An apparently very griping character to most of those who read the series of very
successful novels he is written in. The series is very popular among younger readers and has been very beneficial in getting younger people to read. However, Harry Potter has yet to prove itself as a good "gateway book" meaning most younger audiences who pick up the series do not continue to read novels (or other media) after completing all 7 novels.
A survey was done in 2008 by the English department of UC Berkley finding that 9 out of 10 children (between the ages of 12 and 17) who finished reading the first novel, Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone, go on to read the next six, but out of those 9 only 2 continue to read on an extra-curricular level. Whether this
information is meaningful or not is up to you.
I have only read bits and pieces of the
Harry Potter series and from what I gathered the novels are not bad. Harry Potter readers are sort of a cult following, but many have seen the movies and trust me, it is the movies that inspire many people to "hate on" Harry Potter. However many Potter readers have told me that they're very satisfied with the movies and that they follow the book very closely (
for the most part except maybe the 6th installment which deviated from the book
more than usual). In my opinion if the movies do follow the books as closely as people tell me then to me the books would be very unfulfilling.