JK Rowling Archive

The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

Posted November 23, 2012 By dorolerium

Title: The Casual Vacancy
Author: JK Rowling
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 503
How I Read It: Hard cover purchased by me.

Synopsis: When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.  Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?

*Synopsis taken from the book jacket

My Review: Like many other readers, I was delighted to hear awhile back that JK Rowling had an adult novel for us…adult like it was written for adults, not that it was going to be some erotic romance or anything like that.  I preordered a copy the day it became available, and lamented the fact that I couldn’t pick it up as soon as it arrived, since I was traveling overseas at the time.  Meanwhile, as reviews started popping up around the internet, I was disappointed to read that people seem to have quite mixed opinions about this novel.

After reading the entire thing, I can see why people have these mixed feelings.  This novel is nothing like Harry Potter in the story elements, the chief among them being that this is set in the actual world without any magic, no true heroes or villains, and no one overwhelmingly charming or likeable.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that the only character in this novel who isn’t mildly repulsive in some way is our deceased gentleman, Barry.

With all that in mind, if you only liked the Harry Potter series because of the magic and all that, this novel won’t be your kind of thing.  Rowling breaks any mold we may have put her in, shows us that she’s not afraid to tackle evil in the real world, and really demonstrates what a remarkable writer she is.  If nothing else, it took me at least four or five HP books before I shed some tears, but this one had me going by the end.

Rather than telling us a story about good versus evil, this novel is about life.  Regardless of where you’re from, you can probably recognize something of your life in one or more of the characters, whether that’s the unhappy/happy marriage, the singledom with or without a child, neglect and abuse, going beyond expectations to break the stereotype of your life, or just being an average teenager.  The teens in this novel aren’t without their flaws either: they are cruel, confused, destructive, and trying to find their way to adulthood.  Oh, and most of them hate their parents.  Shocker!

I feel like I can’t review this without at least mentioning to y’all that there are some difficult situations, and if you’ve got triggers for things you can’t read, this might hit them.  There’s abuse, both emotional and physical.  A lot of talk about drug use and what it’s like for an addict trying hard to stay clean.  There are many instances of bullying and the self-injury that can result from that.  This book really does not pull any punches when it comes to these hard truths of life, and shows us what can lie behind closed doors inside any of our communities.  But if these situations are hard for you to read, I would say be warned that they exist.

In some ways, this was an exhausting read, but I mean that in the best way.  I’m glad I read it, and I’m happy to have it on my shelf, yet I won’t be picking it up again for awhile.  What I can say is that I’m very excited to see what Rowling comes up with next, and that people who enjoy good writing or character studies will enjoy this one.

Read this book if: I think fans of realistic fiction will like this.  If you’re into paranormal, or want to read Rowling expecting this is going to be like Harry Potter, don’t be disappointed when it’s not.

My Rating: 4/5 – Borderline amazing!

Filed in 2012, JK Rowling, Royal Reviews | Tagged: ,

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Posted October 26, 2011 By dorolerium

Title: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 759
How I Read It: Paperback purchased by me

Synopsis: As the novel begins, Harry, Ron and Hermione are on the run from Lord Voldemort, whose minions of Death Eaters have not only taken control of the Minister of Magic but have begun to systematically — and forcibly — change the entire culture of the magic community: Muggle-born wizards, for example, are being rounded up and questioned, and all “blood traitors” are being imprisoned. But as Voldemort and his followers ruthlessly pursue the fugitive with the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, Potter finally uncovers the jaw-dropping truth of his existence….

My Review: Holy emotional ride, Batman!!!  What an amazing, fabulous end to this great series!

I find myself sitting here, not quite sure what exactly to say about this book.  I absolutely loved it, felt it was such a fitting end to the series, and can’t believe I waited so long to read it.  Although that did at least give me the benefit of being able to read the entire series as quickly as I wanted.  It’s kind of like ripping off a bandaid – you just want to read it all at once!

