Those who have a lot in common with a character (especially teenagers) might not necessarily hook into the point of the novel because their faults may be the same as the characters, and let’s face it– thematic intent came be tricky, especially when you’re unread. I think a lot of people read/watch coming of age things, relate significantly to the character, and reread it later and begin to understand why. I guess I feel coming of age books aren’t life changing unless you have preexisting concerns about your ideas/habits/etc, even if those concerns are unquantifiable.

I do wonder though, whether you never soured on the HP because you were much older than myself when you read them first, or if it’s because different parts of the book’s composition and themes appealed to you. (Most of what turned me off in the later books was seemingly haphazard and poorly built up romance, which in retrospect was not so poorly built up and not so unexpected of teenagers that age.)

That said, I had never ever soured on HP. I tremendously enjoyed all the latter books, and find the first two to be the most boring to read these days.