The Binge Watcher’s Guide to the Harry Potter Films

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.
This guide was well written and informative, with fun facts and tidbits thrown in, and I enjoyed reading this, especially seeing it through the author's head and seeing the Wizarding World through their eyes. The only issue I had with this is that it got very repetitive at parts, and that took away a bit from the book. I think that this is a guide mainly for people who LOVE the world of Harry Potter, and maybe not for people who haven't read the books or watched the movies yet.

I don’t have much to say on this except that it was so much fun!!!!!! I learned things I did not know and got so many cool ideas for things. It was well worth the read and being able to go back to ideas. Great for any Potterhead!!!

I voluntarily read a copy of this book from
NetGalley.

Such a comprehensive guide to the Harry Potter movies! I was really impressed by how thorough the author was with the information. This is years and years of pieces of details that I discovered online – and more I had no idea about – all combined into one single book. I read this in one sitting, but I will definitely be going back to the chapters as I binge watch the movies. My favorite chapter was the one on Prisoner of Azkaban, but that’s also my favorite movie, so no surprises there.

*This review is based on an ARC copy provided by Netgalley

The Binge Watcher’s Guide to the Harry Potter Films delivers well on the promise of its title. Giving each movie its own section the book is approachable for new comers to the series while allowing a more in depth dive for veterans of the franchise.
My personal favorite thing about this book is how openly the author addresses the things big and small that were changed or left out completely as the films were brought to life .
This book is a good fit for those looking for a fun way to get more engaged with the Harry Potter world as they work through the movies for the first or the hundredth time .

Why is Harry Potter such an icon of children’s literature? Because the characters, at least at the beginning, are such fun! Who wouldn’t want to discover there is a secret underlying all reality and that you are a famous part of it? Now that all the movies are available to stream on HBOmax, there is no reason not to binge watch them again. And whether it’s your first or your hundredth viewing, I guarantee you will find something new to amaze you after reading the Binge Watcher’s Guide to the Harry Potter Films.

Each movie has its own section. Within the sections are casting notes, what to look for, Easter eggs, moviemaking magic, things in the books that were not in the movie, and a plot recap. Both of the last two are major spoilers so don’t read those before watching the movies.

I, personally, like the first two films the best. They are clearly meant as movies for children but their innocence is part of their attraction. However, the Binge Watcher’s Guide to the Harry Potter Films definitely increased my enjoyment of the later movies.

You can’t go wrong gifting this book to the Harry Potter fan in your life. It would also be fun to read as a family while bingeing the movies. 5 stars!

Thanks to Riverdale Avenue Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

First of all, I wasn’t too sure, whether I was going to like this, or rather, whether I would learn something new reading this, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Cecilia Tan did a lot of research and you can really tell how much she loves the Harry Potter saga. It was quite a relief that she didn’t just produce a money maker by writing something about everybody’s favorite magical child. This book is actually made by a fan for other fans and potential fans.

I really liked the way this book was structured. It starts off with a nice introduction of how the Harry Potter movies came to be and of what to expect going into this. It was also quite thoughtful to include a spoiler warning for those who are reading this book before starting to watch the movies (even though I couldn’t think of anyone who would do that). Anyway, after introducing the general concept of this book, she continues with some casting trivia about some of the major characters (like the golden trio, Draco Malfoy and some of the major villains of the series). As a major potterhead I already know a lot of trivia about the movie making process and the casting and so on, but there were still some tidbits I wasn’t aware of, which was a lot of fun. What I was really excited about, though, was the chapter about throwing a binge-watch party. I have already done that a couple of times, so I was interested in getting a couple of new ideas how to make it even more fun. I’m not sure, whether the recipes can actually be done everywhere in the world (since I wasn’t familiar with all the ingredients listed), but it shouldn’t be too hard to do in the US. I’ll still try to make some of the snacks and drinks listed 😊.

Tan also includes a short chapter about watching the movies with kids, which was a nice extra chapter for parents who want to safely introduce their kids to the movies. After these chapters she goes into each film separately, writing about new cast members and some easter eggs to look for, clarifying aspects which might not be quite clear in the films, but explained in the books, and then recapping the movies themselves. I wasn’t so thrilled about the recaps, but I did love the ideas for drinking games.

After that section, Tan has three topics left to discuss: The first includes a recommendation which movie to watch, if you only want to watch one instead of “wasting” an entire weekend. This chapter is directed to those people who have not watched any Harry Potter movies before, so it’s not as relevant for those who have watched the entire series repeatedly. Then she includes a chapter about what to do when you’ve watched all the movies and there are some recommendations which were totally new to me, so I can definitely recommend that (and I might go into a fan film binge any time soon). The last section of this book is an essay about “Flight as a Metaphor for Freedom in the Harry Potter Films”, which was quite good in and of itself, but I didn’t feel it fit the premise of the book.

In conclusion, I can recommend this book both to those who want to join the Harry Potter fandom and aren’t quite sure where to start, and to those who have been fans for quite some time, because it managed to surprise even me (and I thought I knew pretty much everything there was to know about Harry Potter).