Book Review: 3 Reasons Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone Has Awakened My Inner Wizard
This week I decided to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J. K. Rowling why because I feel like there isn't any way to get in the Halloween spirit with celebrating a book that nurtured my imagination. And how it made me want to leave home and start my journey at Hogwarts to become a witch just like Hermoine Granger. And I wanted to finally read the book that I always lied about reading just to fit in with the rest the kids at my school. And be sure to read last week's blog on Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha.
Sparking Imagination & Waiting For An Invitation To Hogwarts
The words of J. K. Rowling made the adolescent Christina and now the adult Christina, feel like she could do absolutely anything if she could get her hands on a wand. And making people want to play Quidditch in real life and inspiring Harry Potter Classes at universities. As a kid, I would often hear adults saying how they couldn't wait till the Harry Potter phase to end. But here we are 20 years since the release of the 1st book and the passion has grown even stronger.
White Washed Wands & Lack of Diversity
As a kid I barely noticed how Emma Watson was modified to supposedly fit the mold of what Hermoine should be when it would have been a lot easier to cast someone who is Black or Latina instead overly teasing and crimping Emma Watson's hair. "Hermoine's Hair was bushy again; she confessed to Harry that she had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's hair potion on it for the ball, 'but it's way too much bother to do every day." I'm guessing they chose Emma Watson because the casting directors didn't want to show a strong and educated minority girl.
And how professor Quirrell was portrayed by a white man when they should have casted an Asian or Middle Eastern person but at least they didn't make him do a terrible fake accent. Or how in the newest movie in the Harry Potter franchise Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, how Zoe Kravitz looks overly pale instead of her usual golden glow in the movie trailers.
Feeling At Home In Your Potter House
I think that J.K. Rowling did a great job at making people who read her books feel like they have a place in the Harry Potter Universe. By creating the Potter Houses Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and my house Slytherin. At first, I was startled to find out after taking the Pottermore quiz that I was a Slytherin since in the 1st book they are seen as the villains. But seeing celebrities like Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Lin Manuel Miranda, and Niall Horan who I look up to and discovering that Harry Potter's son is a Slytherin I thought that maybe this isn't that bad.
Would I Buy Or Read Again?
I would certainly read this book again and buy the entire series since Harry Potter caused so much controversy in my very Christian family. My grandparents believed that if my brother and I were exposed to the fake spells, it would make us pick up Dark Magic or Voodoo. I believe they thought this because they live in New Orleans and it is very common to see people performing Voodoo on others. My mother wasn't allowed to watch the Smurfs show simply because they had Gargamel a warlock that cast spells, her mother (my grandmother) saw this as demonic and banning the show.
But I have to thank my mother for allowing us to watch the movies and read the books; even though I never finished one as a kid because there were so many pages. I appreciate that my mother was open-minded especially since she proved my grandparents wrong, that everything won't put you on a dark path. Because my brother and I are not casting spells or curses on people as adults, we are focused on becoming our best selves.
Catch up on last week's blog on the book Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha.
If you have any book suggestions add them below in the comments, and look out for new book reviews every Sunday. And remember “As we ‘Rise to Be’, we are becoming who we want to be” -Christina B. Rising🤗
