Customer Reviews

Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book analyzes (maybe over-analyzes) the Harry Potter books, but the results are very enlightening. It's like seeing the HP world with a whole new set of eyes. A typical item notes that Mrs. Figg's house (she's Harry's "babysitter" when the Dursleys exclude him from a family event) smells of cabbages, just like the apothecary shop in Diagon Alley. I had already noticed that Diagon Alley = "diagonally", but missed Knockturn Alley = "nocturnally".

By tying small references from one book location to another, it makes connections that are easy to miss. These are not the usual "how could I have overlooked that?" tidbits, but things one could never connect without keeping detailed notes. Who reads a book of fiction like that? The authors also note the significance of character names, using knowledge that is way beyond my shallow understanding of mythology and magic.

From what I've read so far, I'd say that calling Harry Potter a "children's book" is to miss the deeper meaning (and hard work) that makes the series so special.

This is a GREAT book! The analysis of all of the HP books to date, as well as the author's ability to pick out the hidden clues about Harry's future adventures makes for a book that is well worth the price. Whether you are a long-time HP reader or a new fan, young or mature, this is DEFINITELY a "must-have" for any fan!

If you can, read it before the next movie comes out, or at least the next book. Unlike some fan-authors (and other psychics!), this author is certainly putting her (his?) reputation on the line by making some very specific predictions about the future books in the series.

If you are getting it as a gift, PLEASE don't make your Harry Potter fan wait for whatever the occasion to get it! Let them read it right away. There is LOTS to go through in here, and the HP fan who reads this book will probably want to go back through the specific HP books that are mentioned to see the clues for themselves.

_WELL_ WORTH THE PRICE!

This is definitely not for the casual Harry Potter fan, or someone who just watched the movies. This is for the obsessed HP fan who can't wait until Book #6 or the PoA movie next summer. It is an exhaustive chapter by chapter minute examination of almost every little detail in the first four books in the series. Because of this slavish devotion to details, it would be annoying and nit-picking to anyone who isn't totally into the whole HP phenonmenon. Even I thought several times the authors were really reaching trying to pick up clues or draw conclusions! However, more often than not, they found clues I had missed even after a half dozen (or more) reads of each book, and some of their conclusions, speculations, etc., were fascinating, or downright eerie with the great deal of sense they made. The authors further go out on a limb and predict what will happen in Book #5 (some of which they were pretty close or dead on)and even offer some possible scenarios to the ending of the whole septology (which I doubt they got right because I think we're all going to be shocked then)! Frankly, I can't wait until the follow-up guide to Book #5 is released in November to see what they've come up with next.

This book was not only entertaining, thorough, and humorous, it gave me a deeper and greater appreciation for the complexity of JK Rowlings' writing. It highlights clues that are carefully planted within the chapters and alerts HP sleuths on what to watch for when reading the Harry Potter books.

IMO, it was worth every bronze knut I paid for it! A MUST have for the true Harry Potter fan.

The thing I like the best about this book, is that it gives the reader hints on how to figure things out for herself/himself. I think that was worth the money all on its on. I'm going to re-read the Harry Potter books now and try the hints out. Also, while I didn't agree with all their interpretations, it still gave me pause to think and question what I had orginally thought and I can't wait to see if they might be correct about some things. It was also interesting to see someone interpret a sentence differently than I had; especially since both interpretations could be correct. Only Rowling knows. All in all, the book was well worth the money.
The writing style of the book is informal and enjoyable and while the grammar may not be the best, I didn't notice it. It reads more like someone is talking to you and since people don't use proper grammar structure when they talk I didn't pick up on any problems with the grammar. I enjoyed that aspect of the book. It made me feel like someone was having a conversation with me, instead of me just reading a book.

Yesterday, in one short evening, the first eight chapters of this book took "Harry Potter", for me, from impulse speed to full warp (thank you Star Trek). In a mere forty pages of the full-size book, Galadriel Waters has proven to me that the HP "septology" is a full-blown "Epic Mystery", containing mysteries, puzzles, clues, names, and numbers that present meanings on many levels, all for the "HP Sleuth" to find. As I read in this book, I observed that it was instilling in me the detective's analytical -- yet fun-loving! -- mindset, enabling me by example to ferret out J.K. Rowling's more-or-less concealed clues. These stories -- one epic story, really -- seem to be leading the reader to an inevitable destination; what will it prove to be? While Waters does point out individual clues that the reader might have missed, she more importantly coaches ones to become sensitive to the larger Mystery questions, the ones that cannot be answered by a few localized clues. Among others: Why did Voldemort wish to kill baby Harry in the first place? What was Hagrid doing borrowing a motorcycle from Sirius Black? What is the true nature of Severus Snape? And Waters accomplishes all this in a book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter format, so that if you have read only HP Year 1, and you read only that part of Waters' book, the other, later books will not be spoiled for you. As thoughtfully as I had been reading and re-re-reading HP 1-4, I now know that I had missed a lot. Now, what a richer ride! Thank you, Ms. Waters!

I have read just about all the Harry Potter "guides," and, being an avid fan (aka: obsessed), I cannot say I have found a single better book. After begging for it as a Christmas gift, as I found the price a bit high for a college student like myself, I haven't put the book down since. This book is jam-packed with facts and histories, and theories about things even -I- have overlooked! Believe you me...once you read this, you'll be reading the first four Harry Potter books over and over again...the wait until Order of the Phoenix won't seem so long, as you become an HP Sleuth and try to find yourself what the wonderful Galadriel Waters has missed. Honestly, this is an excellent book, and please, please don't let the price fool you...this book is HUGE! Heavy, too! ^_~ Over 400 pages, filled with everything possible to make the little wheels in your head start turning. I've suggested to all my fellow fans for them to READ_THIS_BOOK!

What an awesome book! I loved it, it was so carefully written with tangible theories about concepts that you knew were there but weren't sure what they meant. There were one or two things, in hindsight (after Book 5) that I think they could have picked up on, but the things they did were amazing- many I had missed during the times I'd read the first four novels. It's incredible how many running bits there are- cabbage, 12- in the series, and that's all mentioned in here. Coincidences that were really meant to happen from the get-go, "insignificant" details you thought were unimportant were really keys to the plot- they have an awesome system they let you in on, four rules to picking up on clues. This is an insanely great piece of work, for any Potterhead. :) I'm definitely pre-ordering "New Clues", to accompany it.

I know Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a friend of mine. He is, however, apparently a much BETTER friend of Galadriel Waters. No, Ms. Waters is not J.K. Rowling, but she's as close as we're going to get till June.

This enormous book is also enormously entertaining. I can't count the number of times it sent me running back to the books to check clues I'd missed and reassess my earlier readings. It manages to be a work of depth and a delicious aperitif to the banquet we're waiting for, all at the same time.

I know it's "unofficial", but IMHO, it should be packaged and sold with the Potter books as a matter of course. I can't wait to see the notes after the release of Order of the Phoenix!

This is a fantastic book that will inspire any Harry Potter fan to start from the beginning and read again! Wonderfully written so that children and adults alike can understand and stay interested. A book you will not want to put down and that will quickly become a well used reference tool!