My first criticism of Harry Potter is that Harry himself is not believable. It is extremely difficult for me to believe that Harry grew up as part of the Dursley family yet is the way he is; it’s implausible and doesn’t make any sense.
Second, and this is my opinion, when I read fantasy books, I like the fantasy world to be fundamentally different or altered from our own. I do not believe this to be the case with Harry Potter. the power structures are the same. Magic is heavily regulated. In the end, this book is not about magic or fantasy. It’s a suspense/ mystery story.
The story also has numerous sexist overtones that reveal themselves through the power relationships and the dialogue.
Many of the flaws are covered up by the interesting plot. Unfortunately, it wasn’t interesting enough for me--I couldn’t finish it.