Anti-Harry Potter and Anti-J.K. Rowling Masterlist

First published on 19 March 2023
Last updated on 14 September 2023

Like many millennials, I grew up with the Harry Potter series and was a major fan of the series. I had read the original 7 books and watched their film adaptations. The series was a special interest of mine throughout my early- to mid-teen years. While the Harry Potter novels were far from the first books I read, they were the first fantasy novels I read, and the series’ concept of a magical world set in a contemporary setting fascinated teenage me.

However, even during my Harry Potter fixation years, there were things from the series that bothered me, from the idea of house elves being a slave race that naturally love being slaves, to Snape’s unconvincing “redemption” arc. As I got older and became more aware of social issues, I started to notice more problems with the series. In addition, reading more books has also made me realise that even on a technical writing level, the Harry Potter series was mediocre at best. As a result, I had stopped becoming a Harry Potter fan even before J.K. Rowling’s transphobia got mainstream attention.

Unfortunately, many adults with nostalgia goggles still refuse to let go of Harry Potter, and they believe Harry Potter can be separated or “reclaimed” by J.K. Rowling, despite how much Rowling’s world-view and prejudice are inextricably linked to her writing and stories.

Therefore, I am compiling this masterlist by curating various resources that are critical of the Harry Potter series and J.K. Rowling. Items are ordered in chronological order. This is far from a comprehensive list of all the pieces that criticise Harry Potter and Rowling; this list is my curated list of ones that I have read, watched or listened to, and considered excellent critiques.

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