Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard by Tom Felton
Reviewed By: Rebecca Cox, Business Manager
Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir
Suggested Age: Adults
What is This Book About? Tom Felton, known best for playing Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, reminisces about his life before and after being cast in one of the most successful franchises of all time.
My Review: With a self-deprecating humor and insight beyond his years, Felton’s honest recounting of his childhood and adolescence spent in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is an entertaining and easy read. As a Harry Potter fan I especially loved reading of Felton’s interactions and relationships with the other actors on the film, but also seeing how he was able to balance his wizard and muggle lives and still have some semblance of normalcy was interesting to read about.
What I enjoyed most was that Felton did not sugarcoat anything. While the book was mostly lighthearted and funny (I found myself laughing out loud at his descriptions of different events), he also shares times that he got into trouble as well as his struggles with alcohol as an adult. The whole book is written like a conversation with a friend which kept me intrigued in a way that many autobiographical books generally fail to.
After reading this book I am really looking forward to revisiting the movies from a Slytherin perspective (I am what Felton refers to in the book as a “Gryffindork”).
Three Words that Describe this Book: Funny, Lighthearted, Honest
Give this a try if you like… The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman, Number One is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions by Steve Martin
Rating: 5/5