While the series started off kind of slow for me, and I didn’t love the definite “kid” feel to the whole thing, I can emphatically say that I completely changed my mind by the end.  We get to see Harry really become the man he was always meant to be, develop in ways you would never hope a boy would have to, make choices no one could even imagine.

Rowling does a fantastic job of answering all the questions you could have had reading the previous six books, and it makes you realize what an amazing author she is – to tie everything together like this, in such a beautiful, heart-wrenching package, it’s mind-blowing.

I couldn’t get through an entire chapter of this book without crying.  In fact, I’m not sure when a book has ever made me cry that much.  The entire book is the final journey that Harry, Ron, and Hermione take together, which I loved because we got to see their entire relationship, see what they all became together.

Anyone who has seen the movies, but not read the books, is definitely missing out.  There are so many incredibly important things that either get glossed over or left out completely in the movies, so do yourself a favor and pick this series up.  I’ve seen both the Deathly Hallows movies and there were still surprises in store for me.

I really can’t say enough good about this one, I just loved it, and I can’t wait to share this series with children in my life some day.

Read this book if: I usually try to be nice, but if you haven’t read this series yet, what is wrong with you?  You’ll be as sorry as I was that I didn’t read it sooner!!!

My Rating: 5/5 – Did I say cool? Make that awesome!

 

Filed in 2011, Harry Potter Read-Along, JK Rowling | Tagged: ,

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Posted September 30, 2011 By dorolerium

Title: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 652
How I Read It: Paperback purchased by me

Synopsis: The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing.  Hermione scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names.  Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet…

As in all wars, life goes on.  The Weasley twins expand their business.  Sixth-year students learn to Apparate – and lose a few eyebrows in the process.  Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love.  Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it’s the home front that takes center stage in the multi-layered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter.  Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort – and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

My Review: What a fabulous book!  Can you believe this series is on the banned books list?  I was curious about why that’s the case, so I did a bit of googling and found this site, which goes into more detail about the ban.

My favorite reason?  That people believe witchcraft is real (did we not learn from burning “witches” in the old timey days?), and further, that the Harry Potter series is going to convince children that witchcraft is fun instead of evil.

Have these people read the series?  It very clearly takes place in a secret world.  Believe me, there have been plenty of times that I’ve wished I could just grab a broom and fly away, or stupefy someone into shutting up.  But uh, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way.  Or, if we’re really going to talk about literature I wish was real…I have a replica of The One Ring from the LOTR series.  I wear it every day.  Sadly, it has never made me invisible.

Anyway, all that nonsense aside, I was completely blown away by this book.  I’ve seen the movie a ton, but I was pleasantly surprised at all the other details that existed in this book.  For example, I felt like the relationships were much more developed and we got significantly better background on them in the book – whereas in the movie, it was like BAM! Harry and Ginny kiss once!

Obviously one of the most important plot points we read is about horcruxes.  Anyone who knows anything about this series understands the significance of that word.  If you don’t, please go to the beginning and start reading this series, because you are totally going to kick yourself for not doing it sooner.

This book transports me to the center of the wizarding world, a place I’m very much in love with, although it unfortunately does not spend enough time with my beloved Snape.  I’d love an entire series just written about Snape, actually…

I can’t really find anything wrong with this book that I haven’t mention in previous books, so it was nearly flawless in my opinion.  The kids are, naturally, more grown up, and I love seeing them having to face more realistic problems, make decisions that actually affect the world, and take those further steps down the paths that lead to their destinies.  This was a touching story, I dare you to read it without crying, and I’m dying to pick the last one up very soon.

Read this book if: Definitely continue the series, or start it if you haven’t already.

My Rating: 5/5 – Did I say cool? Make that awesome!

Filed in 2011, Banned Books Week, Harry Potter Read-Along, JK Rowling | Tagged: ,

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Posted August 27, 2011 By dorolerium

Title: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 870
How I Read It: Paperback purchased by me

Synopsis: There is a door at the end of a silent corridor.  And it’s haunting Harry Potter’s dreams.  Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror?

