Harry Potter: A Review

My apologies for not posting in the last week.  I don't have anything like a good excuse to offer, so I'll just shut up and get on with this book review...

So.  I've finally read some Harry Potter.  My brother and I have breezed through the first three books: The Philosopher's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, and The Prisoner of Azkaban.  We enjoyed them pretty well.  So now it is time for me to attempt to give a balanced review.  This review is for the beginning of the series in general.  From what I've heard, things get darker as the series progresses.

HARRY POTTER REVIEW- the first three books, at least
Here is the link to the Squeaky Clean Review for the first book (you can find the others from there).
Disclaimer: I unashamedly write from a Christian perspective.

The POSITIVE.
The best element of Harry Potter is the writing.  The plots are breath-taking.  You think you know who the bad guy is, and then BAM!  It's actually the last person you'd expect.  I giggled and laughed.  I was on the edge of my seat.  These are very hard books to put down.  There are no hanging threads in this series-- every single tiny event will be shown to be vital:  And if not in that book, then in the next.  I envy this writer's talent.
Another positive element is that Harry Potter's best protection from evil is love.  How many books have that, eh?  When Harry Potter is saved from the baddie the first time, it is because his mother loved him so much she let herself die instead of Harry, something Voldemort can't understand.  And that continues to play a large role through the series.

The NEGATIVE.
Well, there's the magic.  That's a major part of the stories, but I know it can digested by some people better than others, so I'm not going to condemn (nor discount) the magic right off the bat.  For me, I began to be disturbed in The Prisoner of Azkaban with the divination classes.  Even though the fortune-telling was shown to be phony, the palm-reading and such was still creepy to me.  More so than the whole the-dementors-will-suck-out-all-your-happy-thoughts-and-finally-your-soul thing, which I guess is odd.  In any case, Harry Potter is not for those who don't like wands and flying broomsticks in their stories.
On another note, the kids break the school rules constantly, even when the rules are obviously in place for the students' welfare.  They hardly ever get punished properly.  Then the reader is faced with the fact that the bad guy would probably never have been defeated if the children had not broken the rules.  Not the best way to set an example for the young people reading the books, is it?
Language wise, there's some uses of d--- and the Lord's name in vain.  At one point, a character starts to say an insult, but is cut off, and many readers' minds will fill it in as a Vulgar Name for Illegitimate Children.

THINK ABOUT IT.
Something interesting struck me while I was reading these books.  Despite all the magic, what a sad little world the characters inhabit.  Look how close their world is to disaster:  Voldemort is so powerful, and the only person who can defeat him is maybe Dumbledore or maybe Harry. 
And then it amazed me to see this contrasted with the real world:  Where the end of time is already written, and we can know Who wins!  Where our King can defeat Satan with one little word!  We write stories as a way to reflect God's Ultimate Story, but our little creations can only look deathly pale in the glory of His handiwork.  What an awesome God and what an awesome world we live in!

CONCLUSION.
I've been putting off entering the world of Harry Potter for quite a while.  Now I might have a few friends saying to me, "See-- told you you would like them."
But, after all, I think it was a good idea (in my case) to wait until I felt ready to read the series with a level head.  I think I would recommend the first books if just to enjoy J.K. Rowling's incredible writing style.  But I seriously warn any reader to keep in mind that she is not a Christian, and her writing will reflect that.  We must "Test all things, [and] hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
So enjoy, but with caution.  (:


Oh, and-- well, a little late now, but Bookworm Day was yesterday.  November 29th is the combined birthdays of C.S. Lewis, Madeleine D'Engle, and Louisa May Alcott.  Have a bookworm-ish weekend, all!  God bless!
ps. Did Azkaban make anyone else think of Alcatraz? I mean, their names sound the same and they're both on islands...