The first very enjoyable instalment. The previous two are fun... but I would say not very well written, honestly - especially in the dialogue department, which is stiff and wooden. This has much better flow and a more improved plot. Though, I think a mix of this with the movie would have been a very great book.

Where certain plot points drag and the movie corrects, the movie also misses entirely explanations of certain events. The book fleshes out so much more of Potters’ family backstory and has amusing diversions that, while clumsy, I certainly liked regardless. It’s a bit wild how different the book is from the movie, thinking about it.

While much of the problems with the writing can be chalked up to, I think, the publishers wishing certain parts to be made very plain for kids, some of it is the desire for red herrings and cashing in on stuff mentioned in the previous books. But even when it attempts to wrap it up in a nice bow it sometimes falters. For instance, what about the sneakascope, which probably ought to have gone off more often—or is it actually damaged? Why leave that dangling? There a few things that, when really examined, don’t make that much sense. But it nevertheless is undeniably fun and much improved from the others.