Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry.

Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.

Cover

What a lovely cover! This is a child's book, and you could definitely see that. I love the wizardry vibe to the cover, and how similar the boy looks to Harry Potter. I honestly can't say more about it other than that it's a great cover.

Harry Potter

As much as I love Harry, there is still a thing that bugged me. Harry (and his friends) wants to stick his nose in everything. Of course, that's how the story goes, but sometimes, he should just do his homework and stay quiet. Nevertheless, Harry is a very brave boy and I loved reading about him. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow up and to seeing his relationship with his friends develop. Even though I've seen the film, in the books Harry didn't lose his character. 

Hermione Granger

Oh god I love her. She's such a great role model for kids and a great example of how cleverness can help when you're not very strong. She was a bit annoying in the beginning though, but I could relate to her. I was like her a few years ago (although, sadly, not a witch). 

I loved how strong she was. I've said this before, but she's just one of my favourite female characters. 

Ron Weasley

I don't really know what to say about him. He honestly wasn't that important yet. 

However, I love his family and the problems he has with his brothers so much. I love how Ron just wants to shine since he's always been overshadowed by his brothers. Other than that though, I don't really care for him that much yet. In this book, he was just a side character.

Teachers at Hogwarts

Okay, so, I love Snape. I've said this so many times. I just love him. I don't even really have a reason why, I just do. 

Mcgonagall seems meaner than she is most times. She seems very protective to me. I didn't really mind her, to be honest. 

Who doesn't like Dumbledore? Honestly, that man is one of the most amazing characters ever. He's like a fairy godmother, really. When you need him, he's there. I want to read more about his relationship with Harry and watch it develop.

I loved the ending! It was so creative, I couldn't lay the book down. The point giving seemed a bit stupid to me, but I have to remember that it's a children's book. Voldemort was not that bad yet, I'm looking forward to seeing him worsen. I honestly didn't want to write a review about this book, because it's relatively old and really popular, hence the shortness of this review. 
I'm afraid I haven't done this book justice, but it's 4.5/5 stars from me.

Dominique

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (UK), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (A)

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter

Publisher: Scholastic

Age Range: 9+

Price (Paperback): $6,91
Pages (Paperback): 309

The Selection 2: The Elite - Kiera Cass

My Selection review :)

The Selection began with thirty-five girls.
Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?

America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.

Cover

THE COVER IS SO PRETTY! Totally shows the atmosphere of the book and I love the style and colour in it. Some would say the first book's cover looks better, but I can't choose, every cover in these book series is a beauty on it's own.

America Singer

OHMYGOD. What a 'great' start this will be. I'm sorry, I can't stand her. She's selfish. So, so selfish. Every choice she makes is for her needs. When she can't get Maxon, she goes to see Aspen. When she's with Aspen, she's still so selfish to think about her relationship with him. 

Don't get me wrong, I like America, she's just annoying. She keeps telling Maxon 'she needs more time', while as Maxon is there for her at all times. She says she doesn't want Maxon and wants to leave the palace, but when he talks to other girls, she freaks out. If you want him to give you time, you could have expected he would start talking to other girls, wouldn't you? 

I really hope I'll start liking her more, because I think the series are great.

Prince Maxon

I liked him. He seemed nice. But there was something about him. Like he had this big secret and was really a different person. 

I thought it was really sweet of him to give America time, but come on, so much time? I'm glad he kind of got mad at her towards the end of the book. 

I'm also glad we got more background of him in this book. We found out one of his biggest secrets, which was very interesting.

It's very obvious to me how hard he works, but how little recognition he gets for it, I hope his father would accept his child, but I have no high expectations. 

Aspen

I didn't like him. I felt like he wanted to protect America, and saw her as a little girl. I tried liking him, but I just couldn't. Aspen is also selfish, maybe as selfish as America. In that aspect they are a perfect match. 

In the first book, it was still possible to ignore Aspen because of the distance between him and America, but in this book, he's a knight. There is no escaping anymore. It annoyed me so much, I am definitely for Maxon.

I didn't like how Aspen was treated, however. I didn't like how both of the guys were treated. They were given hope and a few days later America was already gone, of to Maxon. I hope America chooses soon.

The other 5 girls

I loved most of them, until we got further into the book. I found out everyone in the selection is a bitch, basically. Except for Marlee. She was lovely. I'm not gonna say more cause I'd spoiler, but I was really sad when she had to leave. Kriss seemed like a girl, although a bit more arrogant towards the end. Natalie was a sweetheart, but she could never become a queen. Elise was pretty okay, and would be a great queen, she's just not that an important character in the books. Celeste was the most interesting member of the Selection to me. I'd love a novella written about her, but sadly, there isn't one.

Ending, next book and rating 

The ending was really interesting, but honestly, nothing I hadn't expected. I love the South and North rebel attacks so much to be honest, although the book wasn't boring, adding these made it a little bit more exciting. I get why these books are being compared to The Hunger Games, but I honestly don't see that much resemblance. I'm genuinely excited for the next book. I very much enjoyed reading this book and I couldn't put it down. I'm looking forward to seeing the characters develop. 4,5/5 stars.

Dominique 

(Happy New Year!)