Alright folks, time for the question and debate of the ages!! You ready? You sure??? Here we go…
Of the seven Harry Potter novels, which one do you think is the best of them all?
Poll below (and please click through if you’re reading via an RSS feed or via e-mail):
Have you voted? Cool. (Don’t want to sway the results)
My choice is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Perhaps the darkest of all seven of the books, this one really delved into Harry coming into his own and spending much of the novel feeling sorry for himself. The weight of the world was really resting on his shoulders, and he had one of literature’s great villains, Dolores Umbridge, to contend with. And, well, we all know what happened in the end (but I won’t spoil it for those who don’t know).
For emotional depth and range, Harry coming of age, not to mention my favorite cover…. to me, Order of the Phoenix is the novel that delves the deepest, and for that reason it’s my pick for best of the seven.
What about you? What made you pick your favorite?
Fadzlishah Johanabas says
I think "The Deathly Hallows" is the darkest, most complicated book of the series, with plenty of despair. Dumbledore isn't around to save Harry this time. Plus, I had an adventure lining up for 2 hours and uttering the Gryffindor password to the Fat Lady when the book came out.
Loved "Order of the Phoenix", but the movie so didn't do it justice.
Donna G. Cooper says
While HP and the Order of the Phoenix was my favorite for a time, Deathly Hallows quickly became one of my all time favorite books ever! It was such an emotional rollercoaster ride of saddness and fear, excitment and terror. I'd never gone through so many emotional loop-de-loops as I did while reading this book.
It is probably the best conclusion to any saga ever written. There was something very satisfying about how Rowling wrapped up all the ends very neatly.
HP5 is still my second favorite. 🙂
Leigh says
I, of course, love them all, but when I think how much I loved each one at the time, for me it is definitely Pris. of Az. I loved how the books started getting a little darker with this one, and also how it started digging in to Harry's past,and his parents' too. It is so great. Of course Deathly Hallows is a close 2nd.
Mira says
My 3rd runner up is Goblet of Fire, because I loved the Tournament. Also, it was the first time real consequences enter the story, which gave it depth.
My 2nd runner up is Order of the Phoenix, for all the reasons you mentioned. I'm still in awe that she actually took a protagonist and showed him to be al grumpy teenager. Although, Harry at his worse, was still better than me at my best that age, I will say. I also loved the final scene between Harry and Dumbledore in that book.
But my first choice is the Sorcerer's Stone. The first one. It was magic. The storyline of a negected kid who finds he has a place in this world, and that there is goodness, love and magic in it – and that he has much to offer – wonderful.
Erin B says
Prisoner of Azkaban… I love how the villain in this book isn't directly Voldemort (as it is in most others), and how in the end, the villain turns out to not even be a villain but family.
This book was drastically different than 1 and 2, and much darker, and I think for this reason it always stood out in my mind as something really special in the series. The time turner and that whole ending of the book is also fabulous.
Deathly Hallows, though, is a very close second… Such a great ending to an amazing ride 🙂
Livia says
Azkaban, hands down. The plotting is brilliant and tightly done, and the plot twist is fantastic . The later books got a little too bloated for me.
JJ says
Argh, this is tough because my two favourites are Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix and they are two totally different books.
Personally, I think Order of the Phoenix is the most sophisticated (with the creepiest villain!), but Prisoner of Azkaban is just so delightful…
Krista V. says
My favorite was THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN – until THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE came out. I think the story arc in that book is magnificent, especially the climax.
Alexis Lampley says
Order of the Phoenix. Without a doubt. It was Umbridge. I wanted to strangle that woman.
The characters I'm worst at writing are the ones like Umbridge. The ones who, in their own mind, are justified in their actions, but are wronging your characters in so fierce a way that you, as a reader, believe you are being wronged. You want to cry in frustration, or stab their name in the book with a very sharp (like quill tipped) pen. I admire JK's ability to create someone like Umbridge, because she'd have annoyed me far too much to write her myself.
But I agree with your points about the depth and darkness of the book. It was certainly the deepest emotional journey — and understandably so.
Allison M. Dickson says
Order of the Phoenix was my first choice before even reading the blog and voting. Definitely the deeper and darker of the series. We learn so much about the characters and it sets the stage beautiful for all that follows.
Sad that it was the one book out of the whole series that got the shabbiest Hollywood treatment.
