Harry Potter (#1) and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry. Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.
An eleven year old boy finds out that he can do magic and gets to go to a new school to study it.So this was a reread- or in my case a re-listen. I have always listened to the Harry Potter books. Yes you read that correctly, me- a huge Harry Potter fan, I have not actually physically flipped pages of an HP book. I listen to Jim Dale's many voices to make the story come alive. And it is...magical.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This is REQUIRED READING FOR FANTASY LOVERS. Let me reiterate that. If you don't like fantasy books, you probably won't like this book. If you don't like middle school age books, you probably won't like this book.
Ron is an MVP! I didn't remember how much I really liked Ron. His humor is really funny throughout the book. I definitely laughed out loud multiple times.I'll always have a soft spot for Neville Longbottom, there's just something about him that I adore! It could be because of the actor who plays him and what he looks like. Just saying. But really Neville is my favorite.The world building is done very well! I seriously loved every scene with the Dursleys in it. She does so well writing them so that you can't help but hate them! But you also love reading about them!Funny story about listening to the audio books is that I don't know how to spell a lot of the words in Harry Potter and I didn't actually know that Voldemort had a "t" at the end of his name! I did eventually pick up a book and read his name and was shocked, because Jim Dale the reader of the audiobooks does not pronounce the T.Upon listening to the book this time around, I noticed that Hermione's skin color is never mentioned and this time I pictured her being black because of the description of her features and her hair. Of course I'll always imagine Emma Watson but it was interesting that my mind chose somebody else this time around!It really makes magic seem normal and that's the best possible compliment I could give to JK Rowling. I sometimes didn't even notice that this is a fantasy book because it seems so real!Another thing the book does so well is to actually capture the ages of the characters. The snide remarks and the annoyance about teachers... the way that Harry refuses to call Professor Snape by the title of Professor and just called him Snape haha! The line at the very end of the book really captures Harry's age and his wiliness! (Sidenote- isn't wiliness the best word ever? I need to use it more often!)
There's a little cheesiness involved in this book regarding the ending and how Harry is able to defeat the bad guy. I think it should be noted, but honestly I didn't mind it that much. These books are done so well and I'm so happy to finally be reviewing them!
Listen: to this book on audiobook. I mean, you can read them it's true. But seriously Jim Dale is a master at his craft! I've listened to almost every audiobook he's ever read!Do: Get some harry potter swag. There are so many things to buy that are HP themed, the options are endless!Watch: The first Harry Potter movie!