I saw this over on Mystery Date with a Book’s booktube channel and just thought it would be good to do for this time of the year, because I always 😊 Now, many of you will already know my complicated relationship with Harry Potter (and consequently be able to deduce this) but I thought it would be fun to spell it out 😉 As much as I’ve been all over the place with this series, but the order always ends up the same. I honestly can’t believe I haven’t done it before! Obviously, no disclaimers are needed that this is just my personal opinion, yada yada yada… (if you want my full opinions, all reviews are linked to covers)… onto the rankings!
Order of the Phoenix– because Harry Potter loses it and story sags for a few hundred pages. Still, THAT DEATH made me the most emotional, sooo it still has its upsides 😉
Deathly Hallows– like Order of the Phoenix, this one makes me cry too. Normally, that would make me love a book- but that should tell you something about the quality of the rest of the series. To be honest, I was disappointed by the ending. I know it’s hard to round off a series like this, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the copycat Aslan Harry’s resurrection scene. Despite all the deaths, it just seemed a bit tamer than I’d been looking for. Then there was the epilogue- which I’ve always been on the fence about. Now, I’ve made my peace with it (more or less) in the last few years- especially after rereading it more recently. Needless to say, it’s still not my favourite ending.
Half Blood Prince– I went into quite a bit of depth with this when I reviewed it, but quite simply I’m not crazy about some of the ways it tackles the topic of evil. I just really dislike anything that leans into BORN EVIL for starters. It also ended up conflicting with some of the (better) ideas from earlier in the series. The awkward romantic subplots really don’t help either. So, not my favourite, though there are some interesting plotlines (love where Rowling takes Draco’s story).
Goblet of Fire– it feels really strange putting this in the middle of the list, because I’ve always loved this book. While there are a couple of plot points that I don’t like as much, like SPEW, this book *wowed* me by taking the series to an unexpectedly dark place. To me, this is where the overarching plot peaked. It was also the first book I read when it came out- so I have magical memories of anticipating it as well 😊
Philosopher’s Stone– there’s no reason for this being in spot three, other than the fact I like others more. It’s still great on its own and I always enjoy the reread 😊
Chamber of Secrets– I just love book 2- which is weird, because it always creeps me out. Normally, I’d avoid anything like that, but in this case it’s just such a strong mystery and entertaining book. I love how it builds on the characters and it’s just perfect!
Prisoner of Azkaban- I spent a huge amount of time agonising over which book was my favourite, cos I’ve never been able to decide (which is probably why I’ve never done this before 😉 ). Yet, in the end it was easy: I just thought of the one which makes me feel all *warm and fuzzy* inside. Reading this is like being hit with a Cheering Charm. I adore this book. Sure, Time Turners aren’t the best- creating plotholes galore- but I DON’T CARE! Not only is it the introduction to Hogsmeade, but we also get to meet the Marauders (my favourite characters). For me, this is the most magical book in the entire series.
And that’s it- we’ve run out of books (unless you count Cursed Child, which I don’t 😉). Clearly, I’m a bigger fan of the first four, but I am really curious to hear what your rankings would be? I know a lot of people have the exact opposite opinion and I wanna hear from all of you! Let me know in the comments
Harry Potter is the one and only series where I genuinely could never rank from favourite to least! It would be too hard!
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I totally understand- I’m already rethinking all my top picks 😉
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My number one is the order of the phoenix because i like that harry has his breakdowns, that one death of my favourite character and I liked the political aspects
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Ah I can understand that!
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Prisoner of Azkaban is my fave too…..but I’m not sure about the order of the others so I may have to have a think about it and do this!!!
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It’s wonderful!! 😀 Do it!! I’d love to see what you come up with!
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I’d have to reread before I could even contemplate ranking them 😂 Well done you! 😉
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haha totally get that (and a fun thing to do, if you can 😉 )
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Definitely Azkaban for the win! 😁 The undeniable king of Harry Potter! … You might have just inspired a re-reading so that I can accurately rank the remainder of them!
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So glad you agree!! 😀 hehehe wonderful!!! 😀 I’d love to see your rankings!! 😀
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Generally, I like the first 3 books and then each book gets successively worse
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Ah I hear you there- there’s a massive difference between the first 3 and last four (though I still like 4 for the most part)
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Solid ranking. I agree with most of what you said. I also felt like the ending of the series was a bit of a disappointment. I think my absolute favorite was book 4. I read it when I was 14 and I think I was just REALLY ready at that age for the book to take a dark turn. Nobody will ever have the same relationship with the HP books that the first generation of kids had. We had to wait years between books. It just really added to the investment in the series, and the books matured as that first wave of HP readers did. The first book came out when I was 10 and the last book came out when I was in college. I think my least favorite book was the last one. Everything felt so rushed. She didn’t have enough time for them to find all those horcruxes. It managed to be both rushed and boring. The final book was a major letdown.
