One of the things that made Jim Kay's illustrated editions so successful was just how well he captured the magic of the Harry Potter series. So one of the biggest questions is whether or not Levi Pinfold will be able to match what Kay was able to achieve over five books. Although we don't yet have a cover for the upcoming book, Bloomsbury did release a preview image of Pinfold's work back in March 2025. Based on this alone, it looks like he will have a slightly darker style than we got from Jim Kay's work. Considering Half-Blood Prince is where the series starts to get a lot darker in general, I actually think this transition could end up feeling somewhat natural.
The current $55 price tag is a bit too steep for me, but it's likely that it will get discounted as we get closer to the release date. Amazon offers a preorder price guarantee that ensures you pay the lowest price it drops to before it releases, even if you preorder at the current price. All of the other books in the series are currently about half that price right now, though.
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