Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy – until he is rescued by an owl, taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch and does battle in a deadly duel. The Reason … HARRY POTTER IS A WIZARD!
Published: June 26th 1997
Pages: 320
Rating: Should Read It
The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley’s younger sister, Ginny. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone, or something, starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects: Harry Potter himself?
Published: July 2nd 1998
Pages: 352
Rating: Must Read It
Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has already survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. But his hopes for a quiet term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It’s assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it a coincidence that he can feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney’s ghoulish predictions seriously?
Published: July 8th 1999
Pages: 435
Rating: Must Read It
Harry Potter is midway through both his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn’t happened for hundreds of years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he’s not normal – even by wizarding standards.
And in his case, different can be deadly.
Published: July 8th 2000
Pages: 734
Rating: Must Read It
Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His best friends Ron and Hermione have been very secretive all summer and he is desperate to get back to school and find out what has been going on. However, what Harry discovers is far more devastating than he could ever have expected…
Suspense, secrets and thrilling action from the pen of J.K. Rowling ensure an electrifying adventure that is impossible to put down
Published: 21st June 2003
Pages: 870
Rating: Should Read It (I could imagine people falling off before this point)
It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry Potter is waiting nervously in his bedroom at the Dursleys’ house in Privet Drive for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. One of the last times he saw the Headmaster was in a fierce one-to-one duel with Lord Voldemort, and Harry can’t quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually appear at the Dursleys’ of all places. Why is the Professor coming to visit him now? What is it that cannot wait until Harry returns to Hogwarts in a few weeks’ time? Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts has already got off to an unusual start, as the worlds of Muggle and magic start to intertwine.
Published: 16th September 2006
Pages: 652
Rating: Must Read (Especially if you got this far)
It’s no longer safe for Harry at Hogwarts, so he and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, are on the run. Professor Dumbledore has given them clues about what they need to do to defeat the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, once and for all, but it’s up to them to figure out what these hints and suggestions really mean.
Their cross-country odyssey has them searching desperately for the answers, while evading capture or death at every turn. At the same time, their friendship, fortitude, and sense of right and wrong are tested in ways they never could have imagined.
The ultimate battle between good and evil that closes out this final chapter of the epic series takes place where Harry’s Wizarding life began: at Hogwarts. The satisfying conclusion offers shocking last-minute twists, incredible acts of courage, powerful new forms of magic, and the resolution of many mysteries.
Published: 21st July 2006
Genre: Fantasy, Magical School
Pages: 784
Rating: Must Read, favourite book of the series
Format: Ebook
Read from 23rd to 28th November (I couldn’t put it down!)
So I recently read Half Blood Prince and every time I picked up a different book all I really wanted to be reading was Harry Potter and finishing the series. I challenged myself to finish the Harry Potter series this year and I did it! I think I may do this going forward especially for those bigger series. They can be so much more daunting and by giving myself a year it really allowed me to get stuck in and gave me a goal at the end. There are a few candidates for next year’s series. But moving on to the actual review!
I loved this book. I really did. There is just so many elements and excellent structure and emotion throughout that makes it my favourite of the series. I enjoy how this feels like a final book and all of the closure we get from this book and from the series as a whole.
The story is well paced with plenty of challenges and discovery and obstacles to face and conquer. It shows that Rowling really considered her overarching plot when writing her complete series. There is so much grown and development of our characters even after 7 years. I had read this book when it came out but over time I had forgotten so much and as I read the story more and more started clicking together. We get the closure of our favourite characters as well as an explanation of their actions throughout the entire story.
Big series can be incredibly hard to do. It can be hard to build the drama for so long, to keep throwing new lore and mystery into the picture and this book does it best. I thoroughly enjoyed the historical elements that Rowling placed into her world. Even now we were getting to learn about the Harry Potter world and it just becomes more and more rich every time you pick up the book.
I think the hardest part was the connection to Harry; I always forget that this is a first person perspective and that we’ve been with Harry for so long and that we think that we know his actions and struggles but in this book he really is wrestling with his fears and trying to complete this momentous task.
I did like the Deathly Hallows and how they were used even though they were not introduced so late into the book and the story in general. It is just an example of Rowling giving something new and fresh to her audience while maintaining the overall world and atmosphere. They worked as a lovely contract to the Horcruxes as well.
I loved the plot and the pacing and each element that lead to our conclusion. The tasks were interesting and difficult but they were conquered and it created and anticipation and excitement throughout the story which matched my excitement reading it first time around. The relationships are incredibly important and you truly fear for each character and their lives. And the deaths are what give everything meaning. No one is safe. That is a mark of an incredibly author; they know when characters must die in order to enhance the story and make the reader feel emotionally connected to the story and the events that are happening.
I really liked the ending and how it played out; I like that there was an explanation and that it wasn’t rushed but was used fully and gave the reader satisfaction in the end. I also really enjoyed the prologue. It just made the whole story final and tied things up. When you are with a set of characters for so long it is exactly what you need.
So that’s the end of another series!!!!
Hope you enjoyed this, and keep on reading folks!
Rine Reads 
YER A WIZARD, RINE!
Sorry, always wanted to say that to someone.
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