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Thank you! I totally get what you mean there! Glad I’m not the only one tbh! I completely get what you mean there- when I was younger that was my reaction to it and it was definitely one of my faves (the only reason it’s not up there for me now is I’m not as keen on the SPEW plotline- but I still think it’s one of the best books in the series!) I completely get what you mean- cos that was completely me (though I was 14 when the last book came out 😉 ) I totally get what you mean there. I think it’s really hard to close off a series, especially when it’s so anticipated (and you get to make up theories about how it’ll turn out) I think maybe that’s why people who were in the first generation of HP readers are more likely to have quibbles with it- that may just be my feeling though
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Prisoner of Azkaban is my fav as well 🥰😍 I want to do this post now 😂😂
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So glad you agree!! 😀 Do it!!! I’d love to see your post!! 😀
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I liked all of the Harry Potters, a LOT – really can’t pick between them. That said, I thought the last three, especially, were far too long. I remember reading ‘Order of the Phoenix’ when it came out and (wearing my hat as an author, editor etc) thinking it could have been trimmed by about half – there was a lot of plot padding. All of it wonderfully well written, of course, but from a structural viewpoint padding nonetheless. The remaining two had the same issue. It was almost as if Rowling – having devised a 7-book cycle – didn’t want to stop writing in that universe.
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Completely understand that! Yeah that was my feeling about it- that’s always been my complaint with that book- even when I was a kid, I could see there was a lot of fluff (now I think it’s even easier to see exactly what could be trimmed). It’s a shame, cos the heart of that book is great (which, on the positive side, I can see more as an adult at least 🙂 ) I definitely agree there.
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Great post! I’m fan of first 3rd, 4th and last. Also 2nd.
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Thank you!! Awesome!! 😀 I can understand that! 😀
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Way to have a controversial post! Everyone has different favourites it seems. I like The Goblet of Fire best, personally.
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hehehe thanks 😉 Oh totally get that- I’ve always loved goblet of fire and it’d be my number one pick too, if not for the SPEW plotline, but it’s definitely one of the best 😀
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I mean, it has dragons in it and it takes a turn for the darker with Voldemort’s arrival… What isn’t to like 😄
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hehe very true!
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I don’t think I’ve been here long enough to know about your conflicted relationship with Harry Potter, so I’m glad to be enlightened to that today :’) SPEW was a bit weird wasn’t it? Omggg “copycat Aslan”, you really went there 😉 I adore The Chronicles of Narnia with all my heart, and absolutely ~nothing~ in the modern fantasy world comes close to it. (Middle Earth is tied with it, I’d say :’)) Anyhow, I’m surprised I didn’t see Harry’s death & “resurrection” in that way until now!! I totally get you though, and if I had seen it that way myself, I wouldn’t love it either. Everyone’s #1 seems to be The Prisoner of Azkaban! I have yet to come to a conclusion on which is my favourite since I’ve only read the books a few times. I’ll probably come to a conclusion sooner or later haha x
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hehe no worries- I think you get the gist of it with this post 😉 It really was- I didn’t mind it as much at the time, but it’s weirder on the reread. hehehe I totally did 😉 Me too!!! I completely get that!! (and agree!!) Yeah I just felt like there wasn’t enough in the series to have justified that (also, for me, I think that Lewis did it artfully in one book- so it didn’t feel right to have that padded out into seven) I can completely get that- number one has a huge amount of nostalgia attached (and it’s definitely one of the best!) the only reason it’s not mine is because I love other ones more 😉 hehehe! I completely get that! It’s nigh on impossible to choose!! x
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Prisoner of Azkaban is sooo amazing!! Although I love Goblet of Fire just a little more, it’s a close race for first place between those two for me 🙂
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It really is!! The more I think about it, the more I love it. I totally understand that- goblet of fire is definitely one of the best in the series (it’s only cos I’m not crazy about the SPEW plotline that it doesn’t take top spot for me)
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Once you are inside the Harry Potter series, you are never out. This series has magic that after reading you will keep looking for telephone booths and shabby boot.
