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This may have held a candle (or maybe I should say wand to stay in theme) in the greats of fantasy through the early 2000s, but I feel a lot of the weakness is on display reading this novel in it's current era.

My biggest complaint is a strict lack of character development, largely due to the characters' decisions having no impact on the plot itself. IE, things just sort of happen and you move on. Characters end up in interesting situations, but the journey there is completely muddled. That, coupled with weak dialogue and unbelievable interactions reads like an adult watched how kids behaved and tried to assume how they're thinking.

Ultimately, art is subjective, and I love that a lot of folks get a lot of enjoyment out of these novels, but as I get further in, I feel less compelled to continue.

Even as a kids' series, the deeper I get into this series, the more I find weakness in the writing and uninspired environments. Characters where decisions don't matter are not overly interesting and having flat characters in the background that are bad for bad's sake make for an non engaging plot that's hard to get through.

I think the weakest part of this series thus far has been the quidditch tournaments. This is likely a very controversial take, but I don't feel they contribute much if at all to the plot and create lots of filler that I'd rather just skip through. It may appeal to kids, but it's hard to see in my current read.

The novels themselves are a cult classic, so I definitely encourage you to give it a try to see if it floats your boat, but as for me, I'd prefer to dock elsewhere

I recently learned about this term and I think it suites this novel perfectly. Fantasy definitely takes a backseat in this quirky novel, and I'd likely knock a bit off knowing it's part of a series as I do believe this book stands wonderfully by itself and shouldn't necessarily have a sequel. However, I don't think it's fair to remove a star without giving a second book a chance.

That being said, this novel made me very happy and 'cozy' inside while reading. The characters are unique and likeable and the relationships develop naturally. If you're looking for something action packed in a fantasy world, you won't find it here, but if like curling up with a cup of your favourite beverage and being with some fun characters and seeing some come out of their shell, you'll love this novel

I'd lean closer to a 3.5 on this novel. I think the premise of the book is very interesting, but it ignores whole topics around the idea of solved immortality that I believe would move this book into greatness. The comparative nature of the two protagonists were interesting to follow, but not enough to rope me in for a sequel. If you're in it for a character study over the world building, I do believe you'll enjoy this novel

It's alright. I wish the characters had more agency. Things just seem to happen to the characters and most of the personalities seem fairly flat. I get that it's a kids' read, but I don't think that means you have to sacrifice on character necessarily

First Agatha Christie novel I've read and I can very much see the influence on the genre. A little tropey at times, but can it be considered tropey if it's one of the originals? Would recommend it to any one looking at the classics

Let me preface this by saying I still really like the world of the cosmere and the world of Roshar. I think in a world with a lot of great novels, there's bound to be ones that are weaker. Just some notes: - There was a lot of meandering in the plot for this one. I felt like a lot of character arcs didn't feel organic or didn't really go anywhere that was interesting - There's a theme in here around depression, but some of the 4th camera wall breaking was just jarring and some of the diction and language just felt forced and inorganic which took me out of the plot - There doesn't really feel like there's a proper ending to this novel. The crux of the plot is around the content of champions, but it feels like so little is spent on that plot that it didn't carry a lot of weight

This was definitely the hardest one for me to finish. Not sure it's one I'd want to do a reread on. Maybe when we know more about the cosmere, this one will carry more weight

The plot of this novel is broken down into two segments, the evolving species and the humans. I found myself very bored with the human subplot and, in the end, feel like it didn't contribute much to the larger narrative and themes. I found myself wanting to skip those chapters to read about the species, which caused weird narrative flows, and I feel like that whole subplot could be boiled down to a chapter or two without losing much

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think there's flaws in its plot, but for something not too serious, there's a lot of references to modern culture (or at least at the time, modern).

I did come into this with a bit of knowledge on the plot as I had watched the Prime TV show first, but still enjoyed this neverthe less

I This novel kept me engaged. I think it's strongest points are prolly the fallacy of human decision. At the end, it feels like the characters really didn't learn anything which maybe is reminiscent of real life. I wasn't really ever bored of reading though, so I'll give it a mid review