Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Full Cast audiobook Review

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a review of the new full cast audiobook
What is a full cast or Graphic Audio edition? Its pretty much what it sounds like. Each character has their own Voice actor and there are sound effects and music accompanying actions and story beats throughout the book.

If you are like me, than you are an enjoyer of full cast productions of books, and you appreciate the story being easier to follow when each character sounds unique. In most cases of the books I've read. If there is a full cast version, I read that version. And if you haven't dived into this subgenre of audiobooks, I can't think of a better place to start (especially if you already know these story beats).

As far as the production value. The voice cast is pretty much perfect. The only thing I wish was done differently was some kind of voice effect for Voldemort at the end. as it is now he sounds pretty normal for a guy clinging to life on the back of a teachers head.

There are some rough edges here that hopefully get ironed out in later books. Often the sound effects and music are as loud or louder than the narration and other voices. This quickly becomes distracting as the voices are the most important part of the story being told. The sound effects should supplement the voices, not fight them. As far as those effects they are well... in a good way, effective. And the music really brings out the magic.

If you do decide to give this version a shot you should at least get to the point where the Dursleys move away to escape the letters. As I feel like the production and "magic" really finds itself after that point.

Setting aside the one who must not be named, I have taken a route that keep my money out of her pockets. I'll just have to find ways to support everyone else who worked hard to put this together. And if this is something that concerns you, there are plenty of ways to do the same or similar.

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