Customer Reviews

Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter (Analysis of Books 1-4)

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If you shop around for books on the Harry Potter series, you will find information on the names, creatures, classes, and places used in the book. This guide, however, provides an analysis of the mysteries within the novels in adittion to providing interesting facts. It points out all the subtle hints and guides that JKR so cleverly places in the tale. Using details from the book and information released by the author herself, Galadriel Waters provides us with the questions we need to be asking ourselves as we read the series. It even includes a restricted section containing theories as to what will happen later on and even as to how it will all end. This book is especially useful for those who have not yet read, or are still reading the series, as it does not reveal anything in advanced, but helps the reader solve the mystery him/herself.

Overall an amazing read, a real guide, and well worth the price.

Although I delightfully enjoyed this book, the author's style of interpreting and predicting annoyed me a bit. During many instances I found myself laughing at the mammoth conclusions that the author made from extremely minor coincidences. For instance, when ever any body part, any color, or any animal is mentioned more than once in the 1600+ pages in the Harry Potter series, the author mindlessly jumps to the compulsion that it is major evidence that will help us solve the rest of the plot for the entire series. Even though author jumps to conclusions with little evidence she make some good points once in a while that really made me think. So if you are an above average HP fan (which you probably are if your looking at this review) then take a look at this in depth Harry Potter guide.

I got a tip on this book from a Harry Potter website and ordered it up immediately. It is a comprehensive analysis of the first 4 books in the HP series, chapter by chapter and sometimes paragraph by paragraph. The authors have cross referenced all the hints and clues they note in each book and build these clues and hints into their predictions for what's coming in books 5 - 7. A unique and thorough review of all 4 books and a must read to get ready for the release of Order of the Phoenix in June. 5 stars in a walk!

Honestly, I'm not really sure how to rate this book. It has undoubtedly enlightened me to a few of the secrets and hidden meanings in J.K. Rowling's brilliant and cleverly weaved tale, but the author(s) analyze nearly every paragraph in the books!

According to this book, every word has a hidden meaning. I do not deny that MOST words have hidden meanings or alternate meanings, but to say that so many of them is slightly ridiculous. Though J.K. Rowling is a very brilliant woman, indeed, no one is clever enough to find hidden meanings in everything.

Though I enjoy the lighter tone the author(s) use throughout the book, it seems very unprofessional at times, and the excessive use of "smileys" is a little annoying. The "running bits" aren't always running bits, in my opinion. For example, in the analysis of "Chamber of Secrets," it is presented that every time a character's eyes are described, it is a "running bit" because of the Basilisk's eyes being fatal. This *could* be a clue to the plot, but in all reality, is she supposed to sacrifice her description of characters in order to NOT make it a plotline clue? Maybe the "eyes" in the book were merely there for descriptive purposes.

The Ultimate Unofficial Guide is, of course, a very entertaining read if you can get past the basic plot summaries and the use of smiley faces, but I certainly wouldn't call it essential or true to the series. A lot of the statements made are merely opinions that can be found just as easily on a Web site. For hardcore "Harry" fans, I would suggest reading this, but only if you're looking for a filler while you wait for J.K. Rowling's next masterpiece.

I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic; I just like the books and the movies (and the actors and the author and the characters and the plot...)This book was a great guide for hidden clues, plot predictions (Divination for books?) and "I-didn't-think-of-that"s. If that's what you're looking for, then this is perfect for you. But if you want the absolute facts, you might want to wait for J.K.R.'s own guide.

Sometimes what you infer from this book can sound outrageous (Lily Potter a Slytherin? Lily's related to Dumbledore?)and sometimes the author goes of on tangents about a tiny insignificant clue (or so we think), but the rest are based on evidence carefuly gathered from the books and J.K.R.'s interviews.

A note: This book covers books 1-4 only. The "New Clues" book is for book 5 and is a hints only guide (it doesn't tell you exactly what the clues mean). I bought both and think it was well worth the money, but this is something to keep in mind.

All in all, this book and its companion are a must for every semi-serious to serious HP fan.

