Update: I changed the rating from 4 to 3 stars because third book in and I've realised that I do not want to rate a book better than this one five stars as it stands. Maybe consider it a 3.5 as I believe I do prefer this one over the chamber of secrets)

Although I believe I did read a few books in the series when I was younger, this is certainly the first time I have ever read this book back to front. This was a lovely start to the series and I really did enjoy it, Certainly more so than the film which I knew every line to growing up. It was a great adaptation but after reading this I do feel as if I have been cheated all these years concerning the characters and their true personalities. In this book, Harry truly acts like a real english teenage boy: a moody character with the right balance of cheekiness and charm. Like I wish I could as a child, he fights back when he's treated badly. this just felt like such a comfort read and I loved every second.

I do wish to give my full honest opinions as a first time reader however. The Characterisation is certainly a highlight for me in the book as someone familiar with the films, but I did feel like some minor characters lacked a little bit of extra dimension. However, I expect that they will develop over the series. The book was very short and I do accept that this is a children's book, however with a fast paced fantasy series like this one I do believe Rowling could have added more length to the novel (500 page books like Redwall were marketed to the same age group) to make more pages for various events that sometimes felt a little bit rushed for me. (however I am a sucker for intense descriptions so might just be me.)

I also did find a few odd gaps in the storyline as well. might be a bit nitpicky, but this book did leave me with a few questions. Where did Ginny spend her christmas if all the brothers were at hogwarts and her parents were off to Romania? I did also find that a bit of a plot device just to keep the storyline going as it seemed a little bit out of character for such a close knit family to not be together over christmas.
also as much as I LOVED the addition of the bottles puzzle, I stopped reading to solve it myself, and was a bit disheartened to learn that the answer wasn't to be revealed in the book. One of the clues was a visual one, but it was solvable, and I do think it would have been nice to just say that Hermione picked up the third bottle from the left. speaking of the bottle: I did wonder for a moment that if the bottle was so small that only one person could drink from it, then how did quirrel get through? and even if he hadn't drank it all then they would have noticed that one was slightly empty? Basically I think there may be an issue with Rowling using plot devices to separate/keep characters together as the whole logic of everything gets muddled up.

THIS WAS A GOOD READ however. I REALLY ENJOYED IT, so please don't think I didn't. I just thought it would be interesting to add some balance to the conversation :)