I bought the paperback boxed set about two weeks ago and dove in. It took me about a two days to read the first two books, during which time I bitched about the heavy-handedness of the metaphors, the lack of subtlety, etc. (and then reminded myself that these were written for KIDS), and also the way HP keeps getting REWARDED for breaking rules, the naughty little monkey. Then I got to book 3, and most of the bitching quit, because as the books grow up, so does the writing, the metaphor, and the subtlety, AND it becomes quite obvious that there are longer-term consequences for HP's constant rulebreaking. I nearly cried at the end of Goblet of Fire, then again at the end of Order of the Phoenix, and was in shock at the end of Half-Blood Prince. Now I'm about 6 chapters into Deathly Hallows, and I have to say, I get the craziness. I didn't read them when they came out because I'm not a bandwagon person, but I can definitely see what all the fuss was about (well, maybe not ALL the fuss--I don't get the people who play Quiddich by running around a football field with brooms between their legs--but a lot of it).