This may be a revelation to my Santa Claus who gifted me with it: I am not a certified fan of HP series. I could have been when it was initially releaThis may be a revelation to my Santa Claus who gifted me with it: I am not a certified fan of HP series. I could have been when it was initially released in 1997 or adapted for a movie in 2001. I could have been one of those fanatics burgeoned around the world mimicking covens of wizards , waving our replicas of magic wands while enchanting the magic spells we memorize by heart, ostentatiously displaying our black garbs riding our brooms, or puzzled by how we should use the other magical objects. But I never am! Perhaps I was mesmerized by my best friend ‘s bewitching addiction to it. Whenever she grumbled about it and shrieked in disappointment or excitement without any ideas of her idiosyncrasy, a sparkle of curiosity would linger in my mind. Whenever she was a spoiler since I was not interested in it at all, I would not brush off the idea that it could be a good read. I made it!!! I read book 1, 2, and 3 even their movie series. As a matter of fact, I just borrowed them from her given that I was almost so kleptomaniac to claim them as mine. Thereafter, I quit keeping up with all the series; my urge to be part of the covens of wizards in Hogwarts caved in. I let myself be part of the “Muggle”, denied of the right to be wriggled under the Sorting Hat.
When was released last year, I was one of those bookworms who pretended to be interested in it. I was, but I threw doubt on it ;I was aware of the fact that I was a “Muggle “ . In fact, I even broke the news pell-mell to my friends on Facebook with my screenshot from as if I were such a certified HP fanatic. Well, I was still excited I could hardly contain myself.
Since I could not afford its price, I accidentally searched its free pdf on VK, one of the largest European online social networking services based in Russia.
The first questions that had bothered me before reading it were:
Can I understand the whole story although I have not read nor watched all the series yet? Is it a sequel or prequel for the first Harry Potter series? How does it differ from novelization since it is a screenplay? Surprisingly speaking, I could totally relate to the whole story because I happened to read the first series and watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I swear that from the beginning to the ending, I committed the scenes and acts to my memory. I can even recite it in a nutshell now if you ask me what the dickens this book is all about! But don’t expect me to do so with a photographic memory. I was not born to be a precocious child. (laughs) I did so when I ate lunch with my friend who is also a big fan of HP. I could not believe my ears what I was telling him about. Voilà! The most interesting is that even the magical objects namedropped are still fresh in my memory despite that I searched them on Google to beef up their imaginary pictures. Now, the question is : Would you still understand it if you have not read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire yet?
The first comment that had instilled in me when it was such a fever in the market was it was the prequel for the first Harry Potter series. I had been conditioned with this idea before I finally gave it a hand. The revelation? It is a big NAH! I was fooled! I was made believed! I was disappointed! I was spoon-fed! What a shame! As the story went deeper, the feeling was like knocking the living daylights out of my gullibility. So, I dreaded reading the next stories to happen. I worried that I might not be able to understand it since I have not read all the series yet. But good grief! Thanks graciousness! The Harry Potter and The Goblin of Fire was my savior! Now, the next question is: Which one is supposed to be better, it were a prequel or sequel?
When The Harry Potter fanatics found out that the book turned out to be a screenplay, they miffed.They may have not been used to reading Harry Potter series in a screenplay. They may have thought that they would not enjoy it; novelizing a story has a kaleidoscope of literary elements. Well, count me in them! Nevertheless, it is not that bad. Reading it is so light! You could finish it for one day. Believe you me! Alas, I read it for a week because my job steals my valuable reading time. Now my verdict: It could be more exciting if it had been novelized.
As far as I remember, I quit reading fantasy books when I started studying psychology. My major taught me that everything in the world happens for a logic . Then, I no longer believed in magic. For me then, fantasy could be contrary to the Natural Laws of the Universe. Rather, the only books I read were based on scientific and philosophical discussions. However, when I was tempted to read the first Harry Potter series, I slid back to my childhood , fascinated with all the mysteries in the universe. Such reaction must be the initial effect when anybody, regardless of age and religion, tends to get hooked on it. My co-teacher left behind The Harry Potter can bear witness to this ; recently, he has watched its movie series and now he is playing like a child imitating the wizards of the Hogwarts , casting a spell ,whatever comes to his mind, on whomever he meets by chance , just for fun! ^_^
Now I wish to read all the series in 2017.( crossing fingers)
The winner of the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller. It narrowly defeated Stephen King’s Finders Keepers and J.K. Rowling’The winner of the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller. It narrowly defeated Stephen King’s Finders Keepers and J.K. Rowling’s Career of Evil under her pen name Robert Galbraith. I have not read the latter ones yet, but I am aware that Stephen King is well- known for writing such genre. How about Rowling’s skills in captivating her audience with her magic spell? So I cannot comparatively but subjectively criticize it if this is deserving of the award. Don’t take umbrage at me, Ms. Hawkins.
I may not be a movie snob, but I believe that this is the agglomeration of the author’s collected ideas she may have drawn from the mystery and thriller movies she has watched, needless to say from the books she has read. I bet my boots Stephen King is one of her influences. So there are some parts in the book which are not new to me any longer: I guess who among the characters the real killer is. It is the kind one who turns out to be the bad one; the part when another character drowns her baby to death. This sounds Greek to me. Where did I read and watch it? ; Rachel’s episodic-memory scenes ; and the victim’s husband will be the protagonist’s friend and eventually enemy.
Nevertheless, the author wrote her collected ideas very well. The sentences are light, loose, and expressive which I believe are essential in writing a mystery and thriller. I can imagine the vivid scenes. I can connect to the characters. I can sense the suspenseful parts. However, I notice that there are some parts which enervate and undermine the excitement in reaching the climax such as too many emphases on the protagonist’s abject misery. She does something like this and like that off and on. In addition, the idea of alternate personal accounts among the three characters, notably between Anna and Megan, taxes my interest in and focus on Rachel, the protagonist. I do not care much about both of them; I just want to focus on Rachel. How about playing down to some other characters such as the two detectives? In other words, the author intends to leave us readers hang in the air which I find monotonously dreary and annoying . Ooops! You might find me now harsh, but I mean business. Mea Culpa.
Despite that the book appears lacking in originality, there is one thing that I found somewhat interesting. It is the main character’s role. She is a divorcee and dipsomania as well. That is why she loses her job. In fear of shame, she pretends to go to work by staying on the train where she forms her fantasies and in a library where she reads and reads and reads- the settings I have not read yet.
Since Goodreads, the largest book club site in the world, catapulted it to fame, for sure, Ms. Hawkins will be expected to write something better than this. Congratulations to Ms. Hawkins! I am sure she takes her hat off to the readers who voted for her. Can I still belong to them? ^_^ ...more
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