Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them by J K Rowling

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 3 hours

Pages - 293

Publisher - Arthur A Levine Books

Source - Bookstore

Blurb from Goodreads


When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone…

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Featuring a cast of remarkable characters, this is epic, adventure-packed storytelling at its very best.

Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf.


My Review

First off, I am not a fan generally of screenplays, I would much rather a novel, however after The Cursed Child I found I could get into these, written by Rowling, quite easily. Everyone has seen the trailer for the movie, just in case you missed it, we head back to the wonderful world of magic. Newt Scamander is a Magizoologist (finds, protects and looks after rare/magical beasts), scouring the world to locate and help them. He arrives in fabulous New York and no sooner has he arrived when things go all wrong. Magic in front of muggles, saved magical creatures on the loose and that is only the beginning. Newt finds himself in big trouble and taking those with him down the same route!

It isn't Harry Potter that is for sure but instead we have another world filled with magic, good and bad, wizards, muggles (although they are called No-Majs this time), danger and best of all fabulous magical creatures. My absolute favourite was Picket and when you read the book you will see why, he doesn't have a huge part in the book which is disappointing, I would love to have heard more but I did love the small glimpses we had.

The book is only a short 293 pages and quite a few are filled with beautiful illustrations so the actual story isn't that long at all. I devoured it in about 3 hours, had I not had interruptions I would have got through it in an hour. If you liked The Cursed Child and the Potter books I am sure you will enjoy this. Beautiful images on the pages, I love the cover too, dark blue with beautiful gold writing and the writing itself is what we have come to expect from Rowling. She casts her own spell, creating a fictional world that you have no problems conjuring up in your mind and briefly escaping reality to dabble with a little bit of magic, 4/5 for me this time. If she brought out more of these I would read them however I would much prefer them to be novels!

View all my reviews

Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets by J K Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 341

Blurb from Goodreads

All Harry Potter wants is to get away from the Dursleys and go back to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby - who says that if Harry Potter 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, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.

But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone--or something--starts 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 is the second book in the series, I would recommend reading the first, whilst you can pick this up and read it by itself, you would enjoy it more knowing the 1st story. Harry can't wait to get back to Hogwarts, the Dursley's are being their usual horrible selves & a wee house Elf warns Harry he can't go back to Hogwart's. Lots of things seem to go wrong as Dobby predicted, Snape seems to really hate Harry, their new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher is fame loving nightmare and something horrendous is loose in Hogwarts. A monster that was once loose before & a student died is back, suspicion falls on Hagrid and Harry needs to find out who or what is responsible.

This year we also meet Ginny, Ron's little sister and her first year at Hogwart's, Malfoy's father features a bit more and we see where young Draco gets his attitude from. Another tale of friendship, boundaries, secrets, love & bravery as the youngsters try to piece together more of the history and happenings at the school.

I love these books, this is a re read for me, if I could shut off the adult world for a week I would read these back to back. If you haven't read Potter before I would certainly recommend, if you have I would tell you to re read it. A great story with ups and downs, as much for the mature reader as the young adult, 5/5 for me this time!

View all my reviews

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 310

Publisher - Scholastic

Blurb from Goodreads

Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy. He lives with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley, who are mean to him and make him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. (Dudley, however, has two bedrooms, one to sleep in and one for all his toys and games.) Then Harry starts receiving mysterious letters and his life is changed forever. He is whisked away by a beetle-eyed giant of a man and enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The reason: Harry Potter is a wizard! The first book in the "Harry Potter" series makes the perfect introduction to the world of Hogwarts.


My review

I have read this book about three times and cannot believe this is the first time I have reviewed it! Harry Potter lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin, the Dursleys, Harry has been an unwelcome guest since he was put upon the Dursleys after his parents died. Harry is unliked, unwelcome and above all just an ordinary boy or so the Dursleys would have him think. But as Harry's birthday approaches, he gets letters informing him he has been enrolled in Hogwarts School for witches and wizards. Life as Harry knew it is about to change, secrets about his family, who he is and learning just how dangerous being Harry Potter can be.

Oh I love this book, a tale of friendship, love, family, honour, secrets and magic, whats not to love. The book introduces us to poor Harry, a lovely boy who is treated so poorly by his family, they make him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs and have never gave him any kind of love or even respect as a human. Harry is then taken to a world where he is famous, a world full of magic and mayhem where he meets friends and finds out all about the magical world of wizardry.

This book is loved by kids and adults alike, I am currently re reading the whole series, Rowling has created some fabulous loveable and equally horrid and loathable characters. 5/5 for me, this book is a keeper for me and I will return again to it in the future.

View all my reviews

Review - The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 3 days

Blurb From Goodreads

A BIG NOVEL ABOUT A SMALL TOWN ...

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?

My review

This is a whopping huge hardback, 503 pages long. The first thing I would say is go into this reading it as a new author rather than this is the Harry Potter writer as the content and writing couldn't be further apart. The story is based around a small town, Pagford, and follows the lives of many of the residents. Barry Fairbrother dies suddenly and the town is in shock, however his death leaves open a seat on the parish council and soon filling that becomes the main focus. The small town is ripped apart by this one event as the battle for the seat begins.

For me this story could have been two, one concentrating on the younger main characters and that of the adults and their interest in the council seat. There is a lot of swearing throughout and a number of issues covered including angst, secrets, emotions, violence, self harm, betrayal and underage sex to mention a few.

At some points I felt some of the issues could have been left out but were included to show this is an adult themed book and a far cry from her previous Harry Potter books. There also was more characters than at times I could keep up with (although once your in a few hundred pages you get a better feel for them). Because there is so many, I feel that the focus on some of them and their issues where brushed over or only briefly touched on. Had the book just been classed as a novel or some of the characters cut there could have been more substance given to others and made more of an impact on the reader and story.

That said I did enjoy the unraveling of the towns secrets and petty goings on, especially in the aftermath of the death of a young man. I can't say I loved any of the characters but I did like Krystal and would have loved to have had more focus on her. Despite having a foul mouth, loose moral and low self esteem with a bad attitude, her character had depth although only really shown when dealing with her younger sibling.

I felt the book was fairly slow going for a good part of it, the start kicks off quick with a death which is the catalyst for most of the following story, however come the end few chapters it went into overdrive and I didn't want to put the book down. The turnabout of events is rather shocking, especially as the book had been fairly paced throughout. If you enjoy small town scandal and don't mind cursing, underage sex and teenage angst you will enjoy this story. 3/5 for me, I would read J.K. Rowling again, I loved Harry Potter and although this is a different level altogether I still enjoyed the writing and story.

View all my reviews