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I couldnt agree more!!
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I’ve never considered ranking the HP series, but this was an interesting post. I liked The Prisoner Of Azkaban because it gave us Sirius and someone who was close enough to be ‘family’ for Harry who was actually likeable. I liked the magical car in book two, book one I liked because it introduced us to a magical world of possibilites. I liked the flushing toilets in HP and The Deathly Hallows. This post will leave me thinking about my favourites for the rest of the day.
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Thank you! I totally agree with you! Oh me too!! That’s a really good way to put it 😀 hehehe yeah that always makes me laugh too. hehe totally get what you mean- it’s one of those things where you just fall down the rabbithole and can’t stop thinking about it! 😉
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Prizoner of Azkaban would get my top spot too. I love that book. Also agree that the later books are not as good, Deathly Hallows is probably my least favourite. As for the others, I think I need a reread to determine the order.
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Glad you agree! 😀 Ah totally get that- I’m glad I’m not the only one. I hear you there! (it’s a really tough one to figure out !!)
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6 is my least favourite, mainly because of the awkward romantic plot. I hate it. And I love the 3rd book the most.
So I think for me it would be 6, 5, 7, 2, 1, 4, 3 (though 1 and 4 will switch around in any given day).
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Oh totally get that! The romantic subplot isn’t great. So glad you agree on 3!! 😀
Completely get you- I find 2, 4, 1 all switch around for me 😉 (such a hard series to rank!!)
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This is such a hard series to rank from worst to best. Nevertheless, if I were to get up the courage to try it, I think I would put Prisoner of Azkaban on top too 😁
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I totally get what you mean! I think it’s the toughest series I’ve ever ranked! So glad you agree 😀
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Surprisingly I’ve also not thought of ranking the Harry Potter books before! But here goes. I’d have Goblet of Fire, Deathly Hallows, Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince, Chamber of Secrets, Philosopher’s Stone and at first place, Prisoner of Azkaban. Prisoner of Azkaban was the very first Harry Potter book I’ve ever read and it was the one with the most magic in it for me even when rereading the series!
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ooh interesting order! Very similar to mine 😀 So glad you ranked prisoner of Azkaban at number one too 😀 That’s lovely! 😀
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Interesting… I totally agree on Order of the Phoenix. It could have done with fewer pages and therefore a tighter plot?
I would say Philosopher’s Stone will always be the best, followed by Deathly Hallows! I was so excited about how the series would end and actually I wasn’t disappointed 😉
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Yeah I definitely agree with you there.
Ah that I can completely understand! That’s totally fair- I’m glad you weren’t disappointed- I think it’s just really hard to please everyone with a series ender that’s so long anticipated and I have come to like it more with time 🙂
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Fun post! I don’t have the books practically memorized like y’all do, so I don’t feel in a position to rank them. But I do have a soft spot for well-done time travel. Sure, it creates paradoxes, plot holes, “Why didn’t they just …” etc., but I love it when the time travelers see themselves and don’t realize it until later. I’d have to say that the way time travel is handled in Prisoner is very satisfying.
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Luckily I reread and reviewed them a year and a half back, which was handy for this post tbh 😉 Me too!! I completely agree with you! That was one of my favourite twists! I definitely agree!
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I love your ranking and your thoughts!
Prisoner of Azkaban is hands-down my favorite of the Potter series. And Order of the Phoenix is hands-down my least favorite. Everything else fluctuates around a bit, though I do usually prefer the more magical feel of the early books compared to the darkness in the later books.
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Thank you!!
So glad you agree!! That’s really similar for me- I find it so hard to pin it down! Totally get what you mean there!
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‘the copy cat Aslan’ omg I can’t unsee it now lol
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hehehe!
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I totally agree, The Order of Phoenix is the worst of the bunch, and Prisoner… the best 😉 Though everything in between is probably in a bit different order for me than for you 😉
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Glad I’m not alone in that tbh (for some people it’s their fave!!) hehe I can understand that- I’ve spent the month doubting my order ever since I finalised it 😉 So hard to do!
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I like harry potter books….
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Great ranking! I loved reading your thoughts and opinions.
Prisoner Of Azkaban is easily my favourite of the books, and I completely agree with everything you said. If you’re interested, you can check out my ranking here: https://blogthatmustnotbenamed.com/2019/01/01/every-harry-potter-book-ranked/
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Thank you! Ahh I’m so glad you agree!
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