Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1 of the Harry Potter Series) by J.K. Rowling - Book Review

This book is obviously Fantasy. I would consider it young adult, but also MAGICAL! And an amazing adventure.

Trigger Warning: 

This book deals with death. Nothing graphic, but the main character is orphaned. Also, child neglect (minimal). 

I also understand that the author of this book may be a trigger, too. I will not be addressing the controversy surrounding her. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

In case you have been living under a rock, let me tell you a bit about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It follows a young orphaned boy named Harry. He has grown up in a little English town with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley. He has always been a nuisance to them, it seems. And they have always treated him that way, making him live in a cupboard under the stairs with the spiders and dust. 

Harry is living a pretty mundane life when, suddenly, around his eleventh birthday, strange things begin to happen. Soon letters start to appear, addressed to him, specifically to the boy under the stairs. These letters alarm the Dursleys. They knew this day would come, and they taught that they could fight it. 

But they were wrong. 

Little does Harry know that not only is he a wizard, he is a celebrity in the wizarding world, a saviour. He is "the boy who lived". The baby that defeated, You-Know-Who, and has returned the wizarding world to normalcy. And yet, he has no idea what any of that means. He's just Harry. Until Rubeus Hagrid returns him to the Wizarding World. 

The Review

I am biased, I am not ashamed to say that. Harry Potter was a HUGE part of my childhood. I think any child with an imagination has fantasised about being a witch or a wizard, and when I was young, there really wasn't anything like that dedicated to kids. Now, fantasy is everywhere, magic is everywhere. But this was different, new and exciting. Twenty-five years later, I think it is a timeless classic. And I think no matter what age you are when you read this, Harry Potter is an escape. It's like the plain girl realising she's a princess, a family down on their luck, inheriting a multi-million-dollar fortune. It's an escape from reality, and it's an adventure. 

SPOILER ALERT

Before the second Wizarding War, before all our favourite characters died horrible deaths, here was the beginning. And I think that is something that the Harry Potter series does well. Even if you have read all the books, watched all the movies, and know everything there is to know about Harry Potter. When you start the series over again, it is like coming home. Meeting Dumbledore for the first time, seeing the Weasley Twins get into all kinds of mischief, and Sirius Black (enough said). Meeting all those who don't make it to the end, really, is like taking a trip back in time. Like visiting old friends. 

My mom read me the Scholastic's paperback edition to me when I was a kid. Since then, I have listened to Stephen Fry read the book, twice. And I am about to start listening to the Full-Cast read through (Audible). 

Rating and Recommendation

Can you imagine anyone giving Harry Potter anything but five stars? I can't. I read some reviews on GoodReads just to see, and it was absolutely mindboggling to see people so pretentious that they could give the book that changed it all three or fewer stars. Now, usually I don't judge people based on their star ratings; we all have different tastes. But when a book hits multi-million dollar fame, it has literally changed the lives of so many people. I think your three stars may be wrong. 

That being said, I can understand that Harry Potter hit different for my generation. We grew up with The Boy Who Lived. I remember hating the hype. I didn't understand it at first, magic and wizards, pff. But it was huge! And by the time I was in the fourth grade, Harry Potter mania was everywhere. And for good reason. Once I got bit by the Harry Potter bug, there was no going back. 

I went from not caring to standing in line for book releases and reading the new book in two days. By the time the last book of the series came out, I was reading for hours on end just because I couldn't stand to wait a moment longer, not knowing what happened. It was a far cry from the kid who hated reading.

I bought this book from a Scholastic's Book Fair flyer when I was in the fourth grade. I bought the next three books the same way. And then I started getting them right from the bookstore. I couldn't wait for Scholastics anymore; I had to have my hands on the books the minute they came out. Now, at 34 years old, I am starting to collect both illustrated versions of the series. 

Conclusion

I am 100% bias. As I said, Harry Potter changed my life. But I highly recommend this series to everyone. If you grew up with Harry Potter, share it with your children. I recommend grade 3 to 4 for this one - it is not too dark and unless you find your child a little on the sensitive side, they should love it. If you are an adult and missed out, now is your chance, a whole new fandom is coming together with the new HBO series coming this year. 

You can find Harry Potter and the Philosopher's / Sorcerer's Stone in its respective mediums below: 

The E-book of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is available for free to Amazon Prime users. 

The Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 25th Anniversary Edition is available here. 

The Illustrated Editions: 

Jim Kay version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Illustrated Edition

MinaLima version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Illustrated Edition

Stencilled Edges: 
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Stencilled Edges by Mary Grandpre)

The Hogwarts House Editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are available below: 

(The best house) Hufflepuff - Black and Yellow: Hardcover and Paperback

Audible has recently released a new "Full-Cast Audio Edition" of all seven books. You can find this edition of the audiobook here. 


HBO is recreating Harry Potter as a TV series. You can see the trailer below. The Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone TV Series will be released on December 25th, 2026.

* Book cover image retrieved from GoodReads. All rights belong to the author and/or publisher. 
* All the "stickers" in this blog were provided by Bookish (presented by NetGalley).
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