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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
36 reviews
streebela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
beca_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
chelseydenney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I have re-read this book series more times than I care to remember. It genuinely is like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while. I enjoyed every minute of the re-read.
I think what makes it so accessible is that despite the magic these are real people with real flaws.
These books do become darker, and there are darker themes even within the earlier books, but not in an intense way. There's an underlying tone of it, but it isn't too much.
The world building is done in a very subtle way. Often fantasy books spend so much time world building that, initially at least, they are very slow paced. While the world building in Harry Potter is fantastic, it's done in a very subtle way. No heave descriptive pages filled with a million adjectives, yet you can still visualise everything very clearly. (And I'm old enough that I read the books PRIOR to the films coming out!)
The characters remain almost like a fictional family.
I went through a phase when I was in my late teens where I went off the earlier books in this series, much preferring the later ones. However, at almost 30 I can now appreciate the undertones and the way that characters and plots are developed even in this early stage. I also appreciate how much of a quick, light and easy read. As I said, it isn't too dark, and it's so short in comparison to later books that you fly through it. Once you're at Hogwarts everything happens at lightning speed. No chapters feel like fillers, plot is happening the entire time.
If you haven't read the books yet, please do, even if you've seen the film. It's an entirely different experience.
If you find reading difficult, then the audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry are fantastic. I listen to them on audible at night and put a 30 minute timer on so if I fall asleep it doesn't keep playing all night.
Minor: Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
booknerd_life's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Moderate: Fatphobia, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
kbairbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol
bookishlybecca's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
The magic of this book (and series) never goes away. <3
I’ve, honestly, lost count of how many times I’ve read this first book at this point, but I think it’s around 10?! And yet, there are still little details I’m picking up on that I haven’t fully understood or noticed in previous read-throughs. It’s amazing how much foreshadowing and planning for the latter books Jo does in this one too. It’s all just crazy, wonderful good! I’m never going to not love re-reading this wonderful, fantastical series. :3
- Gosh, I love Book 1 Harry. *hugs him* He's so innocent, naive, and determined to prove himself. BabyHarry has no idea what Hogwarts (or rather Dumbledore) and the Wizarding World as a whole have in store for him...
- Snape is such an interesting and complex character. His feelings towards Harry are very complicated and deeply rooted, even in this first book when he doesn't really know Harry as his own, individual person yet, outside of his parents' shadow. At this early stage in the series though, it's very easy to "love to hate" him. ;/
Also: I don't know if I've noticed this before, in previous read-throughs, or not, but there was some nice foreshadowing in Chapter 13 (pg. 179) to Snape being a Legilimens, with Harry feeling as though Severus could possibly be reading his mind. It's pretty darn cool that Jo thought to include that already, especially as it's referenced in a fairly casual comment made by an overly paranoid Harry. ;3 - The illustrated edition of Philosopher's Stone is beyond beautiful and is now my favourite way to experience this first book/story. It also, unsurprisingly, pairs perfectly with the audiobook, read by Jim Dale.
- Some fun stats (just because I love numbers ;P): 101 total illustrations over 248 pages [approx. 1 illustration for every 2.5 pages]. 34 of those are full single or double-sided pages, and 11 of those are what I consider to be "character portraits". (Those portraits are gorgeous full-page illustrations of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Hagrid, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Voldemort, Nearly Headless Nick and Fluffy.)
- Favourite illustrations: Character portraits of Albus & Minerva (I really love how official they look, with them even including their names), Harry & Ron on the Hogwarts Express, Newt Scamander's Guide to Trolls, Harry in front of the Mirror of Erised (It is both equally beautiful AND heart-wrenching </3), and adorable Fang (with his bandaged tail).
- I listened to the American version of the audiobook this time too (as that's the one my library has), and though I prefer Jim's narration to Stephen Fry's (the narrator of the UK editions of the books), I find the very obviously inserted Americanisms/words take away a bit from the overall reading experience for me. It just dulls the charm and magic of the story ever so slightly.
- Favourite scenes: Meeting Hagrid (Chapter 4), First Quidditch Match (pg. 153-158), Christmas (pg. 163-167), Harry Finding the Mirror of Erised (pg. 169-174), Detention (pg. 201-211), and "The End" (Chapter 17).
- My overall favourites:
- Characters: Harry, Hagrid & Dumbledore
- Chapters: "Quidditch", "The Mirror of Erised" & "The Man with Two Faces"
- Quote: Basically anything Dumbledore says, but specifically "After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail