Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7)

Love these books and I love the price even more. The whole set came in immaculate condition considering they are paperback. Definitely recommend.

Pros: • All 7 books included • Sturdy hardcover binding • Looks great on a bookshelf Cons: • None The books arrived in great condition and the set is well packaged. This boxed set is absolutely beautiful. The hardcovers feel sturdy, the artwork looks great on display, and it’s so nice having the entire series together. Perfect for re-reading or collecting. I’m really happy with this purchase.

Nice set for the price.

This is the full set of the original Harry Potter novels in a paperback version. It is much more than just a mass-market paperback, however. The books are just a bit smaller in size than the hardcover versions, and they have the same kind of quality illustrations and look great. They also come in a collector box that you can either store them in on a shelf, or the box can be displayed separately if you are one of those who goes all in decking out a bookshelf. Harry Potter is, of course, the massive series that consisted of these 7 books, which were ultimately adapted into 8 movies, and then spun off the Fantastic Beasts franchise that is currently still going strong. The books are set in the 1990s at a time when a ten-year-old Harry learns that he is a wizard, and starts attending school at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry. The theme throughout the series of books is the looming threat of the dark wizard Voldemort who tried and failed to kill Harry as an infant. The author JK Rowling, wrote the books with the intention that kids about Harry's age could start reading them and then age with the characters in the books. So, they do get progressively darker and more "adult" as the series goes on. The first couple of books are easily appropriate for 10-11 year-olds, but the later books are probably more appropriate for those in the 13-15-year-old (on up) age range. Even though they are technically kids' books, they can easily be enjoyed by adults. The books also get longer as the series goes on, so if you have seen the movies, there is a lot that happens in the books, especially books 3-6 that get cut out of the movies. I do think, on the whole, the books are better than the movies, but I think there are some things that the movies tweaked from the books that worked better. Overall, it is a great book series. The story is unique in that, as opposed to a lot of other books in the sci-fi/fantasy genre that set their stories on made-up worlds that have little in common with our reality, it sets the world of magic in the "real" world in contemporary times, just making it clear that people without the magical ability (called muggles) are largely unaware of the existence of magic. If you are one of the few who have yet to read the books, I highly recommend them.

This boxed set is everything! Harry Potter has been my favorite series since I was a kid, and rereading them years later, they still hold up beautifully. The magic, the characters, the world-building — it all feels just as powerful and emotional as the first time. The paperback editions are lightweight and easy to read, and the box keeps them neatly stored (and looks great on a shelf!). Whether you're reading for the first time or the tenth, this set is a must-have.

All books came in good condition and with all the pages, I bought this set, they are paperback and in a good price, however I always cover my books for more protection. It’s been 3 years since I purchased them, if you like paperback books, I highly recommend this set.

