him as too young to handle everything, but he feels like he has fought Voldemort multiple times already, so why shouldn’t he know what he is up against. Also, once he learns about the prophecy that began everything, he feels some resentment that Voldemort chose him and not the other potential victim, and I think that feeling also carries over. All-in-all, this is a very angry book, but I think this is the first book where we really feel the build-up towards the war. I think that this book is beautifully written, although it does take a toll. For anyone who finds the emotions in this book to be too much, it only gets worse in the next book, so pick up Half-Blood Prince at your own discretion. That being said, I think that this book would be a 3.75 out of 5 from me.

Compared to the Movie

There are so many things that the movie did right and did wrong. Probably one of the most heart wrenching moments that they changed for the movie was Sirius’ last words. In the book, he taunts his future killer (spoiler), but in the movie, he says “nice one, James” to Harry. While it was always implied in the book that Sirius would sometimes confuse Harry with his father, the pain of referring to him as James is ROUGH. The movie also completely ignored the prefects and the frustration from Harry for not becoming one. Also, can we talk about how the movie should 100% have had Umbridge’s hand come out of the fire when she tried to catch Sirius? That would have been sick!

The movie did also try and make humor about things like the Room of Requirement and Umbridge’s decrees, but by doing so, created a different atmosphere relating to the anger and frustration and fear that the students were feeling. I think a large part of that is the book is so heavy that they wanted to bring some light to the movie. Which, I get, but it feels a lot different in the book. They also really emphasized the anger that Harry was feeling was due to his connection to Voldemort. I think that is partly true, but I think it does minimize the anger that Harry was feeling from his own emotions. I think that the movie did a pretty good job of the general plot, although I feel like they could have made Umbridge so much worse.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

We open on a scene in the Riddle House (for those of you that might have forgotten, Lord Voldemort’s (aka the bad guy) family name is Riddle), where we find a conversation between Lord Voldemort and his follower, Wormtail. As the conversation continues, the former gardener comes to investigate the light. That investigation ends in his death. In another part of the country, Harry Potter awakes with pain in his scar. Believing that the murder he just witnessed was a dream, he chooses to ignore the incident.

Harry’s best friend’s, Ron’s, father was able to secure tickets to the Quidditch World Cup final for the children in the family. They head to see the Bulgaria vs. Ireland match where they sit in the top box, aka the Ministry box. There they see a house elf that is sitting by itself and seems uncomfortable. Following the match (where Ireland won), the camps begin to celebrate the win. However, things start to take a turn at night when the Dark Mark appears.

After that delightful experience, the students return to Hogwarts. They learn that Hogwarts is going to be the host for the Triwizard Tournament, where a champion from each of the schools (Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons) will compete for a cash prize and glory. The students also learn that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts is famous auror, “Mad-Eye” Moody. Even though the rules claim that the champion has to be a student from the school and 17, somehow Harry’s name gets entered into the Goblet of Fire. Viktor Krum becomes the Durmstrang champion, Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory becomes the Hogwarts champion. When Harry becomes an unexpected 4th champion, he is forced to compete.

In the first task, the champions had to collect an egg from a nesting dragon mother. Once they are able to collect the egg, they can use the egg to prepare for the next task. Following the task, the students are invited to attend the Yule Ball, a dance intended to include all students from all the schools to increase intercommunication. The Ball is the first time we see Hermione with Viktor Krum.

Since Harry warned him of the first task, Cedric gives Harry a hint that helps him prepare for the second task in the lake. Following the task, Harry and Cedric are even in the scores. As they prepare for the final task, the champions face the greatest threat of all, they just don’t know it yet.