Harry has a lot on his mind for this, his fifth year at Hogwarts: a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey; a big surprise on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; and the looming terror of the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams.  But all these things pale next to the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – a threat that neither the magical government nor the authorities at Hogwarts can stop.

As the grasp of darkness tightens, Harry must discover the true depth and strength of his friends, the importance of boundless loyalty, and the shocking price of an unbearable sacrifice.

His fate depends on them all.

My Review: I will first say that I’m probably going to offend some fans of the series with this review, cuz I have some complaints against some fan favorite characters.  Which we’ll get to in a bit.

I get the impression that of the books in the series, people don’t love this one as much, and I certainly don’t hear as much about it as I do some of the others.  However, I think that so many key things happen in this book that it’s very important to the rest of the series.  I’ve seen the movies about the next two books, so I’ve seen what’s to come, and I knew that this was going to be an action packed book where a lot of serious stuff comes to light.

I like stories that give you pivotal information while furthering the plot of the book itself along with the series.  By contrast, I hate when there’s a book in a series that does virtually nothing to further the overall arc.  So with that in mind, I would say that this is one of my favorite Harry Potter books so far.

The characters who were either introduced or furthered in this book were phenomenal – whether you like her or not, Dolores Umbridge is a very well written, exciting villain.  Sure, she’s horrible from the start, but she’s so good at it!

And another of my favorites is Luna Lovegood…I adore her spaciness, the way she just sort of floats through things, yet can be extremely helpful when it’s called for.  Not to mention that Neville is flushed out more, as well as Cho, and we get to see more of why Draco Malfoy is such a prat.

With that all said, here were my complaints:

  • Hagrid seemed rather reckless with the kids he supposedly cares so much for.  Sending them off into the forest to take care of something that was clearly injuring him?  Why would he put them in danger like that?
  • Harry acts like such a child!  I was more understanding of this in the earlier books, but he’s supposed to be 15 now.  I wanted to reach in there, slap him, and say, “NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU!!!”  I get that it’s frustrating when his friends don’t tell him much over the summer, and that Dumbledore won’t talk to him…but you know, get over it!  Find a hobby!

I could go on with that, but I’m going to stop for fear of letting out some spoilers.

Other than those few things, I really really enjoyed this book and I’m very much looking forward to the next one!

My Rating: 4/5 – Borderline Amazing!

Read this book if: Definitely continue reading the series.  And if you’re like me and 10 years late to the party, start at the beginning!

 

 

Filed in 2011, Harry Potter Read-Along, JK Rowling | Tagged: ,

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

Posted May 20, 2011 By dorolerium

*****Warning: I do not normally post reviews that have spoilers in them, and I really try to avoid any kind of spoiler when I talk about a book.  However, I don’t feel like it’s possible to discuss this book without spoiling it.  Most people have read this series, so I’m not too worried.  But if you haven’t read it yet, you may want to just stop now and read the series before you read my review.*****

Synopsis: Harry Potter is midway through both his training as a wizard and his coming-of-age.  Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the Quidditch World Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys.  He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream).  He wants to find out about the mysterious event that’s supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn’t happened for hundreds of years.  He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard.  But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he’s not normal – even by Wizarding standards.

And in his case, different can be deadly.

My Review: Every time I read the next Harry Potter book, I find it’s my new favorite.  This is the first book in the series I can genuinely say that I loved, and it really makes me want to grab the next one right away.

I loved this one for a variety of reasons: far less Quidditch (ugh, I am so not a sports person); more getting at what I consider to be the meat of this series with learning more about the Death Eaters and Voldemort; lots of betrayal and secret identities.  We learned about and met a lot of the characters who will be more important in the coming books, and those who were portrayed as bad people really started to show that behavior in this one.

