[ SECRET POST #3449 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3449 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.












Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 38 secrets from Secret Submission Post #493.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. http://i.imgur.com/m3hRvAk.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, I like all the books, but I think it's pretty clear that Azkaban is the best, and I honestly thought that was pretty widely accepted in the fandom. It's a perfect balance of every aspect of the series, it has a tight and quickly-moving plot, and it is in a lot of ways just really well written.

[sabotabby]

Same. I don't think she can really do dark and gritty, and she needed an editor from book four onwards. I still enjoyed them, but Azkaban was by far my favourite.

[(Anonymous)]

i had no idea this was considered the best book out of the hp books, i need to reread hp again tbh

[morieris]

It is my favorite, but I love GoF too.

Unrelated, but I liked the Half Blood Prince movie far more than the book.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. I will hear people's arguments for GoF being the best, but in my mind nothing ever topped PoA.

[(Anonymous)]

I definitely agree that it was the best. It's actually when I started taking the series seriously; I loved the books from the start, but I also thought they were "cute." I realized JKR was onto something with PoA.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree.

[sachiko_san]

I think it's funny how just because you struggled to get through the first two books, you assumed everyone else who read them did too.

[ginainthekingsroad]

PoA works best for me because of the Marauders storyline. It connects Harry's story to that of the previous generation, and gives some insight into Voldemort's first reign of terror. The fact that the Potters weren't just victims of an ongoing war that claimed numerous lives, but that they were specifically betrayed by a close friend (and Sirius's sacrifice in being falsely imprisoned) is much more interesting. The animagus thing is foreshadowed very successfully in the first 2 novels.

And yeah, we get some more about the first war with the Order of the Phoenix, but never in a way that I found really practically useful in-story. It could have been handled better if, as you say, JKR had been edited more thoroughly and if the final arc had been better established earlier in the series. Frickin' horcrux fetch-quest camping trip, augh.

[nightscale]

I enjoyed all of the books up 'till GoF and everything OoTP and up I found a bit of a slog, though I do remember liking HBP. PoA is still probably my favourite though.

(It has been a long time since I've read the books however so maybe I'd feel differently these days).

Like Icarus...

[(Anonymous)]

The HP books are much like Icarus, taking off, doing ok, but then with PoA, they soar. GoF is the sun melting the wings, and all the following books are Icarus screaming as he falls to his death.

[(Anonymous)]

It was my favorite of the series. I loved that book so much that the trainwreck of a movie adaptation was also my favorite by association. Hippie Dumbledore, trendy Hermionie, naked anthropomorphic werewolf, and all.

[diet_poison]

Huh. I guess I'm alone in that my favorite book is GoF? My least favorite is OotP. But I liked them all. I don't really get the hate and to me none of them really stands out that distinctly from the others - they're all part of the same story and feel like it, to me.

[(Anonymous)]

meh, disagree. The first book is wonderful, the second one is fairly good. I agree the third one is the best, but as the series goes on and tries to get darker, it gets worse. 5, 6 and 7 are just messes. The first three have the most charm by far.

[philstar22]

Goblet of Fire is my personal favorite.

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, it's my least favorite, but I agree that it's better written than the first two. Disagree about the fourth, though.

[(Anonymous)]

I kind of agree? I don't think the first two books are horrible, but for a kid they were wondrous and they definitely get you hooked.

Goblet of Fire is not perfect, but it is the book that really expanded the universe beyond Hogwarts.

Order of the Phoenix is I think the first book where it becomes apparent that maybe JKR/Harry Potter was so huge that it gets to the point where editors become a bit afraid to really do their jobs. There's a lot of good stuff. I still can't reread a lot of the Umbridge chapters to this day, I had a physical reaction to a lot of the things she did. However, with the poor romance JKR's weaknesses definitely begin to become more apparent.

PoA is just pitch perfect. A+ mystery, plotting and pacing. The only black mark is the Hermione Time Turner plot imo.

[bio_obscura]

It's been a long time, but I do remember liking that one then feeling like Goblet of Fire was a mess.

[(Anonymous)]

Really interesting to read everyone's opinions on the books. Great thread!

As for me, I have been rereading the HP series again for the first time in years, and the first two books were good. I think they work well in creating a world that the reader can get sucked up into. It's pretty hard to not have images of the films in your mind when you read the books, especially the first one, since they are probably the most closely adapted films to the book.

The third book used to be my favorite. I loved the mystery, the red herring, the really good twist, and how it all tied together pretty well. Rereading it though, IDK...it was still good, but I had a feeling of it's not as good as remembered it to been when I first read it all those years ago.

I actually kind of feel like the fourth book is my favorite now. Maybe because it deviated so differently from the rest of the series, minus the last book, but was still so adventure-filled, I really felt like it was a lot of fun to read, and then the unexpected death of Cedric was pretty powerful.

As for the last three books.....eeehhhh...I do agree with what most people have been saying that they needed to be edited down more, and the books could have gone a bit darker.

I think, though, the reason why I probably enjoyed the first 4 books a lot, especially the first three, is the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The rest of the series does it well too, but I really loved that the trio lean on each other as they are discovering new independence at Hogwarts, a place away from what they have always known.

I've also come to love the Weasley family even more.

[(Anonymous)]

I must have submitted this secret in my sleep because I think the exact same thing.

First book: meh.

Second book: meh, this is a retread of the first book.

Third book: wow, now I see what people like about this series.

Fourth book and on: did Voldemort kill her editors.........?

[(Anonymous)]

Oddly, I didn't really like PoA. I want to like it too, as both Sirius and Remus are in it...But I just couldn't get into the story, not even the second time around. Maybe I need to reread?

Reasons it's your favorite ? (Without comparing the other books)

[(Anonymous)]

Totally agree. I found the first two books silly, but I figured they were written for children so I was able to get through them. PoA really caught me off guard with how good it was, to the point where I was really excited for the rest of the series.

Then I read GoF and it was... okay.

Then I read OoTP and found it so off-putting I couldn't even finish it. I didn't bother reading the last two books, either. Still don't know how this series ended.

[mrs_don_draper]

YES! You put it into words!

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't re-read in ages (in fact, I may have only read Goblet & on once each), but Azkaban was always my fave too. Not sure how I feel about the rest as it's been ages since I read them.