Why I Did Not Like Harry Potter

   

Why I Will Not Be Finishing The Harry Potter Series

Hey y’all! For the past year I have been struggling my way through the Harry Potter series. I honestly thought I would fall in love with them, but I unfortunately didn’t. I ended up DNFing the fifth book because it wasn’t doing anything for me. I wish I had loved them because I feel like I am missing out on something wonderful, but I just cannot continue on. Here are 10 of the reasons as to why I did not like Harry Potter.

1. The first, and most important reason is that I did not read them at the crucial time. Most people started the series at 11 or 12, so they grew up with the characters. They waited for their Hogwarts letter. They were sorted into their houses and discovered their patronus. I did not have that experience with these books. For me, that book was Percy Jackson. I read PJO in 5th grade, so the story was important to me at that time. Most  think Harry Potter is flawless because it came to them at the right time. These books are not crucial to my childhood and development, but I am not denying that they have done wonderful things for other people.
2. The hype for these books could propel a snail to Mars! I am not kidding and we all know it. I was expecting these books to be flawless, but I was let down. People hyped it up so much that I was really disappointed when I read them.
3. I know how they end. Everyone does. If you don’t, you are living under a rock. I don’t enjoy reading if I know how things will end because that takes away the fun of reading. I like to discover and piece things together as I go along, so having the ending spoiled did not work for me.
4. Tying back into #1, I do not relate to the characters anymore. My time has passed, I am no longer 11. I am not getting a Hogwarts letter and I know it. Their issues are no longer my issues, so I find myself not caring when an issue arises. To a young child, these books are an escape from the real world to a world in which they have friends and powers. I did not see Harry, Hermione, and Ron as friends to me, which takes away some of the magic.
5. They are huge and intimidating. This is a pretty weak argument coming from a girl that mostly reads epic fantasy. But between the hype and the sheer size of the series, it is hard to get into the books.
6. The books are repetitive. The first 200 pages of each book is identical. I honestly can not tell the difference between the first two books. I don’t think that there was even a point in reading the second book. Nothing happens. I got bored rereading the same scenes from book to book and it made me not want to continue if the rest of the series is going to be the same.
7. There is no difference between many of the characters and I get confused. I kid you not, there are 5 characters with similar names and the same personality. Why even include these characters? They clearly do not matter.  I already have too much to keep up with, so the unnecessary side characters were just that, unnecessary.
8. Harry’s angst was enough for me to want to burn the 5th book. He could not get over himself and I hated every second of it. I also did not like Hermione. She is so snotty and I do not understand how people like her at all. They were too wrapped up in themselves and their own problems for me to be able to see them as the heroes that so many others view them as.
9. I was only reading them because I felt like I had to, and that was not a good enough reason for me. I read them because everyone that is going to be a book blogger of bookstagrammer has to read them, or so I thought. I realised that this was faulty theology, so I quit.
10. They only pick up in the last one hundred pages. All the action happens at the end, in the last week of the semester. I literally had to read 400 pages about their homework and now, all of a sudden, there is some epic battle. The plot mountain is more of a plot cliff. We go at a steady pace and BAM! Epic ending that is supposed to redeem all of my time.

Disclaimer, I am not trying to insult those of you that love this series or slam a beloved tale. I am simply expressing my opinion on something and I believe all voices should be given a chance. I am sorry if this offended you, but this is how I feel and I cannot change that.

Am I all alone or did you dislike the Harry Potter series, too? Please comment below! I would love to hear from you!