Mugglenet.Com's Harry Potter Should Have Died: Controversial Views from the #1 Fan Site

Written by Emerson Spartz and Ben Schoen

Narrated by Mike Lenz

HARRY POTTER DIDN'T DIE.

The seventh and final book is out, but fans still fiercely debate the many controversial issues left unresolved. Now, the experts at MuggleNet.com argue passionately about what really happened and what should have happened.

•Would the series be stronger if Harry hadn’t survived?
•Should we pity Voldemort or hate him?
•Is Severus Snape really a hero?
•Should J.K. Rowling have left Dumbledore’s gay sexual orientation a secret?
•Did Harry actually die in Deathly Hallows?
•Were the Slytherins too demonized, the Hufflepuffs too lame, and the Gryffindors too glorified?
•Should J.K.R. write more Harry Potter novels or go out on top?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Sep 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094427065

Emerson Spartz

Emerson Spartz is a New York Times Bestselling Author and the founder of Mugglenet.com, the number one fan website of the Harry Potter series.

Reviews for Mugglenet.Com's Harry Potter Should Have Died

[Kasamira · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

2.5 Stars

Littered with inaccuracies to a near embarrassing degree. However, by the 5-6th essay it begins to get a lot better. But because of how it starts I nearly DNF-ed it, I still find it very frustrating because the essays will consistently present good arguments yet always seem to begin with errors. Errors which seem geared towards presenting “controversial” statements that aren’t controversial when canon directly contradicts them.

If you skip the first 5-6 essays and are willing to wait until half the essay is over to get decent analysis, then I’d recommend the book. I was initially going to give it two stars but then it really did improve. That said.

Within the first four minutes the author has called Tonks a “femme fatale”, said Hagrid is proven to not be a half giant, compared Dumbledore’s relationship with Grindelwald to Bella and Voldemort, and said anyone who thought Hermione/Harry would happen post GOF was insane.

I get it’s trying to garner attention quickly from the audience but the first two are patently false, and the final read like clumsy rage bait.

Beyond getting basic facts wrong, I was hoping to get grounded character analysis but these essays often veer more into speculation and a recitation of JKR’s Pottermore/WW stances. That is more personal taste though

Most frustratingly, this book presents itself as a series of competing essays that represent major camps of thought within the HP fandom—I’ve been in the fandom since around 2004 across various platforms yet I confess myself disappointed.

Intermixed are some like “would you rather kiss Voldemort or a dementor? Give a foot massage to Voldemort or shave Hagrid’s back?” They were fine.

Ultimately, its very clickbaity— all flash. No substance. The best essays were the ones in the middle which made no attempt at sensationalism. The ones that tried to capitalize on hot takes disappointed, I would’ve been a eager to listen to a knock down drag out battle of essays— this was milque toast. (Although, I found their Lupin essay delightfully spicy)

-On dumbledore being gay— never provides any textual analysis from canon but instead talks only about the outside fandom discourse
-Did Harry die? Doesn’t even bring up the idea that Dumbledore was Death/Harry’s role as MOD
-are the Slytherins too demonized? These essays were deeply frustrating, not because they were wholly bad but because the first 50% of each were awful yet the last 50% of both had solid analysis that was very worth while. This is the essay that almost made me stop reading because it kept getting basic facts about HP wrong (Lily didn’t “dump Snape because he was sorted into Slytherin”) yet also convinced me to keep reading because it ended so strongly

I think the best way to think of the essays are “common fandom feelings” mixed with critical analysis of them— however if I hadn’t been the most rabid HP fan as a teenager it would be difficult to not simply put these essays off as
-out of touch
-inaccurate
Or take them at face value and come away with a false perception of the story. The author is either not approaching the reader in good faith or has a lot of basic facts wrong.

Things that didn’t factor into my rating but that I wanted to make note of: This series of essays could never have predicted how the last decade would have progressed with JKR, but hindsight is um… well. Makes the audiobook awkward, or awkwardly hilarious to hear someone say that JKR should keep telling us more inside knowledge about HP/not hold back about her progressive political views when most of Twitter has been begging her to stop

[Trina L. Thornton · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The narrator mispronounced SO many words! Outdated silly debates too.

[mybooks_areme · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love Harry Potter and Mugglenet and really enjoyed this book. Their arguments were really well backed up and really made me think about the issues being raised.
Great book for any Harry Potter fan but mainly die hard Potterheads.

[runa_17 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In their return book, Ben Schoen and Emerson Spartz decide to go for an interesting Q&A debate format. As they mention in the opening (which, by the way, incorrectly names the podcast 'MuggleSpace', which gets on my nerves), many of their views will get on your nerves, and I may be paraphrasing on that one. I found myself continually asking "Did they really have to go there?" and raging at the book. I almost felt like some of the debates, if not all, would have been better off if they'd been argued by fans, leaving the end result ambiguous and up to the reader to decide, as opposed to giving definite answers. The arguments are quick, concise, and compelling, sure to keep your attention in their fun, conversational tones. It really made me wonder what JK Rowling herself would think of some of these arguments, and I almost feel like there'd be some she'd certainly disagree with, although I won't pretend to know how she thinks. I think the one argument that bothered me most of all (and there were many) was the titular one, Should Harry Potter Have Died? I don't know, I kind of feel like if you're going to name your book Harry Potter Should Have Died, that should also be the conclusion you should reach in your debate, as opposed to "Harry should have lived." Maybe that's just me. Rating: 4/5

[jfoster_sf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun debates on questions such as: Best movie scene, who was more helpful to Harry in finding horcruxes, Hermione or Ron, etc

[06nwingert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The sequel to Mugglenet.com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7 is just as good as its prequel. The Mugglenet staff takes on a variety of Harry Potter-related questions, both serious ( Should Jo have kept Dumbledore's homosexuality a secret?) and not-so-serious (Would you rather kiss a dementor or Voldemort?), giving both sides of the argument and their verdict.