I've been a fan of Harry Potter since about the grade school, back when the only books that had been published yet were the first three, when Potter's popularity was still on the rise, when Christian fundamentalists were still catching on to the horrifying idea that a "witchcraft" story was gaining popularity with children, and grade-school teachers were similarly catching on to Harry Potter being a pretty effective tool for getting kids to develop a liking for books. Indeed, that was how I discovered them: my English teacher somewhere in the 6th-to-8th-grade portion of schooling (where my Catholic school shifted to a high-school-like classroom and teacher shuffle to prepare students for the routines public school would involve) introduced me and several other students who were showing less interest and enthusiasm in the class to the Harry Potter novels, actually lending us her own copies of the first three books to get us reading. By the time the much thicker fourth volume, Goblet of Fire, came out, I was so in love in the series that its intimidating size was far more appealing to me than intimidating, like a larger bowl of rocky road ice cream might look appealing. In the decade-and-a-half since, I've never let go of my love of Harry Potter, even if I have gone long stretches of time without keeping an active eye on the franchise. The recent revival of widespread Potter interest of the appealing-but-flawed sequel stage play ("Harry Potter and the Cursed Child") and an arguably-more-interesting-and consistently-engrossing prequel-sidestory-movie ("Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them") has prompted me to revisit the book series yet again, as well as replace my old worn-down hardcover copies with both the paperback box set and the eBook downloads from Pottermore's e-shop — which are cross-compatible with Kindle accounts and can be transferred over as identical files to the Kindle versions, by the way, even though Amazon doesn't count those files as purchases of the Kindle eBooks, but rather as separate account-exclusive items. Having checked on Audible, this series does not seem to be compatible with Whispersync for Voice no matter where you buy the eBooks as of yet, so audiobook fans who like to read the text while listening may wish to take note of that when deciding whether to buy a physical or eBook versions (this is possibly due to revisions having been made to the text for series consistency in the time since the audiobooks were recorded). In-depth reviews of the individual books are perhaps best saved for each book's individual page on Amazon, so I will give only a broad-stroke review of the stories here — if you are considering buying the series as a complete box set, it's likely you've already read and enjoyed at least the one of the books. But for the uninitiated, Harry Potter is a series that follows a boy, Harry himself, across a seven-year series of adventures culminating in the return and subsequent war against Lord Voldemort, a terrible Dark wizard who wreaked horrors upon the magical and non-magical communities alike until his unexpected and inexplicable destruction when he killed Harry's parents and then attempted to kill Harry while he was still an infant. Harry, growing up with his non-magical ("Muggle") aunt and uncle, who cruelly neglect and emotionally abuse him, receives a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he turns eleven, whereupon he discovers that not only is there a burgeoning community of witches and wizards living and hiding in plain sight in a seemingly-ordinary 1990s British society, but that he is famous among the magical community. They call him the "Boy Who Lived," the cause of Voldemort's disappearance and the end of his reign of terror. But as Harry enters the magical world and begins to learn about this new side of his life and the wonders of magic, he gets drawn into a series of perilous events that lead him closer and closer to his eventual destiny with each passing book, gradually revealing more of the truth behind what happened on the night Harry's parents were murdered and what led to it, among other things. Harry Potter is a fantastic series. One might be tempted to think it's overblown or over-rated by its enthusiasts. One would, in fact, be forgiven for taking that impression almost exclusively from the movies; they're enjoyable enough in their own right, but suffer problems of less-than-amazing adaptation and fluctuations in creative vision that make the film series feel somewhat disjointed and less-thoughtful than the books they're based on, and have the added problem of the younger actors and actresses often taking a few films to develop the skills to portray their characters naturally (an occupational hazard of a fantasy epic that relies on child actors, really). The Harry Potter novels, meanwhile, provide an arguably smoother introduction and, subsequently, a more fleshed-out experience in Harry's world, with the earlier, shorter books providing a comfortable and more "episodic" early portion that's great for allowing readers to get their feet wet, becoming gradually more involved and complex until the build-up culminates with the fourth and fifth novels, where the story goes all-in on characterization and worldbuilding detail, presuming the writer to be fully invested by that point, and keeping that level of maturity and intensity right up to the ending of the final volume. It would be remiss of me to call this series perfect, don't mistake the five-star rating for that. J.K. Rowling certainly has her weaknesses as a writer, and it could be accurately said that the novels suffer from a bit of a bloating problem that surfaced around Book Five, where Rowling clearly had more power to say "no" to her editors (incidentally, this is also the point at which the American text just gives up at hiding away a lot of the Britishisms in narration and dialogue, and I will say the books are at least better for that much). This is a clear Your Mileage May Vary kind of point. I personally enjoy the tangential worldbuilding that comes out of it, and consider it worth whatever "bloat" occurs as a result. But then, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is my favorite of the seven novels, and even for some avowed fans of Harry Potter, that book was too long and spent a little too much time on certain things. There's really no way to tell whether that will be a problem for you until you get there and either like it or don't like it. But what problems the Potter novels have are, in the grand scheme, just niggles. It all comes together in a really great way and in spite of the flaws, it's a really great series of books worthy of the classification of "epic." But one thing that might surprise people unfamiliar with Potter is that this is not a fantasy action-adventure series. It's more of a mystery series coated in a gooey chocolate fantasy syrup. Harry Potter himself tends to fill the role of a combination Frodo Baggins figure and up-and-coming detective