Kathy says
I really love the HP books, and Order of the Phoenix was amazing…except for the damned adverbs! I can't ignore them. I want to go through it with some Wite-Out so I can reread. (She toned it down for #6.)
Laurel says
Azkaban. I felt sorry for Harry in Book One, but mostly his circumstance with the Dursleys. In Book Three, though, his sense of solitude, loss of family, became more concrete. It added a lot of depth to his character and made him more than the orphan boy hero cliche. The connection of his patronus to his father was elegant and sad.
It also set up GoF and his lousy poutfest for the first portion of that book.
Karen Peterson says
I love DEATHLY HALLOWS, but have only been able to read it once. I haven't been able to face it a second time, though I do think it really is an amazing book.
That being said, my favorite in the series really is PRISONER OF AZKABAN. It was the first book where Harry really got to start to learn about his parents and their background and where he finally came to understand that he isn't alone in the world.
Christina Lucas says
Order of the Phoenix has always been my favorite book and movie in the series.
The overall mood is darker-I like it just for that.
It really pulls you in to the characters' grieves over how the death eaters have affected their families. And Voldemort becomes up close & personal for the first time. It really gives the reader a sense of…okay, it's us against them. Game on.
And when Sirius dies, it's almost a passage into manhood for Harry. A point of no return. You know in that moment that Harry is officially going to kick some ass!
Fawn Neun says
Delores Umbridge triggered my Jr. High PTSD, so I couldn't vote for 'Order'. 🙂
Yamile says
My favorite is Deathly Hallows. All the loss, the conclusion even if a lot of my favorite characters were dead (Collin Creevey, I still cry about you, small even in death), and the comfort that in the end, all was well.
Chuck H. says
Who is this Harry Potter of whom you speak?
Julia G. Darelle says
It's hard to choose – I liked all of them. However, the last one was the most complicated and most "grown up" in my opinion. So, except for the epilogue (though I see why J.K.R included it), I loved the last book the most.
Ez says
One of my favorite scenes in the whole series is the Weasley twins ousting Professor Umbridge with their usual style.
But my favorite book is easily PofA. Rowling herself said that was her best book.
I hated the last one.
Sarah says
I think it's a very different thing to ask which is the best and which is your favorite. While The Sorcerer's Stone is my favorite, I know it's not the best written.
K.L. Brady says
Half Blood Prince…because that's when Ginny Weasley and Harry finally get together and have their first kiss. *sigh*
Hey I write chick lit, what did you expect???
Michelle @ The True Book Addict says
Order of the Phoenix is also my favorite for the exact same reasons you mentioned! Of course, I'm just now reading Deathly Hallows before the movie comes out, but I still think Phoenix will remain my fave.
Janiel Miller says
Mmm. Gotta be Prisoner of Azkaban. That's the book that put the series on the map for me. Tight, taught, hint of darkness to come, great twist, great character development. Perfect beginning to the Deathly Hallows ending, for me.
Wish she'd write another series. If I were her I'd be scared, though. I'd also be very very rich.
Katie Ganshert says
I was hooked with all the books, but Half Blood Prince was the best in my opinion. I laughed out loud the most in this book. Loved that Harry started to fall for Ginny. Loved how closely he worked with Dumbledore. And the ending!? Wow. That just totally shocked me. And loved that a certain person's allegiance was impossible to figure out.
Wanetta says
I had to chose Deathly Hallows. While I loved all the books in the series the reason I chose this one was because of the Hallows. [spoiler…..] When I first started reading and JKR introduced the hallows I was extremely annoyed. I didn't know why she would want to throw something in like that and at the last minute, it seemed rushed. However, as I continued reading I was quite floored that the hallows were in the books all the time. At this point I put the book down and took my hat off to JKR. So, this was definitely my fave book. =)
Also, Mrs. Weasley and Bellatrix in the battle …. best. scene. ever. In my opinion.
Kristi says
Picking a favorite HP is like picking my favorite chocolate cake.
I voted for the Goblet of Fire because it is such a turning point for the series. Right up until the end, it retains that sense of adventure and youth that the first several had. And then, whammo, stuff and fans collide.
Order of the Phoenix was really powerful emotionally for me. I am still amazed how Rowling managed to throw me (adult female) so fully into a teenage boy's psyche and make it feel so authentic.
I think after the punch of those two books back to back that I was ready to follow Harry into anything just to see it all resolve.
