Most Underrated Harry Potter Books
The most underrated Harry Potter book is also the best one. Typically, all the other installments have something that makes them stand out from the rest. Stone started the franchise, Chamber is the weakest one, Azkaban took the series in a darker turn, Goblet has the first death, Order is the longest, and Hallows ended the franchise. Half-Blood Prince, on the other hand, doesn't really stick out in most people's rankings. While everyone agrees that it's great, it typically doesn't reach the top two for most people, and I honestly don't know why.
I love this book because it's the perfect blend of everyday life and story. It's easily the most interesting book for me, and I think it deserves much more credit!
Being the weakest of the bunch, it's obvious why this one doesn't garner as much attention. However, doesn't it get a little... you know, too little attention at times? Sure, it's easily the least interesting of the bunch, borrows too much from the first book, and it's practically useless in the grand scheme until Book 6. However, it's still a good book! This was actually surprisingly dark, with the whole petrification plot and Ginny's kidnapping. I'd put it as much darker than The Prisoner of Azkaban, and possibly darker than the Goblet of Fire in some aspects.
With most planned franchises, the first installment is almost always the weakest. Just look at Star Wars. This is because the writer is only able to scratch the surface with the first book, to not spoil too much. However, Harry Potter has one of the best introductions to the franchise, in my opinion! It's even better than the conclusion book, actually for me. Surprisingly though, a lot of people dismiss this book for being "for kids", even though it's pretty clever.
The good majority of the fanbase loves this book and would gladly put it in the upper half of their rankings. However, there is also a vocal minority who think this book is one of the weakest. It's much less significant than the OotP hate base, but it does grant it a slightly higher spot on the underrated list than two others.
The longest and most brutal book of the series. Both brutally boring, and brutal as in it hurts to read. For a long while, this book was considered to be the worst one of the series, and I can see why. It's painfully long, not much is happening, and the atmosphere is just dull in general. However, as the kids got older, they started to be able to relate to Harry more, and nowadays, I'd say it's rather the most divisive book of the franchise. So for that reason, it also gets the middle rank on this list.