Can I just say, my synopsis is so glossed over. There is so much more to the book that I am skipping over because I don’t want to be here forever, but man, is it good. This book is when the novels in the series begin to become slightly ridiculous in size. In fact, this book is almost double each of the 3 books before it. While so fun, it does get tedious at times. There were a lot of times where I would play the scenes as I remembered it from the movie in my head, and that was how I was able to get through the scene. While the details and the extra scenes that never made the movie cut are great, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a hefty book. I think overall I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Compared to the Movie

Let’s be real, the movie adaption sucked. Well, not the movie, I think that the movie for what it is worth is entertaining, but as an adaption, it sucked. Firstly, they for some reason decided that the Beauxbaton Academy is all-girls, which is not the case in the book. One of the reasons that people are upset by this change is that Fleur Delacour was chosen as the victor above even the male students, but by making the academy all-female, they make it that she was just the best of the female students. While that isn’t a huge distinction, it does change the way that we look at Fleur as a character.

One of the other changes is that the house elves are completely taken out of the story. While ghosts are removed from the movies, anything involving Hermione’s work for the house elves. Admittedly, both things were probably removed because they provided little to no addition to the relative plot. As a movie director (as I have zero qualifications, I am 100% going to be talking out of my butt on this one), you have to make decisions on what can go into the movie and what you can throw away in order to make the general time crunch of 2-3 hours. Beyond that time, the general audience will probably lose interest, so you adapt. You pick what you need in order to tell the generalized story.

As a reader, I get it, but also… that sucks. As I think about it, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire are drastically different in page length. In fact, Goblet of Fire is two times as long as Sorcerer’s Stone, but the movies are the same length time-wise. Clearly things had to be shifted, tossed, or combined in order to get the screen time. But this is why kids we say read the book, because if you don’t, you are missing out on quite an adventure.
If you guys have any thoughts or ideas, feel free to leave a comment, find me on the social medias at @elizabooksblog, or email me at elizabethslick@elizabethsbookstore.blog. And as always, I’ll see you all in the next book!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

When Harry loses control, he ends up blowing his aunt up like a balloon. Not wanting to deal with the repercussions, Harry leaves the house and takes the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley. There, Harry learns that a prisoner escaped Azkaban, the wizard prison. The prisoner is Sirius Black, the man who shared the location of the Potters to Voldemort, thus resulting in their death.

As Harry, Ron, and Hermione make their way back to Hogwarts, the train is stopped by Dementors, the guards of Azkaban. Luckily, they were in a train car with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin. He then returns to Hogwarts to start his year, where one of he begins his least favorite class, Divination taught by Professor Trelawney. Trelawny has a habit of predicting that Harry will confront the “grim”, the omen of death. Harry also began Care of Magical Creatures Class with Hagrid. During the first class, Malfoy provokes the hippogriff, Buckbeak, causing him to be injured.

Since the Dursleys would not give him permission to join the rest of the students into the neighboring village of Hogsmeade, causing him to earn the Marauder’s Map from the Weasley twins, a map that shows him where people are within the castle grounds. Using the map, Harry learns that the reason Sirius ended up in Azkaban was because he killed his friend, Peter Pettigrew.

When dementors attack Harry during a quidditch match, Professor Lupin begins to teach him how to protect himself using a Patronus charm. While Harry gets better, it never becomes a full Patronus. Months later, Buckbeak is sentenced to death. On the way back from says goodbye, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are attacked by a dog which drags Ron beneath the Whomping Willow. As Harry and Hermione race after them, they race to the truth of what happened 12 years prior.

I would say that out of all the books, this one is probably my favorite. I don’t know if it is because of the content or the character development, but this one has always been my favorite. For that reason, I am going to give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Compared to the Movie

There are a lot of things the movie does right. Firstly, other than some order of things as well as the Quidditch matches, I think everything more or less is in the movie. I think out of all the movies, this one is my favorite. However, one of the things that the books take time to do that the movies do not is reenforce the fact that this is a school. We rarely see the students in class, and the times that we do are not about character development, but plot development. We learn a lot as the students grow up from their classes in un-plot moments. Movies are focused on motion not the person.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry spent the summer at the Dursleys’ when a house elf named Dobby appears. He warns Harry not to return to Hogwarts that year. Considering Hogwarts is the only place where he feels at home, Harry chooses not to heed his warning. In order to get his point across, Dobby uses magic in order to get Harry in trouble with both the Dursleys and the Ministry of Magic. The Dursleys put locks on his door and bars on his windows so Harry could not leave his room. However, the Ron Weasley and his twin brothers, Fred and George, showed up in the middle of the night in a flying car in order to rescue Harry and bring him to their house.