Ellen Brickley says
I think Goblet of Fire was the best. The most action, the best pacing, but still a decent amount of character development (although not the best of the series for character development by far) and a masterclass in introducing backstory.
Goblet. All the way.
Elizabeth West says
Potterposts! I'm a huge Potternerd. Thanks for this. 🙂
Goblet of Fire is my favorite, because the Hogwarts kids have to interact with other wizarding students. They all have to come together as a school and put their best foot forward. There's so much going on with the tournament and their first tentative steps into socializing (the Christmas Ball) and it's just hilarious.
Also, for the first time something awful happens and it's directly due to Voldemort.
Order of the Phoenix is next, even though it had a lot of annoying teenage angst. Dolores Umbridge was so great I wrote an entire blog post about her. (See it here https://aelizabethwest.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/umbridge/.) The Ministry's suppression in this book made the conflict much more dangerous, because now they had to hide not only from Voldemort but from their own government.
Suzan Harden says
For me, The Half-Blood Prince was the best. It showed Snape and Dumbledore as the very falliable, very noble, very human people they both really were. And for the first time, Dumbledore treats Harry as an adult, not Prodigy Child.
Kathryn Packer Roberts says
I picked "The Deathly Hallows", but really I love them all. Each one is unique and wonderful and they all fit with the age that Harry is at the time. The books as they progress get deaper and deaper, appropraite for the agegroup that will read them, or have grown up reading them.
Laura Marcella says
The Order of the Phoenix is my favorite, too! I admire how extremely well Rowling blends the darkness with humor. Despite Harry's emotional dilemmas and the Ministry meddling at Hogwarts, some of the best funny parts are in that book!
I also think Dolores Umbridge is one of the best written villains ever. I despise that character so much! Whenever a character makes me feel so strongly, I know the author wrote her brilliantly.
My favorite parts in the novel are when Rita Skeeter writes Harry's true account of the Triwizard Tournament and when Fred and George cause havoc on their way out of the castle. I love it when Peeves salutes them!
Nicole L Rivera says
Do I have to pick? Ugh! If I were packing up a bag and had to choose I'd buy a Kindle and bring them all. It is one story with essential pieces through them all. They all make each other better. I love seeing the wizarding world for the first time through Harry's eyes, flying in the magical car with him, finding a parent figure in Sirius, winning the Goblet of Fire, ushering in the first sense of darkness with Cedric's death, fighting beside him as he takes on Umbridge, saying good-bye to Albus while realizing what he needs to do, and finally conquering evil in the last book. I simply can't choose. 🙁 Sorry.
Nicole L Rivera says
Do I have to pick? Ugh! If I were packing up a bag and had to choose I'd buy a Kindle and bring them all. It is one story with essential pieces through them all. They all make each other better. I love seeing the wizarding world for the first time through Harry's eyes, flying in the magical car with him, finding a parent figure in Sirius, winning the Goblet of Fire, ushering in the first sense of darkness with Cedric's death, fighting beside him as he takes on Umbridge, saying good-bye to Albus while realizing what he needs to do, and finally conquering evil in the last book. I simply can't choose. 🙁 Sorry.
Elie says
Prisoner of Azkaban – I love the time travel especially – it's so cleverly worked out.
Kristin Laughtin says
That's my favorite, too. I also felt like it was the best at capturing that Harry was in that awkward stage between child and adult and how much more difficult it was to deal with all the evil in the world because of that. It's sort of the point of no return in Harry's journey…not that he had a choice before, but after that book you knew the end was coming. It also introduced Tonks, who was my favorite character.
Reesha says
The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite by far.
I don't know if I can quantify why.
Perhaps because its the most hopeful book in the series. And Harry Potter is at that fun age of being cool, but hasn't gotten all his angst yet. If I wanted to read 300+ pages of angst, like in the later books, I'd just go read my journals from when I was fourteen.
Prisoner of Azkaban is closely followed by The Half Blood Prince for me because it focused more on one of the coolest, most mysterious character in the series: Severis Snape.
Caroline says
Prisoner of Azkaban. I am a sucker for a twist in a character — perception/propaganda versus reality.
Order of the Phoenix — I enjoyed the film more than the book. Harry's adolescent angst drove me crazy. He had good reason for it, of course, but it made it hard for me to enjoy.