character, and the most important plot points are, regardless of who figures out or explains a given part of things, presented as mysteries. Action sequences occur and can be quite intense, particularly in later volumes, but this is not the story of a big, super-cool hero slaying dragons; it's a story of circumstance, figuring out the circumstance, and then reacting to the circumstance. Some readers seem annoyed by the fact that eleven-year-old Harry never matures in this series to a point where by the end of magical high school he's capable of going head-to-head in a duel with a Dark Lord with decades of extensive magical knowledge under his belt, but that is simply not the angle that this series goes for. My comparison of Harry to Frodo Baggins was not an idle-name-drop. Harry's role in this story is very deliberately that of the hero who stands strong against adversity but ultimately triumphs through low-key action behind the scenes of a conflict in which number other, more powerful or more experienced combatants command the bulk of the Dark Lord's attention. And, like Frodo (and his progenitor, Bilbo), sometimes Harry is helped by sheer circumstance, the timely and skillful intervention of one of his friends, or a combination of his own efforts plus those things. The series does give us a fairly clear picture of what an action-centric lead character in this universe might look like, and I think that's where a fair portion of reader disappointment with Harry's more subdued take on heroics comes from, but he is an eleven-year-old who eventually becomes a seventeen-year-old over the course of the story, contending with a villain who has fifty-plus-year lead on experience over him. I think I would have raised an eyebrow had Harry ever bested Voldemort in a straight-up magical fight. As with everything, this series is something you should read for yourself if you're unsure. There's probably a copy available at your local library if you don't live in a particularly strict area with a stick up its rear about fantasy novels with magic in them. I recommend giving them a shot, and if Book One doesn't jive with you at first, sticking with it at least until the end of Book Two. This is a series that improves as it moves forward, each book adding new layers to the existing world by pacing its narrative in the same way a child might learn more and more about the real world as he or she grows into an adult, which is a large part of Harry Potter's effectiveness as a coming-of-age story. The reader, in a figurative sense, grows with Harry, as many of the original readers grew with Harry alongside the release of each subsequent book. This is as much a narrative tool as a consequence of readers aging as they read the books, because with very rare exceptions scattered through the series, the narrative is locked firmly into whatever it is that Harry Potter himself is seeing, hearing, saying, feeling, or thinking, and the reader's understanding of events and the world around him is often limited to what he knows or notices at any given time. As for the separate editions of these books. I can't voice for the "Complete Collection" eBook specifically, since I bought the eBooks individually on Pottermore, but assuming the formatting for the Complete Collection is identical, then the digital set relevant to this review is well-put-together and smoothly formatted, just about the best way you'll ever experience Harry Potter digitally without buying the iBooks-and-iOS-exclusive Enhanced Edition eBooks available on Pottermore, which feature animated illustrations and the like. If you have an iPad or iPhone, that is the edition I recommend for digital consumption, but for standard Kindle and Android users, or people who like reading eBooks on PC, this collection and its individual-eBook versions aren't inferior to physical books in any sense other than not having a special font for chapter headings; the U.S. editions of the eBooks even contain the iconic chapter title illustrations, although not the original American cover art (the minimalist cover art of the eBooks makes for a smoother transition between colored screens and black-and-white e-readers, though). The hardcover collection is one that I can't vouch for as a set, but having owned and read through the series in hardcover in the past, what I can vouch for is that the American hardcover editions are very nice to own. The box set for Hardcover may lack the text revision of the eBooks and more recent paperback printings, however, and while the chapter artwork and font for titles is something I prefer over the U.K. editions, it should be acknowledged that the American hardcovers are of a slightly cheaper construction than the U.K. editions, although also, paradoxically, they have a higher page count due to Scholastic's formatting choices (there are fewer words per page compared to the U.K. versions, and Order of the Phoenix has the formatting oddity of being the only book in the series with narrower margins and line-spacing, due to its much higher word count). Having researched this set, it should be acknowledged that the "trunk" is made of cardboard, so don't expect, you know, an extremely durable box or anything. It's just a stylized container for a box set. As for the paperback box set, the purchase that prompted this review? It's fantastic. The American version with the characters riding a dragon, specifically: I'm seeing a lot of user pictures in this review second for completely different sets, and it seems there's a motley assortment of mixed sets in the marketplace listings, too. The box itself is quite sturdy and adorned with beautiful artwork by the cover illustrator, Mary GrandPré, depicting a scene from later in the series that puts me in the mind of the old R.A. Salvatore "Cleric Quintet" omnibus cover art (which features a similar scene by what I assume is coincidence). The paperback volumes themselves are of a nice quality that makes them both more durable and less stiff-feeling than some smaller, cheaper mass-market paperbacks, and they even feature raised lettering for the front cover titling, although the paper and print quality are noticeably lesser than the hardcover editions, feeling at a casual touch like the pages would be easier to damage both by bending and by splashing a few drops of a drink in the book's general direction, not up to the quality of some of the better-made paperback novels that I own. Even so, these are paperbacks that should be taken care of and kept for posterity rather than tossed about like a cheapy grocery store throwaway novel that you picked up on a whim during a food-shopping trip, though the thickness of books four through seven may make it difficult to avoid bending the spines. Having checked certain passages in the books, I can also confirm that the paperback boxed set, bought new, should contained the revised editions of the text, as well, for as minor as those changes are to the overall experience (again, they're really just consistency tweaks).

