Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowlingby J.K. Rowling
Shares rank 14 of 41 fantasy novels by recommenders
Recommended for an engaging story and a beautiful book, though one reader calls it juvenile fiction rather than YA.
Recommended for an engaging story and a beautiful book, though one reader calls it juvenile fiction rather than YA.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Engaging to read
“I thought the first Harry Potter book was very engaging.”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Every novel is boring until it isn't” “It's phenomenally engaging.”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Every novel is boring until it isn't”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Juvenile rather than YA
“The first Harry Potter book might have been a good choice, but it's really a juvenile rather than YA”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “The Hunger Games Was Just Voted the 'Best Book Ever' by Goodreads Readers”
Other fantasy novels people recommend
The four most recommended other fantasy novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lord of the Ringsby J.R.R. Tolkien | 66 | 11 | 86% | 12 | 15 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| The Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien | 49 | 13 | 79% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Dungeon Crawler Carlby Matt Dinniman | 48 | 6 | 89% | 11 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationalityby Eliezer Yudkowsky | 19 | 17 | 53% | 7 | — | — |
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stoneby J.K. RowlingThis page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“is truly a beautiful book (and a good story)”
“I'll just list them while saying that they all come highly recommended by me.”
“It's phenomenally engaging.”
“I thought the first Harry Potter book was very engaging.”
“This is because the pacing was wrong - the first chapter should have been the last.”
“The translator is quite resourceful finding Latin names for all kinds of modern stuff.”
“The first Harry Potter book might have been a good choice, but it's really a juvenile rather than YA”
“what have Steve Jobs and Harry Potter got to do with with mathematics?”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.