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tiemzahra's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Follow the Harry Potter’s Singaporean counterpart, Harris bin Potter, the boy-who-tak-mati-la-siol, with his friends Ron (because he’s dumb and is always ron), and Her-Aku-Punya-Lutut (Her-My-Knee), defeating Oldermat’s scheme to destroy Malay people.
I love how the author integrated Singaporean identity in this parody. Oldermat hated Malay people and their Malayness, and created a fatal spell, Chan Mali Chan that would explode the brain of people who know the song by heart. Consist of humour around pun words, breaking the fourth wall, and offensive take on Harry Potter and Singapore. Will definitely make you laugh out loud over the ridiculousness of the whole parody. It was honestly an OK read for me but it was too obscene for my taste that I was pretty much getting fed-up in the middle of the book.
If you don’t mind this book making fun of your beloved series, do read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Gore
moomoochamp's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
harrishilman's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
sometimes_iread's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Oh this was hilarious! Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher by Suffian Hakim was filled with laughs from cover to cover and I just could not stop chuckling at the well-placed wisecracks. Harry Potter has been a much beloved series since childhood and having Hakim parody it was a great way to revisit it as an adult.
Besides poking holes in the original subject matter’s logic, Hakim wove in Singaporean social commentary. Now, I’m not the best person to talk about social issues since I usually live my life under a rock. Talking about racial issues is even tougher since I belong to the majority race in sunny Singapore. In Harris, Hakim talks about being Malay in a society that has rather skewed perceptions of being Malay. From the completely fabricated but pervasive view of the Malay as always lepak one corner to the notion of having to hide one’s Malay roots to be able to get ahead. Even the villain was a Malay trying to stamp out Malayness as a result of buy-in to such flawed views. Yes, the book is funny and most of the jokes land, but there are definitely deeper issues to mull over should one choose to.
Diversity meter:
Malay experience
christinachia's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Parody of Harry Potter, super funny and some excerpt don’t make sense at all. Vulgar, some-what unintentional racist and smart way of naming the characters in Malay language based of Harry Potter and The Philosopher Stone. Fun to read definitely
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