When they head into Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies, they learn that Gilderoy Lockhart will become the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Lockhart, who definitely likes to hear himself talk, creates a crowd, leading to an awkward confrontation between the Malfoys and the Weasleys.

As they head to school, Harry and Ron end up getting stuck out of Platform 9-3/4, leaving them unable to catch the Hogwarts Express. They decided to take the flying car to school with the assumption that there was no other way. When they arrive, the car ends up landing in the Whomping Willow, a tree that clobbers anyone who comes near it. Once they are safely out of the willow’s range, the car kicks out Harry, Ron, and their luggage/pets. Once they return to the castle and get into significant trouble, they begin their year of classes. Harry, Ron, and their friend, Hermione, get invited to Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday party, where they meet the ghosts of the castle. On their way back after the party, they come across a message claiming that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Beside the message is a petrified Mrs. Norris, the caretaker’s cat.

As the year continues, more and more people are coming away petrified. These victims are primarily “Mudbloods”, wizards who came from two muggle parents. In order to see if they could get information from him, Ron, Harry, and Hermione try to use Polyjuice Potion (a potion that allows the user to gain the appearance of another person) to interrogate Malfoy, which unfortunately produces no results. Harry ends up finding a diary in a bathroom that says it belong to Tom Marvolo Riddle. Realizing that he was at Hogwarts when the Chamber was opened before, Harry uses the diary to learn about what Tom saw. According to Tom, Hagrid was the original opener of the Chamber. When Hermione is attacked, Harry and Ron go to Hagrid to see what he can tell them. He leads them into the forest to talk to the original monster Hagrid got in trouble for, Aragog. There they learn that Hagrid had nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets.

On their return, Harry and Ron begin to realize that if anyone is going to get into the Chamber, it is going to have to be them. As soon as they figure out where and how to get into the Chamber, Ginny Weasley is taken by the Chamber’s monster. Planning on taking Lockhart with them due to his extensive resume, the boys enter the Chamber of Secrets to find the secrets within.

I personally have nothing against the book, but it isn’t one of my favorites. I would probably give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Compared to the Movie

One of the most significant scenes that was not put in the movie was the Deathday party. In fact, wee see a lot of the ghost interactions go to the wayside after the first movie. Otherwise the movie sticks pretty well to the book. One of the very slight things that I noticed at the end of the movie (spoilers ahead), Lucius Malfoy began to say the Killing Curse, but never said that in the book. Whether that was because Rowling had not created the spell yet or because the movie accentuated Lucius’ behavior, but I did find that one an interesting deferral.

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

The book is originally called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. When it came over to America, the title was changed. Since I am American, I will be using the Americanized version in my review.

When the Potters were attacked, only baby Harry Potter survived. Albus Dumbledore decided that the best place to put baby Harry is with his Aunt Petunia Dursley and her husband and son, a family of non-magical “muggles”. In the lead up to Harry’s 11th birthday, letters begin to arrive from a mysterious sender, and ignoring them only seems to increase the amount sent. Finally, on his 11th birthday, Harry gets a surprise visit from Hagrid, a half-giant who informs Harry that he’s a wizard and invited to attend Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards.

After obtaining all of the materials and books he needs for his first year, Harry gets on the Hogwarts Express. He meets Ron Weasley, a fellow first year. They quickly become friends and once they are both sorted into Gryffindor, their friendship is cemented. They meet a fellow Gryffindor first year named Hermione, whom they joke about because she is incredibly smart and overly attentive in class. When Ron says something mean and Hermione overhears, she runs to a girl’s bathroom, one that just happens to be attacked by a troll. After Harry and Ron save her, the three become a unit.