If you have any interest at all in the complex series of clues and hints left throughout the 4 current Harry Potter books, this book is for you.

Each of the four published Harry Potter books are looked at in depth, clues are pointed out and hints revealed. This book will make you go back and re-read the series, wondering how you could have missed so many obvious things. It will also make you think, wondering about the over all plan that JK Rowling has. The Unofficial Guide also points out patterns the JK Rowling has followed in each book....allowing you to be alert to these patterns in forthcoming books.

While I don't necessarily agree with every conclusion and theory presented in this book, each are well thought out and referenced from Sorcerer's Stone through Goblet of Fire. There are a list of unanswered questions from each of the books....what should the reader be asking at the end of each?

I would recommend this book to every Harry Potter fan who wants to look beyond the surface story into the larger story that is spanning the entire series.

As a very big fan of Harry Potter, I really enjoyed this book. The authors tear through virtually every line in the book, chapter by chapter, analyze it, and then hypothesize what it means. Some call it excessive, and I can see where they're coming from, but for a huge fan interested in what will happen in final books and all of the characters in the book, it will most likely be a great read.

I loved the interpretations of characters' names, the clever findings of someone who has read the book a thousand times, and the dozens of shot-outs tot the all of the literary references J.K. puts into her books. Putting these things out into the open really shows HP readers how much of an unbelievable genius Rowling is, like how she puts seemingly unnecessary words into one book that come back to other books and completely change the plot. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. The comparisons the authors made of Voldemort and Hitler fascinated me, as did the theories behind certain characters. Theres a restricted section at the end of the book that gives ideas and theories on many things that might happen in later books. I looked at it, and it definitely didnt ruin any surprises for me, or anything, because I know Rowlings chosen ending and plot twists will be near impossible to predict, and also because it didnt really give anything away.

The reason this did not earn all 5 stars for me was because of two things: the writing and the "Running Bits" sections. My problem with the writing was that there were a few grammatical errors in the book ("effect" is not a verb; it's a noun) and the unnecessary use of emoticons. They strike me as unprofessional in a book, so seeing ":^(" every few pages was annoying. The other thing was the "Running Bits" sections, which picked out certain words from the chapter, like "mate", and said that that word will crack the code to the septology because it makes an "obvious" reference to pairs. I thought those were way overboard, but they were easy to skip over, so it didn't matter that much.

Still, this book is a great read for those who love re-reading the old books in anticipation of the others. I can't wait for the analysis of Book 5!

This book is a must read for any Harry Potter fan. It has only enhanced the enjoyment I receive when reading the Harry Potter books and has me even more curious and excited about the future of the series. It is in a well organized format and the author has a delightful sense of humor. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book, you must read it to appreciate it.

There are about 5-10 pages of interesting content in this book. The rest is a regurgitation of the plot, interspersed with comments like, "Flitwick was a dueling champion? Awesome. Sounds like the students had better behave in Charms class. ;o)" And yes, the emoticon is in the original text. Also, the author's theory that Flitwick and Lockhart are gay wouldn't be so bad (though, like most of the other theories, it seems off-base) if it weren't for the nudge-nudge wink-wink homophobia. Galadriel Waters sounds like a pen name, so I'm not sure who actually wrote this book, but I really hope s/he isn't an adult. If the author is a young kid, then I guess I feel bad about laughing at his/her horrible grasp of the English language. Still, I wouldn't recommend buying this book, unless you're a huge fan and have exhausted all other Harry Potter-related reading material.

I started reading the Harry Potter books a few months ago and couldn't believe how hooked I became on them! Naturally while trying to kill time while #5 comes out, I began to look around for other books related to the story. The Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter caught my eye!! I've never been able to stand surprises, so any insight they could give into the story was more than welcomed.

Naturally like any book that is entirely devoted to one subject, the authors went overboard in pointing some things out to you. It was interesting though to see how many times JK Rowling had repeated herself in different ways throughout the 4 books and to wonder what those clues may mean....!! All in all it was a very entertaining read and I can't wait to find out if their predictions are correct!!!