Fandom Did A Better Job With Harry Potter Than JKR Did - Blog Posts

I do like the scorn the opening sentence has for the concept of being "perfectly normal." That's a strong opening for both a children's book and a book about magic.

(Tragically the series doesn't live up to the expectations this sets.)

It also implies The Dursley's go around calling themselves "perfectly normal". Which. It's just not something I can imagine one neighbor saying or another, or Mrs. Dursley mentioning during book club over tea, or the topic coming up in casual conversation. Ever.

The phrasing doesn't come off as non-literal. I get tripped up in the specificity of the action. To whom do they say they are, "perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Does anyone doubt this? We are not actually shown how Harry's magic effects to Dursley's reputation growing up.

It does have a whiff of "tho doth protest too much" since they can't simply be "proud to be perfectly normal". Instead they have to assert (but to whom???) that they are "perfectly normal". They know and are infuriated that they are not.

It's a good set up for the conflict between the Dursley's and Harry, and the idea of an opening that immediately characterizes these antagonists as loving normality and "fitting in" is one I do very much like. But it's not quite there yet.

It needs a few more passes to hit just right.

B-, maybe C+

Anyway,

If anyone does have a recommendation for an urban fantasy book where the protagonist is in someone magically different and surrounded by family which is hostile to their very existence because of that difference I've been itching to read one.

Of, and of course, the protagonist should be explicitly queer because *gestures at previous paragraph*, obviously.

Oh fuck off