When they are out of bed after hours, they accidentally run into a restricted part of the castle. There they find a 3 headed dog that is guarding a trapdoor. When talking to Hagrid about it, the name Nicholas Flamel comes up. During the winter holidays, Harry and Ron stay at Hogwarts. As a present, Harry gets an invisibility cloak. Planning on using it to investigate the Restricted Section of the Library for the name Nicholas Flamel, Harry finds the Mirror of Erised, a mirror that shows you what you really want.

When they figure out who Nicholas Flamel is after a Chocolate Frog, they learn that the thing being guarded is the Sorcerer’s Stone. They also learn that two of their professors, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell, have been arguing with each other in relation to the stone. When things begin to get dicey, Harry feels like he has to obtain the stone in order to prevent the stone from getting in the wrong hands.

We spend a lot of this book learning about what is going on within the wizarding world, so it has quite a bit of background. It is the shortest of all the books, so there are a lot of times where it feels like not much happened, especially compared to the later books. I think that it is a great first book and stand-alone, but it seems lackluster once you read the rest of the series. I think I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Compared to the Movie

The movie is relatively accurate when compared to the book. Once of the biggest changes is how the kids find the room with the trapdoor. In the book, Harry and Malfoy were supposed to duel, but the staircase changes in the movie and that’s how they find it. Also, in the book, the kids give Norbert to Bill, but in the movie, it is glossed over. All-in-all, the movie did a very good job of sticking to the book. The acting was a little stiff, but the special effects in the movie were honestly not that bad.

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

How I Read It: Print

Dates Read: 1/5/20

How I Found It: John Green

This book marks off the “A Book You Have Read Within 24 Hours” badge on the 40 Book Reading Challenge from Once Upon a Book Club

During a very book heavy winter break when I was in college, I purchased literally every book by John Green. And for whatever reason, this was the only one that I didn’t actually read, which is probably the most ironic thing I have ever done. But I finally read it, mainly because it became a Netflix movie and I have a rule that I can’t see the movie until I read the book.

On Christmas Eve, Jubilee’s parents get arrested at a convention. She is then shipped to Florida on a train that also holds lovestruck Jeb and a whole team of cheerleaders. Caught in a dangerous storm, we follow 3 couples as the night turns into day and their lives change forever.

Despite there being 3 authors, their styles are extremely similar and so it doesn’t feel too jarring between stories. Also, the whole concept is that the 3 stories are all set in the same town, so the authors did communicate among themselves about what happens in each to keep the story succinct.

I think the story is incredibly sweet and entertaining (I mean, I read it in 1 day), but I can’t imagine that it would be memorable. I feel like I have read a lot more stories recently that are better. I would probably rank it as 3.5 out of 5 stars, but that is without seeing the movie yet.

A Movie Update:

For my friends that are more movie buffs than book buffs, this movie is clearly based on the book, but has taken a lot of creative license in the storyline. I personally enjoyed the movie, but I truly think that the movie and the book are two separate entities.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

How I Read It: Audiobook

Dates Read: 12/2/19-12/4/19

How I Found It: Goodreads

Let me mention, I am writing this review before seeing the movie (although if you scroll down, you can see my opinions on the movie, too), so this section of the review is only about the book. This book reminded me a lot of Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in that it is written through a series of letters and the humor behind the stories are similar.

Bernadette Fox was an incredible architect who found ways of incorporating uncommon objects in her projects. When her final project gets bulldozes, Bernadette has to face the grief that comes from that loss. Many years later, Bernadette lives in Seattle with her husband, Elgin, who is a Microsoft leader in robotics, and their 15-year-old daughter, Bee.

Bee decided that she wanted her graduation gift to be a trip to Antarctica. Bernadette, who has become a bit of a recluse, started to freak out over the trip, which exacerbated issues within the family.

