Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Review – Group Buddy Read

Synopsis from Scholastic Inc:

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.

Full of sympathetic characters, wildly imaginative situations, and countless exciting details, the first installment in the series assembles an unforgettable magical world and sets the stage for many high-stakes adventures to come.

About: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a children’s fiction novel written by J.K. Rowling. It was published on 6/26/1997 by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, 320 pages. The genres are fantasy, young adult, magic, adventure, etc. This book is intended for readers ages 8 and up, grades 4 and up. There are 7 books to this series in this order: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  The future of Harry is in this book called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. According to the publisher’s website, “Arthur A. Levine Books was founded in 1996 and is an imprint of Scholastic Inc. We published our first book, When She Was Good by Norma Fox Mazer, in the fall of 1997. Since then, our imprint has produced more than three hundred works of hardcover literary fiction and nonfiction for children and teenagers (and more than a few discerning adults).” Please see below for more information about the author, illustrator, and publisher.

“Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” p297

My Experience: This is my second time reading Harry Potter and I read it with a group of Harry Potter fans. Our group name is called HPBloggateers because all of us are bloggers too. There are 6 of us, Stephanie @ TeacherofYA, Tiffany @ Tiff the Book Nerd , Megan @ Bookslayer Reads, Sammi @ One Bookish Girl, Jodie @ For the Novel Lovers, and myself. We are from USA, UK, and Australia. We started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on 2/4/17 and finished it at different days. I finished it on 2/12/17. We scheduled to read 2 chapters a day, but some of us finished early and we’ll not be naming any names, ahem! Megan! Excuse me.. I must have cough a little loud. We have had a lot of fun chatting about books among other things.

“To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.” p299

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a great read. It’s a better experience for me reading it the second time around and also after seeing the movie. I compare the book to the movie a lot and I’m impressed at how close the movie was to the book and admired how very good the actors were. I love this first book. The world building is awesome and I enjoy when the author introduce each new character and each new scene. The plot and the characters flow smoothly. I enjoy reading the adventures and mysteries. I love the introduction to magic, entering the train station platform 9 and 3/4, walking down Diagon Alley, the sorting hat, and my most favorite of all is Harry Potter discovering his natural talent for riding the broomstick.

“The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.” p298

I don’t condone kids breaking school rules to sneak around and involve themselves in other people’s business because I am a rule follower. However, reading this book, I realized that students who breaks the rules are ones to have a lot more fun and exposed to a lot more things than those who follow the rules. If Harry Potter didn’t get a detention, he wouldn’t have seen a centaur or a unicorn. Reading this book teach me to loosen on rules a little more and I appreciate the way Dumbledore discipline. He knows everything that goes on, even students breaking rules, and yet, he allows them to try. This book shows us adults another way of parenting/disciplining curious kids. This book definitely deserve multiple readings.

HPBLOGGATEERS

~SPOTLIGHT REVIEWER~

BOOK1 Q&A: TIFFANY @ TIFF THE BOOK NERD

Stephanie Asks: If you could pick any sweet from the cart on the train, what would it be and why?

Tiffany Answers: I would choose the chocolate frogs as my favorite sweet is chocolate and i like the feeling of being able to collect the cards which each sweet you have.

Sammi Asks: Who is your favorite bad guy in the book and why? 

Tiffany Answers: I would have to choose Professor Snape as even though he appears evil at the beginning he is only trying to help harry at times and there’s meaning to why he’s like he is not like the others. 

I Ask: Did you enjoy the book more rereading it or reading it for the first time and why?

Tiffany Answers: I enjoyed the book rereading it more as its like meeting up with an old friend and jumping into their world all other again and I discover things that I has missed or forgotten every time I venture into it again. This time as I said I was reading the illustrated version so it also felt like I was reading it for the first time again as it had the pictures to enjoy as well. 

Jodie Asks: Who is your favorite character and why?

Tiffany Answers: Hermione is my favorite character as she’s reminds me of myself a lot as we both have very busy and messy hair which is hard to tame and we both are bookworms who like to try their best at school and stay out of trouble if they can. The fact that she also has a select few friends is very similar to myself as well. This is why she’s my favorite character as I connect to her very easily. 

Megan Asks: If you could take one First Year course at Hogwarts, what would you pick? (Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, History of Magic, or Astronomy?)

Tiffany Answers: I would probably either take charms as I find spell work fasinating or Astronomy to be able to learn the different planets and moon cycles ect. 

Pro: magic, plot & characters, adventures, adrenaline rush, page turner, fast paced, couldn’t put down, humor, easy to read, mysteries,

Con: none

I rate it 5 starts!

Buy it here for free shipping: Book Depository

About the Author and Illustrator:

J. K. Rowling also known as Joanne Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, was born in Chipping Sodbury near Bristol, England. After she graduated from Exeter University, she found work as a secretary, and later spent time teaching English in Portugal before moving to Edinburgh, Scotland, with her daughter. She currently resides in Scotland with her husband and three children. (Photo obtained from the author’s facebook page and info obtained from Scholastic website).

Mary GrandPré uses her artistic talents to transform the images of Harry Potter from words to pictures. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, Tom Casmer, and dog, Chopper. The dog is part Saint Bernard, shepherd, and Lab. (Photo and info obtained from Scholastic website).

More Information about Arthur A. Levine Books

Website: https://www.arthuralevinebooks.com | Twitter: https://twitter.com/AALBooks | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arthuralevinebooks

***Disclaimer: Finally reading a book I own!!

How many times have you read Harry Potter?

xoxo,
Jasmine