Advantages: Great special effects! Loads more! (see review)
Disadvantages: A few but not many (see review)

...The opening sequence of Harry Potter is every bit as magical as the child himself, the camera flies through the air spiralling like a supernatural rollercoaster before resting at Harry’s window in Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia are expecting guests and of course Harry is not to be seen, sitting in his room, desperate for the long awaited return to Hogwarts, Harry receives a visitor; Dobby the house elf. Dobby is the product of the latest computer technologies. His movement, speech and visual appearance are all flawless and a credit to the three-dimensional computer developers. Dobby does not wish for Harry to return to Hogwarts, he tells Harry that his life is in danger and gets Harry into trouble with a rather delicious looking cake. Uncle Vernon prohibits Harry from returning to his ‘freak school’ much to Harry’s dismay... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Exitment. Well Written.Enjoyable...
Disadvantages: -

...now that all of the books have been released... What Is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and The Plot Don't worry , if you have never heard of this best selling book before of even a little bit about what Harry Potter is, don't panic because here is a little bit about what Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone actualy is... Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone is a fictional novel written by JK Rowling. The Philosophers Stone is the first novel in the list of eight books of the Harry Potter trilogy written by JK Rowling over the years. Harry is a young boy who thinks he's just ordinary, but is he correct?... The first book sees that Harry Potter is a young boy living in a cupboard under the stairs of his auntie and uncles house. The Dursleys is the surname of Harry's Auntie and Uncle and cousin, where... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Has some good adventure sequences, and some of the magic remains
Disadvantages: Plot has too many loop holes and may be slow-moving at times

...Just another sequel? For me, sequels often seem like duller, watered-down shadows of the original classic, meant for harvesting the last remnants of commercial success from a book or film where the end should have been 'Happy ever after'. However there are some exceptions, for example 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' which at least equalled or surpassed 'The Fellowship of the Ring' in its originality, emotion and battle sequences. However, I can't help feeling that the 'Chamber of Secrets' falls into the first category, despite the fact that the magic of the Philosopher's Stone is hard to beat. It is my least favourite of the Harry Potter books. It just seems to lack the same readability, the same flowing story-line, and it gives me a funny feeling of dread every time I read it. So where has the magic gone... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Luna - a brilliant new character!
Disadvantages: Not explained clearly, War is a bit dull

...and ‘bad guys’, and became well known as the heroic and talented young wizard, as well as being the Gryffindor Seeker in Quiddich! Harry Potter really was the boy who lived. ***** Now in his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry has had many encounters with Lord Voldemort in his past four years at the school. He was after the stone in The Philosophers Stone, he was in the form of Tom Riddle in The Chamber Of Secrets, and he was face to face in battle with young Mr Potter in The Goblet Of Fire. Now, taken from the novel, The Order Of The Phoenix, written by J. K Rowling, we find Lord Voldemort messing with Harry’s mind, and he’s not giving up. Right from the beginning of the film, Harry is in trouble. He receives a letter from the Ministry Of Magic, announcing that he has been expelled from Hogwarts, after using magic out with school grounds... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: C'mon!! We're talking about Harry Potter
Disadvantages: A loooong time for the next book to be released.

...Spain soon after it was released in the U.K. but have not yet been translated to Spanish, if you’re curious about that :) ). I’ve been reading some of the opinions published in CIAO about the book, and I have to say that they’re quite good, so I’m sorry if this one is not as good and sorry if my English is not very good. I’m trying to improve, I promise… If you haven’t read the books, beware of the SPOILERS that follow… So, what was I expecting from the fifth book of the Harry Potter adventures? I was expecting what I found in the previous four: lots of well-written adventures and mystery. Plus, I was expecting a development of the characters (both in the relationship with other people and in their personalities). I’ve found that the books turn more and more complex every time. The language is not as simple as it was in the first... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great book that gets children reading, fires the imagination
Disadvantages: Plot is dark for younger children, may be difficult to get into at first

...Every fantasy story has its villains, and JK Rowling creates the darkest wizard the world has ever seen. Bent on becoming immortal, with an army of faithful servants, spells that torture, curses that control your thoughts and the ultimate dark magic... the killing curse 'Avada Kadavra'. And yet at the height of his power, Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord all wizards feared to name, was destroyed by a baby. Wild about Harry... Harry Potter is an unlikely hero. Believing both his parents died in a car crash giving him a lightning scar to prove it, Harry is left with his only remaining relatives who despise him. His Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley (the Dursleys), finds himself average at school, with no friends, and no idea that he is soon to become an eleven year old wizard. Harry isn't a boy genius like... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Vivid characters, exciting plot, unpredictable right to the end
Disadvantages: Huge book! Makes it difficult to hold, and the story is slow at times

...I remember watching a clip from American TV of the US release of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. A young girl witha distinct accent finishes reading the beginning and then suddenly exclaims "OK, that's not how it's supposed to start." Many readers of the other Harry Potter books will have noticed how different this book is from the others. Being so untypical it gives JK Rowling greater freedom for creativity in order to break the previous pattern of her other books. But it also leads to a distinct change in style that I'm not sure all fans have reacted well to. The beginning is eerily different, the middle unlike any of the books so far, and the end is hauntingly memorable. When I first read this book I don't remember being overly impressed by its size. With almost three times the number of pages as Book 1 and twice... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: a really good book
Disadvantages: the other books are better!

...<><> Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone <><> 1.) Intro Hello people! This is my fifth opinion for Ciao UK and I’d like to write about the book with the name “ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone”. I read this book more than 6 times. This book is good for everyone, who likes Harry Potter and Joanne K. Rowling. Here comes my opinion. 2.) The author Joanne K. Rowling was born in the 31st of July in 1965 at Chipping Sudbury. This is in England. She was good in school, only in sport she wasn’t very good. Next to school, she study literature and the language French. As she finished with that, she worked as an international secretaries. The Idea of Harry Potter she had first in 1990. She was sitting in a train and she saw Hogwarts in her head. But she first bring the idea of Harry Potter to... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Return to form with a gripping story, leading nicely into book 7
Disadvantages: Too much waffle and description - and the teenage angst!

...Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the sixth, and penultimate, book in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. The series has followed Harry since he start