Rating: 
Summary: Not just for kids
Review: I'm 46, I have a job, way too much education, three kids, two pets, and a station wagon, but I'm not so old that I can't enjoy a great book. I read the first Harry Potter in one day and refused to put it down. People kept wandering around the house saying, "Where's Mom?" and I'd keep quiet so they wouldn't find me and make me stop reading. I just finished the second Harry Potter, and it was just as much fun. I've been telling all my friends about it. What a joy!
Rating:
Summary: MORE THAN ENTERTAINING! EXCITING! MESMERIZING!
Review: I'm 61 years old and just had to see what all the "hoopla" was about. I honestly couldn't put this book down. What a talented writer! What a fantastic imagination! What a fun book to read! I can't wait to get the other two. I have four grandchildren ages 6,8,14 and 16 and they now are anxious to read about Harry Potter too!
Rating:
Summary: A total hit!
Review: I'm a 15 year old girl who started reading the Harry Potter series when I read them to the girls that I babysit for- who, by the way, also love them. If you're thinking about buying the 1st Harry Potter book, you should stop thinking and buy it now! But don't buy it without buying the next 2, because once you finish the first one, you won't want to wait to read the next two- I read the first 3 books in 3 days! The plot is great, with an ending you'd never expect, just like the second one! I loved getting lost in Harry's world of wizardry and I'm sure anyone of any age would, too. Great series!
Rating:
Summary: I have no words...that's never happened before
Review: I'm a 15 year old honor student who reads classics and "adult" books, plus I take an advanced writing course...yet this book has left me awed. Sure, it was written for children and it is a very simple read, but I adored it. I stole it from my 7th grade brother and just could not put it down. You're talking to a person who refused to read Harry Potter when it first came out, and now I'm a fanatic and need to go buy the next three. In fact, I think I'll do that now...
Rating: 
Summary: Functions differently for children and adults.
Review: I'm a 20 year old college student in the United States and I read HP on a long car ride over Thankgiving. Here's my observations, for what they're worth:Harry Potter is not popular solely because of the hype machine associated with it. Contrary to what certain elitists will tell you, the average person is not some mindless puppet to be jerked around by big corporations and advertisers. If Harry Potter was a bad book with a good publicity campaign, it would do what bad movies with good publicity campaigns do: make a ton of money initially until bad word of mouth killed it. Harry Potter is a good book--not a great book--but better than some of the "serious" literature currently popular in academic circles, destined to gether dust in the Ivory Tower's attic in ten years. HP worked for me not so much as an adventure story but as a coming-of-age tale in what is to me (a decidedly non-American educated in public [state run] schools) a strange environment. I thought the book was at its best when it described the everyday experiences of Harry & Co., and bogged down a bit when it came time for the "adventure". I recognize that this is a children's novel, and so the adventure part of the plot must necessarily be kept simple, but an adult who reads regularly will probably find themselves wishing Rowling would have spent a little more time developing the world she's constructed before sending our hero do battle with Voldemort. Harry Potter is not Hamlet, it's not A Tale of Two Cities, and it's not Ulysses (thank God!). It's not even Alice in Wonderland. That's fine. It's not trying to be, and nobody ever claimed it is. What it is is a neat little coming-of-age tale with a heaping dose of adventure, that just happens to be prying kids away from the TV, the Playstation, and the Internet long enough to read a book, a task our teachers, parents, librarians, academics, and most especially our politicians have thus far failed at miserably.
Rating:
Summary: Even Wonderful For Adults
Review: I'm a 20-yr-old English Literature major in college, and I find the Harry Potter series one of the greatest not only of children's fiction or fantasy, but in the English language. For its heart, humor, and depth, this is one for the ages.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I'm a 21 year old female who has read a lot in her life. I read countless books when I was child and still contiune to read all the time. I happen to be on a trip home and went to the bookstore to find something new to read and had heard all about theses books and decided what the heck why not pick it up and give it a read. I got to my hotel and put it on my bed and decieded to start to read it before bed. Let me say I couldn't go to sleep I stayed up for 4 hours reading it and was just left in amazment with this book. Needless to say I read it all the way home. I got home and immeditaly went to get the other two books. I started the second book two nights ago and finished it tonight and will most likly start the third on tommorrow and hopefully will love it as much as I loved the others. Harry Potter books are a wonderful way for me to escape the real world problems in my life and slip into a world of fantasy and fun.
Rating:
Summary: Even Better Than the Hype
Review: I'm a 22 year old recent college graduate and received the first three Harry Potter books from my sister as a gift. (She is a grade school teacher.) Though I'd seen the book in store windows, I never gave more than a passing glance because I believed they were just another kiddy phenomenon like "Goosebumps." What a surprise "Sorcerer's Stone" turned out to be! I finished the book in one sitting. Rowling is an excellent writer. I've not read a book that was as imaginative in years. Nor have I read one that was able to sustain a distant and magical world so completely. As for its status as popular culture phenomenon, I'm all for it. For a book of such high quality, I'm glad it has a wide audience.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasure for anyone and everyone!
Review: I'm a 25-year old who just a month ago would have scoffed at the idea of so much as opening a Potter book. Too frequently, what is incredibly hyped and popular turns out to be rubbish churned out for the unthinking masses. As a rule, I try to read complex fiction and often get saddled with heavy academic material (which despite being rewarding can be tedious as well). So in what you could call a pretty pompous manner, I dismissed HP out of hand. A couple of friends my age had recommended these books to me, and were met with my cynicism. Yes, I had a firmly set prejudice that the HP books were just extremely well-marketed children's slop. Nothing more than a fad. I wasn't really interested in seeing the movie either. Was I ever wrong...what a tremendous mistake!! One night, being very tired and having nothing to read, I stole my cousin's copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with the excuse of "finding what all the damned fuss is about", fully prepared to drop it the instant this dumbed down children's book bored me. But as I should have known, my scorn turned into delight in no time! I plowed through it like a madman, and rushed to the store to buy the second one immediately afterwards, and the rest is history, of course. The verdict: I love Harry Potter. Love, love, love. I'm incredibly glad to have discovered these amazing books. They may not be terribly complex of course, but they have an undeniable charm to them, and are incredibly thrilling to read. As much of a cliché as "you will not be able to put this book down" is, it is very true of the Harry Potter books. They just have an intangible quality to them make the stories irrresistible. They have that combination of being very light to read, while at the same time tugging at your imagination in a wonderful way. When I knew nothing of Harry Potter, I had the idea that it would be an interminable series of some kind (As in "Harry Potter #24", ála Hardy Boys and what have you - urgh!)...of course, it turned out to be a seven book series. What fascinates me is the story arc that runs through the whole series: the plots are intertwined and the stories are threaded very cleverly from one book to the next. Certain parts of the books are reminiscent of Roald Dahl, who was my favorite author as a child (and whose adult material I've gone on to enjoy as well). In reality, they are written for any age group, and Rowling has cleverly decided to not dumb the material down patronizingly just because so many children are fans of her work. On the contrary, as the tales advance, there is a clear descent into darker territory. Without spoiling anything for you, Part 4 ends with an indescribably thrilling vibe. The sense of anticipation it gives you is tingling, almost unbearable! You can't wait for the next installment, but you dread it all the same. A word of warning to readers who have yet to make up their minds about Harry Potter: beware of the reviews on Amazon. Just take my word for it and pick up the entire series! Too many inconsiderate people reveal key plot twists & spoilers, some going so far as to spill information on all four books in the review of a single one. Just reading three or four reviews could be one review too many. Don't assume people will be smart enough to not disclose vital information about the entire series in a single review. Part of what enhanced my enjoyment was my complete and utter ignorance of the Potter world, and discovering it on my own. What a series...Books 1 and 2 are great, but parts 3 and 4 show that, rather than becoming stale, the story arc gets more complicated and fascinating. The last 2 parts are definitely the best. And the movie certainly doesn't hold a candle to the reading experience. As a wise man once said: buy or die! No matter what your age, you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Only Muggleheads don't like Harry
Review: I'm a 27 year old professional, and I just loved this book. What drives me to books is simply because I want to read a good story. This book definately delivers. The characters are well developed and likeable. You can identify and feel for the "good guys" and loathe, but understand the "bad guys". The plot is fun and fast moving and full of humor and enchantment. I know a book is good when I start to miss the characters when the book is done. I do miss them greatly now that this journey is done, but I look forward to sharing more of his journeys. I know a lot of people are protesting these books. They do this because they don't understand them. These books are simply a story of a simple boy who finds greatness, and fights evil with his friends. There is not a person a live who, when a child, didn't fantasize about this. Every person who reads this book identifies with Harry because they once where in his shoes, and hoped to break free and beyond what they are to become what they only in their wildest dreams could have imagined.
This book is not only for the young, but for the young at heart. It is definately a story to read and cherish.
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