harry potter is not unique. i hate to tell you that most YA books were pretty bad if you go back and read them. this is why i can't read Animorphs

I was a voracious reader as a young child, and I fell in love with Harry Potter. It was a really fantastic series to 10 year old me. It helped that I, too, was a sad little neglected abused child who found solace in school. It also helps that I looked a lot like Harry Potter.

I think the books and movies are pretty good as far as things go, and get exaggerated criticism for very good reason. The author is a nazi and she makes money off the franchise!

I'm not here to prostrate myself for having had liked Harry Potter about twenty years ago. But I figure a preamble is appropriate.

Ever read Unwind? Man it actually sucks ass.

Eragon? That too. As well as Eldest and Brisingr. I couldn't get myself through Inheritance.

The author of Animorphs was ahead of her time in mentioning cookies but even then I knew that the yeerks might be able to do a bit more than just put cookies on those teenagers computers.

The Shadow Children? Well, this one was actually formative. It subverted the "most special boy in the world" trope. It follows a dystopian USA with a two-child policy enforced by death. The boy, obviously one of those Shadow Children, learns about the nature of his existence, and then finds out a neighbor girl is one such child. She'd make for a fine "the most special girl in the world" YA protagonist. She doesn't wear bras because they're stupid, she's punk, and she invites him to their underground resistance movement on IRC. She tries to convince him that the government is wrong. The climactic moment is a planned mass rally at the White House. The author knew her chops though, and it's explained that IRC is not very secure at all: They were all killed at the rally. Actually a very good book for political maturation as a liberal middleschooler I think. I didn't end up reading the rest of the series.

Divergent? I believe those books lead to the popularity of the term "neurodivergent", which to me is a slur. I never even read the books I'm just assuming they're bade.

Santa Paws? There is no way this one holds up but this was fantastic.

The House of the Scorpion? I haven't reread this one, it might be good...

A Wrinkle in Time? Actually, this one probably still holds up. It's gotta.

Hatchet? Oh, this one is actually good too.

Where the Red Fern Grows? Oh geeze I don't want to go back and find out.

Homestuck? Oh this one kicks ass.

I guess I'm wrong. Maybe it's more correct to say the genre of "YA novels set in a fascistic dystopia following teenagers who have to save the world by killing the Hitler analogue" books are all generally pretty bad.

Oh, and "The Catcher in the Rye" sucks.

Harry Potter bonus complaint: Harry Potter fans have this amazing capacity to contort their worldview in a way that they can express the world through the books. It's a subject of ridicule and always hilarious when someone says shit like "Guys Alex Pretti is LITERALLY Hedwig..."

But if you read the books, you'll know the invisibility cloak jacks him off that they place a spell on the name Voldemort where, when spoken, it'll summon Death Eaters.

For all the bullshit in Harry Potter, credit where it's due, the "He Who Shall Not Be Named" ended up making for a prescient parallel to our world of algospeak and fedposting paranoia. If Harry Potter fans had an ounce of political awareness they'd have made the connections.