The first time I read the first book, I was pretty disappointed. I read it for a children's lit class my second semester in college(spring 2002), I really wanted to like it but I just didn't think it was that good. I think part of the problem was that I was trying to compare it to the fantasy that I grow up with which was mostly Narnia. I eventually heard from people whose book taste I trusted that the third and fourth books were the best ones, so I changed my expectations a bit and tried again, and by the fourth book I was really loving the characters and Goblet of Fire became my favorite. After that I reread the series from the beginning and really began to enjoy them. Order of the Phoenix was easily the weakest book in the series, I honestly think it needed some editing, but I was very happy with Half-Blood Prince. I had mixed feelings about the ending of the final book, Deathly Hallows, at first but I liked the way it turned out after I had thought about it and discussed it a bit. Another thing that I think really made this series good for me is the audiobooks read by Jim Dale. They were all so well performed that it really helped me get into the series more. By the time Deathly Hallows was being released, I was genuinely excited.