I really only had one complaint, which is that because Cedric Diggory was relatively important in this one, I would have liked to see more of him in the earlier books.  I’ve seen parts of the Goblet of Fire movie, so I knew that Cedric was not going to last to the end of this book, but it didn’t really prepare me for the events of the last third or so of this book.  This was such an emotional book for me, with Cedric’s death and the ceremony bringing about the rise of Lord Voldemort – not to mention the fight that came after that ceremony.  In past books I did honestly feel like Harry was a bit annoying, just a meddling kid (do you see Snape coming out in me?), but I genuinely felt for him in this one and liked that we got to see more of what makes him into the hero of this series.

Not many people seem to like Voldemort, understandably, but he’s a very interesting character to me and I really enjoyed seeing just how he came back to power.  It’s not often that you see someone like him, who doesn’t take his “loyal” supporters at face value, and punishes them all equally.  It’s just so deliciously evil, and very intriguing to read about.  I like that Rowling forces us to look at both sides of the story, and I would love it if some day, she’d write a second series more about him, or from his point of view.

I don’t really have the words to describe exactly how I feel, but I think this one will sit with me for a long time.  I haven’t cried through the end of a book like that in awhile, it was such a lovely ending and I’m looking forward to how the rest of the series unfolds.

Read this book if: This is a fantastic continuation of the series, if you haven’t read the series yet I definitely say you should just because this one is so fabulous.

My Rating: 5/5 – Did I say cool? Make that awesome!

Filed in 2011, Harry Potter Read-Along, JK Rowling | Tagged:

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling

Posted April 11, 2011 By dorolerium

Synopsis: For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black.  Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter’s defeat of You-Know-Who was Black’s downfall as well.  And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, “He’s at Hogwarts . . . he’s at Hogwarts.”

Harry Potter isn’t safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends.  Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

My Review: I heard from a lot of people that this is their favorite book in the series, and while I haven’t read any further so far, I can see why people would love this one so much.  JK Rowling does a great job of furthering the series as a whole and keeping the book entertaining on its own as well.

There are a few important things I took away from this book: Snape is being elevated as more of an enemy for Harry and a supporter of Voldemort; the continuing theme of Scabbers (Ron’s pet rat) became very important in this one; and Harry finds some new important people in his and his parents lives.

Most notably missing in this particular book is Lord Voldemort, who has made appearances in the two previous books in some way or another.  With the addition of Peter Pettigrew in this book, I’m sure something big related to Voldemort being more restored to power is going to happen soon.  I’ll be interested to find out how Pettigrew is able to assist with Voldemort’s return, cuz I’ve seen enough of the later movies to know that’s going to happen.  And honestly, we all know enough about series to know that Voldemort isn’t just going away.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love more involvement from Snape.  I think he’s a fabulous character and he’s extremely entertaining to me.  He really comes forward as being more of a villain in this one, as well as simply hating Harry more than ever.  And I really love seeing the reasons for that hatred, that it’s pretty much all based in Snape’s previous hatred for Potter’s father.  That man can hold a grudge!

I do have a complaint, which maybe won’t go over well with fans of the series, but…why so much quiddich?  I guess there needs to be something distracting for the target audience, so it’s not all about evil wizard hunting?  Seriously, I am not a sports kind of person and the quiddich sections really really bore me.  I feel like JK Rowling has done a good job of setting things up as nothing early on, and then they turn into something, so I guess I’ll let it slide.  But ugh, so boring!

And I think I’m a little confused as to the abilities and limitation of the wizards in this world, cuz I have a question.  Why doesn’t someone just do some kind of locator spell to find Sirius Black?  Or for that matter, why don’t they just do it to find Voldemort?  Is that sort of magic too dark?  It sure would save a lot of headaches!

Read this book if: Definitely continue the series if you’ve started it.  I wouldn’t recommend picking this up without reading the first two, however.

My Rating: 4/5 – Borderline Amazing!

Filed in 2011, JK Rowling | Tagged:

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Posted December 27, 2010 By dorolerium

Synopsis: Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys had been so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature who says that if Harry returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does.  For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls’ bathroom.  But then the real trouble begins – someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone.  Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever?  Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told?  Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects…Harry Potter himself!

