Exactly the book for someone who maybe has never read the Harry Potter series nor seen its movies and wants to be in on the inside jokes and references their Potterhead friends share.

I was curious about this book as someone who already is a Harry Potter fan. This book offered an encapsulated journey in to the Wizarding World. I recommend this book for someone who has just finished the books and is obsessed for more! Instead of scrolling wiki pages, everything you need is right here! This also is great for those looking for fun facts, maybe even trivia.

The Wizarding World is a fantastic story, and this book offers everything you need to know without having to re-read (or just even read!) the books. It won't substitute for story telling, but will give you the facts.

Smart pop is basically Cliff notes updated to a more contemporary form and that is what this particular book is. It highlights the differences between not only the storyline as it evolves in the books but some of the differences in the books and the movies so it's great for that one friend in the group who has only seen the movies, knows everyone around them has read the books, and still tries to spout off as all knowing (don't be that person... Take the time to read the books.)

I am a big Harry Potter fan (fell in love while reading the books then "rediscovered" the movies as I went along) so, maybe, kind of funny for me to read this; but I'm also the type of fan who will often not pay too much attention to details. That's where this book comes in.
It's a great introduction to anyone new to the wizarding world and also a pretty good refresher for those of us who might not be excelling at random trivia about the history of whatever small detail mentioned throughout the seven books.

Most everybody has been exposed to the Harry Potter Universe in some fashion in the past 25 years through the books, movies, merchandise or just random daily living Harry is hard to miss.

This enjoyable often humorous book of information is for all levels of Potter-ness.
The beginner will learn all the basics. The casual fan may pick up a few things as I did. I never put Knockturn Alley with nocturne alluding to dark. And a tidbit about the name of the Mirror of Erised. And the avid fan a walk down well known memory lane.

The book was well thought-out and informational while giving the reader valuable information with a delightful sense of whimsy. There is a index in the back of the book I only wish it was linked.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and The Editors of Smart Pop in exchange for an honest review.

#SmartPopExplainsHarryPotterBooksandMovies #NetGalley.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Havent read any of the Harry Potter books or seen any of the movies? Dont know anything about the wizarding universe? Then this is the book for you. Its a summary of all the basics you need to know so if the subject ever comes up, you can sound like you know what you're talking about. Highly recommended for those who dont really care about HP but are sick of having no idea what other people are talking about.

Great guide. It was very comprehensive and I was so excited to learn so many new things that I didn’t know. This will be so handy to have around.

I'm definitely not the target audience for this book. I've read all Harry Potter books and I've seen all HP movies many times, and that's why I wasn't interested in reading this book at all.

I didn't like the structure (question - answer, question - answer, question - answer) at all. The writing style was okay, BUT. This book has kinda explain HP books and movies to you. And at the same time it has some mistakes about the plot of Harry Potter. Like what? How is this even possible, if the book is dedicated to this plot?

If you want to know HP plot, just read books. If you don't want to waste so much time, just watch movies. I'd recommend this book only to those people who aren't interested in HP story, in reading books, in watching movies, however they still want to know what this all thing is about.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC with honesty.

Well this was an interesting read. I found some information I didn't know or was vague about. It was for the most part a light and easy guide on the subject of Harry Potter. Some of the commentary also had humor trickled in here and there which was nice.

Overall, it was good. Most of what was in the book was pretty much known but it is good for anyone still unsure of the Wizarding World.

My Rating: 3 Stars

This book asks questions about the Harry Potter Universe and then answers them really well. It is an awesome guide for people who don’t know anything about Harry Potter but it is also perfect for true fans as it contains really funny puns.

As a Harry Potter friend, I found this really informal and a thorough way of explaining creatures to money currency. This would be great for anyone that has questions when watching the movies, especially if they never read the series.

Thank you for providing me an advanced readers copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to listen to this story and leave my review voluntarily.

A perfect reference for prepping for some Harry Potter trivia night. Contains a few tidbits of knowledge and facts regarding the wizarding world. Probably not for die hard fans- they would already know all this stuff. More for your friends & family who want to know what you're talking about without committing to reading all the books (or watching all the movies).

As someone who has read the Harry Potter series dozens of times, I am not the intended audience for this book. But I regularly make Harry Potter references that my friends and family who have not read the series don’t get. I decided to check out this book to potentially recommend to people like that. Unfortunately I can’t recommend this book to anyone.

I was not a fan of the writing style to begin with but that’s a personal preference thing and I could have overlooked that. The problem is the book also contains multiple errors. For example, just a few pages in under the sections for “Who are the Dursleys?” it says “Though he did get an actual room after his first term at Hogwarts.” This is incorrect. The Dursleys move Harry to a room in response to seeing the letters addressed to the cupboard under the stairs and this move occurs before Harry goes to Hogwarts at all.

This is just one example, I noticed more as the book went along. I really wanted to like this book but a Harry Potter guidebook of sorts that doesn’t get basic facts correct is something I can’t recommend to anyone.

I’ve wanted a real Harry Potter Compendium for some time. This isn’t that unfortunately. It isn’t comprehensive and it’s not organized to look things up easily. Sort of fun to read, but nothing you wouldn’t get from reading the books.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of "Smart Pop Explains Harry Potter Books and Movies." I think this is best used as a "refresher" for those who read the Harry Potters books some time ago and forget details, or by those who have no idea as to backstory and are preparing to watch the movies for the first time. Honestly, my best advise is to just read the books!! They are incredible and there is no way I would ever recommend you attempt to Cliff Notes the Harry Potter series. I am perhaps a bit confused as to why this exists if the books and movies are readily available to read/watch. If, however, you want a quick reference guide to the series, this is a great resource.

This is a pretty thorough guide covering both the Harry Potter books and movies (and yes there are definitely differences). As someone who has read the series three or four times and watched the movies at least half a dozen if not more I can’t say there were a ton of things I didn’t already know, but even so I still enjoyed the trip down memory lane. And for those who aren’t familiar with Harry and Co. (all four or five of you, lol) this will definitely get you up to speed. Thanks so much to BenBella Books, Smart Pop, and NetGalley for letting me read and review an eARC of Smart Pop Explains Harry Potter Books and Movies.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a ok guide if you never read the books and just want the gist of what happens. If you have grown up with Harry Potter you will not be happy.

Pros: I've read all the Harry Potter books and seen all the movies, so I read this book out of curiosity to see who it might be for. I think a book like this is perfect for someone on a trivia team to study if they haven't read/watched Harry Potter. The tone of this book is very conversational, which makes for a fun, fast read. It felt like it was written by people who truly love Harry Potter.

Cons: I think this book could be more user-friendly with the inclusion of more boxes of fast facts (these were my favorite part of the book!), lists, and charts.