Michael Kogge

This was a strange little book… not in the sense that it was filled with strange and fantastical beasts (even though it technically was), but in that its format didn’t quite make sense and it felt a bit haphazard overall. Built in the same way as the classic guidebooks of the 1990s (think Pokémon’s classic Pokédex book that every fan had to have in their collection), the creators of this book were clearly aiming for a sense of practical nostalgia as a way to sell another book to Harry Potter fans, who are known to collect practically everything. Yes, I bought the book for my collection, but I thrifted it for under $2, so I didn’t completely fall into their marketing trap! Laid out with a sense of practical organization, readers are guided through the characters, creatures, and locations that bring the newest set of Harry Potter films to life, with a small section devoted at the end to classic wizarding world magic. On the surface this seems to be a smart way of narrating the book, but the presentation didn’t actually end up being particularly practical as the writing and imagery felt messy, the writing gave fans little new information (aside from a post-production disappearance of a fiancé for Jacob Kowalski), and the graphic design was uninspired. With a little more effort (and maybe the design flourish of dream team Minalima) this little book could have been a wonderful gem, but instead fell quite flat. Maybe someday WB and the Rowling estate will learn that quality is more important than quantity, but apparently we’re all still buying everything they put out, so I doubt they’ll learn their lesson anytime soon…… (meer)