Note: This is a review of the set of paperback editions with illustrations by Kazu Kibuishi, not of Harry Potter itself. It goes without saying that I am a big fan of the series! I have all the hardbacks of the books, bought as they came out, but when I saw this set I knew I'd end up ordering it. And ultimately, I'm glad I did - it's worth it. First, a brief word - if you're buying these for collector's purposes, you may want to order offline. I purchased mine straight from Amazon and still have some bent and beaten corners. The illustrations are wonderfully done, taking inspiration from the books rather than just from the movies. The classic Mary GrandPre drawings are still present for the individual chapter images, but Kibuishi's art is on every other surface - the back and front cover of each book show memorable scenes (my favorite being the back of OotP - Harry and friends in front of the deserted doors of the Department of Mysteries, eerily lit). Then, of course, there is the image of Hogwarts spanning the spines of the books. The box itself has more illustration on all three sides, and peering at it, one can really see the care the artist held for these books. The trio, Dumbledore, Hagrid, and the Hogwarts Express are instantly recognizable figures, but in these scenes from Hogsmeade you can also spy a little Malfoy and cronies, Luna being, well, Luna, the storefront of Zonko's Joke Shop, and students from various houses (and yes, the Ravenclaw scarves are blue and bronze). Even the very top of the box isn't left plain, although there aren't any drawings on it. I think these illustrations will come to be just as treasured as GrandPre's. The quality of the set is, for the most part, good. The covers of the books are rather unique, coated in some velvety, matte material with a nice drag to it that feels durable. The embossed 'Harry Potter' on each book is shiny and stands out well. (I confess to just 'petting' the books at times.) The box is sturdy cardboard, not easily bent. However, there are two problems I have with the production. One, the paper is quite thin, and seems like it might be prone to warping, which is a shame. It's not thin enough to see other pages through, but it's just not sturdy, and feels even thinner than the generic paper I'd use in a home printer. To be honest, it reminds me of what you'd find in a mass market paperback, just less grainy and whiter. Second, getting the books in and out of the box can be a chore! I'd recommend storing them out of the box if you plan on picking them up and putting them back frequently. It's just a tad too small, and this, combined with the high friction from the cover material, means the books need to be forced and finagled in, which would not be kind to the corners over time. (A tip - slip them all in part of the way, then turn the box and let gravity take care of the rest all at once, rather than trying to put the last one in by itself.) I don't know why they made the box so small - when all the books are in, the sides bow out. It's just not practical. Overall, if you're a fan of the series and would like a beautiful set, I'd recommend picking this one up - at Amazon's pricing, it's a pretty good deal; less than $10 a book. Just be aware that the paper quality is lacking and that the box, while lovely, is not an ideal storage solution.