There was a bit of a delay with me getting around to reading this book. After hearing everyone rave on and on about the series for the last number of years I eventually decided to give it a go...and was pleasantly surprised. I had of course not been able to escape seeing one or 2 of the films, and enjoyed those immensely.

The first in the series is very good, just what I had hoped after the suspense had built up for so long about it.

Harry Potter is an ordinary boy, orphaned when very young; he was raised by his cruel Aunt and Uncle, who despised him. They had disapproved of his mother's choice of husband and his aunt had always been very jealous of her sister because she was selected to go to wizard school. This jealousy turned into hatred of all wizards and witches, and because of this Harry never learned about his history.
One day, a letter arrives in the post saying that he is to start at Hogwarts school the following term. After the arrival of Hagrid, the school's ground keeper, his aunt and uncle have no choice but to allow Harry to attend. And there the adventures begin.

The adventure in this case is the mystery surrounding an item called the philosopher's stone, a very powerful object which is being sought for evil purposes.

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REVIEW

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This, the third in the series, continues where the previous two left off and is a fantastic adventure of mystery, magic and mayhem combined with liberal doses of humour and plenty of suspense.

Forced to do his homework in the dead of night and forbidden to refer to his magic skills or his life at Hogwarts school, Harry Potter is forced to endure the summer holidays with the dreaded Dursleys. The arrival of Aunt Marge is the final straw and, in a fit of anger, Harry breaks all the rules and casts a spell on her, causing her to blow up like a balloon. Running away from his dreaded relatives, Harry expects to be expelled from Hogwarts for his blatant flaunting of the rule not to use magic outside term time. However, the arrival of the mysterious Knight Bus and a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, result in Harry enjoying the rest of the holidays in the wonderful surroundings of the Leaky Cauldron.

The escape of Sirius Black--one time friend of Harry's parents, implicated in their murder and follower of "You- Know-Who"--from Azkaban, has serious implications for Harry for it would appear that Black is bent on revenge against Harry for thwarting "You-Know-Who". Back at Hogwarts, Harry's movements are restricted by the presence of the Dementors--guards from Azkaban on the look out for Black--however, this doesn't stop him throwing himself into the new Quidditch season and going about his normal business--or at least attempting to. Despite warnings Harry is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Sirius Black--how could this one-time close friend of his parents become the cause of their deaths?

And why does the presence of the Dementors have such a devastating effect on him, causing him to hear the last moments of his mother's life?

REVIEW

The first book I read for my fifty books in a year challenge.

Fairest is a book about Aza, a girl with a very pretty singing voice but a far less than attractive face. She lives in a country where everything important is done with song and instead of balls they have 'sings'. She was found as a baby by an Innkeeper and his wife. They raised her as one of their own along with their own children. Early in her teenage years, Aza learns that she can project her voice to another place that is close by and make it sound like a voice she has already heard. She calls this Ilusing. When Aza is fifteen, a dutchess stops at the inn on her way to the king's wedding. Her traveling companion, Dame Ethele, is sick, so the dutchess opts to take Aza with her instead, since Ethele's clothes with fit her and the dutchess had always been friendly to Aza. After the wedding, the king gets injured at a banquet. Ivi, the new queen, is left to rule the kingdom alone, with her horrible singing voice that she has explained away by saying she has a cold. Ivi catches Aza ilusinging, makes Aza her lady-in-waiting and forces her to ilusing for her, so that the people will never know that she has a horrible singing voice. This is where Aza's problems begin.


It was very nice to start this out with a book I really enjoyed. Overall I really liked the book. I could have done with about 100 more pages though. Things move incredibly fast and the ending is rushed. I really enjoyed Levine's writing style. This book inspired me to read more of her work.

Another brilliant Levine book! MUST BUY!