Bane of Anubis says
I always find it odd that PoA ranks so highly among many. The time turner device at the end is a pandora's box of unexplained potential that killed the entire book for me.
Though many consider her writing weaker in the first two, my money's on those for plotting and pacing — classic MG style. Her longer books had a bit too much down time for me (e.g., Books 5, 6– felt like nothing too much happened till the end; Book 7 – camp time).
Cacy says
It was hard for me to pick because #3 and #5 are both my favs. (Just realized that feature major plot point featuring Sirius…maybe I should have put him down as my favorite character). I ultimately went with #5 because I love how the everyone, especially and led by the twins, when crazy in the that book! Talk about a school wide rebellion. And the two best, most ninja-gangsta exits (Dumbledore and the Twins) ever.
And no, the movie didn't come close to portraying the awesomeness of the book.
Juliette says
I voted for PoA because I think, objectively, that's the best – tight plotting, genuine surprise (Scabbers??!), engaging story etc. Order of the Phoenix is my second favourite, though the first time I read it I almost didn't enjoy it because Rowling's description and her way of bringing to life the horribleness that is GCSE year (real world OWLs that we take at 16 in the UK) was just too realistic! I was only around twenty when I first read it and it brought back all that stress and depression and living on the verge of total breakdown that was that year way too clearly!
Lisa Yarde says
Deathly Hallows with Order of the Phoenix a very close second, for the reasons you mentioned, but mostly for the actions of Severus Snape in both books. Hallows wins out for me because it offers the best of Severus Snape.
Throughout the series, I knew there was more to Snape than meets the eye, in part because of Albus' implicit trust in him, but also the little tidbits and revelations of his past that Rowling sprinkled through the books. Order confirmed those suspicions. I really teared up at the scene in Hallows where Snape shares his memories. He's the most complex of the characters in my view, and his character arc helps makes Hallows the most memorable of the series.
Josin L. McQuein says
Having checked out Umbridge in the wiki (and so as not to spoil what happens) I'd just like to say…
Why didn't someone turn her into a mouse and feed her to the snowy owl?
Lisa Yarde says
Forgot to add that Hallows was not my favorite when I first started reading; the idea of them seemed to come out of nowhere, just like the horcruxes, but I'm glad I kept reading on and realized that each item had been part of the series all along.
Nicole says
Gotta be PoA! That book took the series to a whole new level, which set the stage for the later books. A lot of the tension and ties of family and friendship that JK built on throughout the rest of the series began here. While I have favorite scenes from each of the books, PoA was my favorite from beginning to end.
Seabrooke says
Deathly Hallows, by far, though till that one came out it had been Prisoner of Azkaban. But my favourite part of the whole seven-book series is when we see Snape's memories and learn the truth about his character. It made me cry; my favourite books are always the ones that strike me so emotionally I shed tears over them.
Natasha Fondren says
I have to say Prisoner of Azkaban. To me, it felt like she was delighted with her world for the first four books, and then that delight became a job in the last three. The dark and the delight were at a perfect balance, and the plotting was tight and amazing.
I will say that when sitting down and reading the whole series through at once, for the second (or fifth) time, the later books improve.
Stephanie Garber says
My favorite is Prisoner of Azkaban! It was close, between that and Goblet of Fire, but POA holds a special place in my heart.
It was dark, but not too dark, I loved the ending -I didn't see it coming at all- and I love Sirius Black! He is my favorite HP character and his introduction changed the stakes for Harry. Now all of the sudden Harry has a Godfather and the hope of having a real family. Of course it doesn't last, but you don't know that for two more books.
Liz says
I'm shocked Prisoner of Azkaban is leading the poll so far.
I picked Deathly Hallows because it was dark and complicated and the way everything from the first six books was tied together was pure brilliance.
Mira says
Josin – Eeek. You can't just turn your fellow teacher into a mouse! There are rules.
If you like YA fantasy, read the books!!
Many who don't like the books – I really think it's a genre thing. Not for all, but for some. So, be aware, it is YA fantasy. But if you like that, you're missing out. Read the books!!!
Hart Johnson says
Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite until Order of the Phoenix, but like you, I loved the dark, emotional journey, and especially, Harry taking the reins of his own story, really for the first time–all the earlier books had circumstantial set-ups where his destiny is thrust upon him. Here, he starts to prepare in earnest for what he needs to do–yes, with mistakes, but owning it.