Oh yeah! I was also slightly dissapointed that Hagrid's birthday cake message for Harry was written in perfect Japanese. In the English version it was badly written, suggesting a low level of education. I was hoping to see an equivalent in the Japanese translation and was curious as per how they'd choose to translate it. I guess they decided to avoid it lol ( )

Honestly didn't get into it. Was good but didn't hook me ( )

Black Leather binder with gold embossed design, gold leaf page edges. Clear plastic “collector’s edition” cover.

(2021 rating: 4 / 5): I understand the Dursleys a lot more now, having read the entire series since the first time reading this book. Plus, I listened to the audiobook this time, so grammar issues didn't bother me. I liked the entire experience a little more this time.

(2019 rating: 3.5 / 5):
I have never read any Harry Potter books, nor have I watched any of the movies. The only thing I know about Harry Potter is what I've picked up over the years from references, movie clips, overheard discussions, etc. I am planning to go through the entire book series, and I have just finished the first one.

Though I didn't mind the YA nature of this book, I was a bit put off by the early chapters about Harry's family, not just because of how terrible they were (which was obviously on purpose), but because of the way in which they were described. Definitely very silly and over-the-top. And some of that carried on throughout the book. However, I enjoyed the way the story unfolded all the same.

I appreciated the fact that, even though Harry was the main character and was obviously special in some way, he still had major limitations, which kept him from being too perfect to be real. He excelled in one main area, and I was rooting for him to do well as soon as he found that talent.

One of the things that bothered me the most was that the story seemed to just amble most of the way through the book. The main story goal was brought up now and then, but didn't seem to take much precedence. Even when the characters spoke about it as if it were important, it didn't feel all that important most of the time.

My other biggest issue is in the actual writing. I'm sure this is just the grammarist in me, and most people wouldn't even notice, but the amount of commas where there should have been periods, or at least semi-colons, was really noticeable to me. I'd rather not notice those things, but I do...so it tends to take me out of the story.

One thing I'll be interested to see as I go through these books is the way my perception of what might happen could be affected by the knowledge of the storylines that are floating around out there. People don't worry nearly as much about avoiding spoiling something this old, and I don't blame them. But because of clips or gifs I've seen from the movies, and things I've heard about the books, I didn't really question the story I was being fed while reading. I have no real way of knowing if I would have had my own theories or suspicions as Harry and friends blamed Snape the entire book, but I definitely believed that he was the bad guy the entire time. Thus, I was shocked when it turned out he wasn't. ( )

I was so happy to read this yet again for the #averypotterreadalong This was such an enjoyable novel as always. My favorite thing about these books are the small details left out of the movies or changed. I also love the use of foreshadowing that is only easily caught after reading more than once.

I had forgotten how much I loved this! It has been so long since I have read any of these books. There are so many amazing scenes that I have forgotten about. I just want to live in this world!!!! ( )