I Finally Read The Harry Potter Series!

[@ZoeyDeLeonVA]

Funny that you already finished this, I only first started this at 2020 and just now I just finished Book 6 and was just about to read and excited to finally read The Deathly Hallows and finish the series!
I wouldn't call myself a Potterhead of course but I am glad to read them.
Sorcerer's Stone was a great book. This and the second one I really like the tone of it and these first impressions with the characters and the worldbuildings are really great.
Chamber of Secrets I find it kinda slow even tho it's the second fewer length of all the books but the mystery of it hooks me
Prisoner of Azkaban was really great and my favorite of all the series so far, probably because it's like the first peak about the series transitioning in the darker tone the first two with the innocent themes.
Goblet of Fire I never liked reading it on the first impressions. Probably because the length kind of intimidates me but it ends up like what I thought on the end of Chamber of Secrets and I really like the finale!
Order of the Phoeneix I never really care that much and to be honest I almost forgot all of the events that happened in this book. of course my least favorite.
Half Blood Prince I just finished and the ending is really good! It reminds me of why I love Prisoner of Azkaban. I like it but it's not my favorites.
I already have nostalgia reading through all this, I read them from like long gaps of time and just good times.
And Snape is my favorite written neutral-villain on any book. Can't wait to know if he really is a bad guy in the end.

[@paradigmshift7907]

Good video, always enjoy some Potter discussion. I grew up reading the books around the same age as Harry was and growing older with him during each book. My mom got me Chamber of Secrets right before the release of Prisoner so the movies werent even a thing yet. So my nostalgia for the books is extremely high and Ive reread the series a few times.
I also collect the US editions of the books. The problem with your Prisoner book is its a book club edition. Ill bet if you take off the cover the book itself is black when it should be greenish with a purple spine.
I'll be interested to hear your opinion once youre done rewatching the movies now. I agree the first two movies are pretty accurately adapted. That scene in the shreiking shack you brought up I think is better in the book. The movie doesn't even end up explaing that the Lupin, James, Sirius and Pettigrew are the creators of the map. And to be fair Snape did get hit with 3 spells at once. The romance in the books always just felt like an afterthought to set up where the characters would be post-ending. Never was a big fan of it and I originally wanted Harry and Hermione to end up together. Ginny as a character is significantly better in the books than the movie though, but I agree they couldve used a few more scenes together.
Rowling was under pressure to get the Deathly Hallows released during the original set release date eventhough she said she wanted more time. I agree that if she had more time things probably would've ended up even better. Its always interesting to see peoples thoughts and rankings who have seen the movies before reading. My first couple times reading the series my ranking looked pretty similar to yours: 6, 4, 3, 1, 7, 5, 2. But as it stands now its pretty different: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 1, 2. As I get older I find myself enjoying 5 a lot more, idk maybe its because life has given me many new experiences (good and bad) as I get older. My appreciation for Deathly Hallows has also skyrocketed. The pacing is still a bit strange but I think everything ends up paying off in a great way. The character moments in the book are the best of the series and everything actually got tied up nicely which is more than a lot of series can say.
Thats not to say everything in the books are better, of course some of the action sequences will be better in the movies because they look cool. Thats one of the reasons I love the Lord of the Rings movies even though I also love the books. Not a big fan of the Potter movies though overall but Id be interested to hear what you think when you finish rewatching. Thanks for the upload!

[@user-jo4vg3jk2z]

i also agree with half blood prince being the best but i think its very close with prisoner of azkaban

[@herbertwest9112]

The half blood prince is my all-time favorite, too, works the best for me in every way. When it come to the movies, I think it was a good thing i watched them first because after reading the books I don't even really like the films. while watching the movies, im waiting for a scene to happen, but then it turns out to be the scene i made in my mind while reading books. Haha, but I guess that comes from rereading these books so much at least once a year, sometimes twice. Stay away from the cursed child screen play it's so bad you would hate everything about it.

[@occheermommy]

Agreed. Half blood prince is my favorite book. That movie is my least favorite. It’s terrible

[@samleembardo6202]

My favorite part was when Harry Potter discovered himself by putting on the Haunted Mask and scaring Voldemort as a baby

[@melaniesilvia8911]

ive also been thinking about reading the series for the first time recently and was watching different videos reviews and comparisons and felt like i had seen them all so its nice seeing more new ones and relatable for ppl who were movie fans forver but might read the books later good video

[@occheermommy]

It’s worth reading them. They are better than the movies which is common.

[@MidnightChronicler]

Been considering re-checking the series back out myself honestly!

[@occheermommy]

I have reread the books about 20 times at this point but I rarely read Order of the Phoenix. There are chapters I think are super important such as the one at St. Minho’s and the last chapter where Dumbledore explains everything. I love the ministry of magic chapters too but I hate Umbridge so much. Umbridge isn’t worse than Voldemort but she is bad. I just have a really hard time with the abusiveness of her in that book

[@sandradermark8463]

Same for me, especially with Umbridge and the death of Sirius😢

[@occheermommy]

I like that the scene in the shrinking shack is longer because so much info was let out in the film. Goblet of fire and half blood prince are probably the furthest from the movies and the books are so much better. HBP is my favorite book and least favorite movie.

[@Monsterblood]

I can agree with that. I just watched the Goblet of Fire movie and the book is 100% better

[@occheermommy]

@@Monsterblood agreed

[@sal6436]

Waiting on your blueworld collection review. Yellowjacket summer and red house are the best stories in it imo

[@user-jo4vg3jk2z]

are you going to do a ranking for the harry potter movies if not what is your'e ranking

[@occheermommy]

I feel like you are remembering the movies more favorable than they are. The romance in the movies between Harry and Ginny is downright cringy in the movies. The books really explore Harry’s feelings for her developing and you see Ginny actually has a personality and she is popular and funny.
As far as the final battle, the problem with the movies is one it doesn’t show Voldemort dying like a man. He disintegrates. Also it’s unwitnessed so the remaining death eaters could believe he was still alive. In the book it shows he was never different than any other wizard. Yeah I mean I guess it was shorter and stuff but all of the action up until this was breaking him down so the final blow was short. So I was ok with that.
In goblet of fire the dragon scene I didn’t care for because it became u realistic is you think about it. They put in rules to make the tournament “safer” like the age thing but then they sit and watch as he gets chased around the campus by a dragon and no one intervenes? Plus you don’t know if the dragon was left dead or alive. They weren’t supposed to hurt the dragons so that’s an issue. If it’s alive now you have a dragon loose on campus. It just was too much. The book had him fly well around the dragon and strategically wear it down to get the egg quick. Time was a part of the scores too. So it makes sense that he should be quick.

[@Monsterblood]

Some fair points there 👍
I just like that the movies have more of a focus on the action sequences and took a few creative liberities when it came to that. Overall I would say the books are definitely better. I'm rewatching the movies and maybe I'll do a ranking of them when I'm finished.

[@occheermommy]

@@Monsterblood I would watch that

[@timv82]

My order of ranking of the HP books is nearly the same as yours

[@sit-insforsithis1568]

Welcome to the club !

[@YusukeKnight]

Good discussion

[@ShadysideLibrary]

Congrats!! Now go buy yourself a Harry Potter T-shirt! You’re officially allowed to wear one now 😂
My favorite book was The Chamber of Secrets. Although, I enjoyed all of them in their own ways. Except Order of the Phoenix. That book was a DRAG!

[@Monsterblood]

Oof, sorry to put your favorite at the bottom of my list lol. I agree, Order of the Phoenix was way too long. Still good, but a bit of a slog to get through.