My Review: This book was significantly more entertaining than the first one, and a bit more suspenseful too, so it was just better all around!  I felt like the plot moved along more quickly as well, which made for a much more enjoyable read.  It seems like there was a bit more for adults in this one, and that makes things more fun for everyone.

However, one of the things about knowing there are seven books, and that this is only the second one, is that it doesn’t quite have the punch that I’m sure it initially did.  I’ve seen a couple of the movies down the line, so I know which characters are or are not in danger at this particular point in the story.  Which is definitely my own fault, I should have known better – yet that still doesn’t ruin the story for me.

I really liked the introduction of Tom Riddle in this book, and seeing a bit of his history on the path to becoming Lord Voldemort.  I’m looking forward to reading more about him as time goes on – I love origin stories and I’ve been curious about what turned Tom Riddle into Voldemort for awhile.  Was he just born with the evil in him?  Or did something happen to him along the way that turned him in that direction?  Hopefully I get to learn more!

I’m also looking forward to seeing more of Professor Snape as the story progresses.  He’s by far my favorite character in the movies, and I know he gets more important as time goes on.  It could also just be that I like Alan Rickman quite a bit, and if he hadn’t been cast as Snape, I would have loved to see Geoffrey Rush take the role.

It’s also very curious to me that so much effort is made to keep the magic and Wizarding world separate from the Muggle world.  Perhaps I’ve seen too much of the X-Men movies, where there is a lot of effort made to integrate the two kinds of people and it doesn’t exactly go well there, so I guess this is for the protection of the Muggles?  It’s the sort of question that makes me wish the whole world were real.  And who knows, maybe it is!  Maybe I’m just a Muggle in the whole Wizarding world.

On the whole, a fun book and I look forward to continuing the series in the next year.

Read this book if: This is a pretty entertaining story and I think it’s a series most everyone would enjoy.  Unless you’re THAT much of a Muggle, that is.

Filed in 2010, JK Rowling | Tagged:

Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling

Posted October 18, 2010 By dorolerium

Synopsis: Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick.  He’s never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon.  All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley.  Harry’s room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn’t had a birthday party in eleven years.

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed.  There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that’s been waiting for him…if Harry can survive the encounter.

My Review: I’m a little sorry to say that I didn’t love this book.  I liked it fine, it was a cute story, I just really wanted to fall in love with it and I didn’t.  I think maybe it was a little that I felt the story moved a bit too fast?  I know it’s a childrens book, but so much happened in a short amount of time so I wanted it to be a little longer.

Another thing that I think was a detriment for me?  I already know that Harry, Ron, and Hermione will be fine.  Because I know there are six other books in the series.  So what could have been a very thrilling “what’s going to happen to them” was more like “eh, they’ll be fine”.  It’s like watching season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seeing the end of it, and thinking “oh, but there are two more seasons…”

None of this is to say I didn’t like the story.  One of the things I really loved was how the chapters would seem a little pointless at times, but then tie together a few chapters later.  So many things, like Hagrid getting the dragon egg or Harry receiving the invisibility cloak, they seemed so unrelated to much of anything at the time.  And then bam!  Important items!

I can definitely see why the series is so popular with kids, it’s a great story for them and I love anything that gets kids reading.  And I think it’s ludicrous that this series is considered controversial for children and has been on the banned books list in the past.  I mean, do you really think the children of today believe there’s actually such a thing as wizards, witches, magic, and this special school?  If you think our kids are that gullible, you my friend, should not be having any.

The characters were interesting, although I think I’m going to like them more as they age and the stories get further along.  I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series, and then maybe start watching the movies after that.

I think I’m just a little more accustomed to reading for an older group, and that unfortunately affects my views of a book for the younger lot.  I know the books get more serious and darker as the series goes on, which I think will be more appealing to me and I’ll like the later books better.

Read this book if: I would say there’s no reason anyone shouldn’t read this book.  It’s entertaining, a good way to pass the time, and then you’ll finally understand what everyone is talking about!

Filed in 2010, JK Rowling, Reading Challenge | Tagged: