It may surprise people to learn that I’ve never read Harry Potter. In fact, for a very long time, I knew almost nothing about the world. I knew it was huge, obviously, but that was about it. I think it was about three years ago my wife asked me to watch the movies with her and I agreed. I generally enjoyed them, but also made a fair bit of fun at them.
When Harry Potter first came out, I was in high school, and being the rebellious young man that I was, I avoided anything that was popular. If everyone else was reading it, I stayed far away. Even after I grew up, I just never really got around to reading them.
I finally decided 2018 was the year to give them a shot, and I sat down and read the first Harry Potter. And after all those years, what did I think?
It was good.
I’m not over the moon about it. I’m not considering renaming my daughter after Harry Potter characters or anything like that, but it was good.
I should also say: I don’t read much YA/middle-grade literature. I have nothing against it, it just usually doesn’t do it for me. But as I was reading I kept thinking: this book is the epitome of YA lit. It’s fast paced, funny, and full of mystery and adventure.
I did think Harry Potter was a boring and borderline flat character in his own book. Everyone else was much more interesting, although I expect that to change as the series continues. Also, at times I just wanted to scream at all of them to stop getting into mischief and just relax for a chapter, but my pleas fell on deaf pages.
So, although Harry Potter will probably not be my favorite read of 2018, I really enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to reading future installments. I can see why it’s so well loved.
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