Many of the mom’s at Bee’s public school are what Bernadette calls “gnats”. Specifically, Audrey Griffin is the worst gnat of all. Soon, their feud builds to a breaking point, including a mudslide. This behavior begins to worry Elgin, and he decides to hold an intervention to get Bernadette help.

So that’s when things get weird. Elgin began looking for comfort from his admin, Soo-Lin, who is best friends with Audrey, as they prepare for his TED talk and impending trip to Antarctica. When Audrey gets copies of Soo-Lin’s and Elgin’s emails, she warns Bernadette of the intervention. Bernadette ends up sneaking away and eventually was found in Antarctica only to sneak away again. Told from the story of Bee, it shows the love between a mother and daughter and how that connection can’t be topped.

My biggest issue with this book is Bee. The entire time I listened to the story, I assumed Bee had to be younger than she actually is. It threw me off the entire story and constantly bugged me. Also, what 15-year-old is in 8th grade?

I was super drawn into this book, even taking time when I was home from work to listen to the novel. There is a certain humor (similar to Fredrik Backman) that is both cynical and hilarious. My biggest complaint with this book, sans the whole Bee situation, is that it just wasn’t overly memorable. There are books that I will remember forever and there are books that I read just for the sake of saying I read them, and this one will fall in the latter, which is really disappointing, because by all accounts, it should have been niche for me. I am going to have to rank this book 3.5 out of 5 stars, with a “maybe I will come back to it one day”.

After watching the movie, I am impressed by just how close it follows the book. Obviously, time-wise, certain sections of the book were cut out, but more or less the rest of the movie does a really good job. Also, the credit scene of her architecture project is incredible and so satisfying!

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

How I Read It: Print

Dates Read: 7/7/19

Today I am going to attempt to read the November 2018 box (I know man, I’m late to the party). I have told myself that I cannot watch the movie (although, man, I really want to) until I finish the book. So here we are!

Page 2

First gift time! I can’t tell you really anything about the story, though the cover is by Stella’s sister. No idea who Stella is other than her lungs suck. Yea, I got nothing.

This one is supposed to be a picture of Stella and her sister. Here’s the thing. Cool idea, but what am I supposed to do with that? I’m not going to keep a picture of 2 girls I have never met for the sake of a box.

Page 210

Wow. A lot has happened. Basically, there is this girl, Stella. She has an amazing personality, but really crappy lungs. She has cystic fibrosis, and thanks to an infection, she is stuck in the hospital. Then there is Will. He has been in hundreds of hospital thanks to an infection of B. cepacia, which basically means that he has a bunch of bacteria growing in his lungs that laugh in the face of antibiotics. Like, antibiotics literally do nothing. For them to be with 6 feet of each other would spell death for both of them. They meet, and as all these types of books go, they begin to fall for each other.

Unlike the first gift, I could actually use this (if I wasn’t useless in the kitchen). It is rubber and it seems durable, so we’ll see if I end up breaking it out every once in a while!

Page 225

Ummmmmm… EXCUSE ME?!?!?!?!

You can’t just do that to me! That was completely uncalled for and I am going to be writing a STRONGLY worded letter!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I love it! It is so cute and so in my comfort zone and I am going to be wearing this! Don’t you worry your little heart about that!

Page 262

AND I’m crying. I normally wouldn’t have ripped open this gift right away (shout out to my fingerprints that immediately ruined my shot, but I was hoping there was going to be a drawing AND THERE WAS! And while I won’t tell you the ending, because spoilers are no fun, I am so incredibly amazed by this book! What a great Sunday!

Five Feet Apart Poster — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6472976/

They did an incredible job of matching the movie to the book. There obviously were details that were taken out, but the movie took the time to match other details from the book that I wasn’t expecting to see in the movie. It wasn’t a movie that I would watch over and over again, but it was a solid book adaption!