Is Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton Worth the Read?

I discovered Tom Felton’s “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard” when I was researching another book written by a celebrity. 

It turned up in the suggestions list below the page I was on. I was like, “What’s this? Draco Malfoy wrote a book. Let me check this out.”

I liked the cover and the premise was interesting so why not.

I try as much as I can to borrow books from the library but when I really want to read something, I’m not about that waiting on a list life. 

I ordered Beyond The Wand at the same time I ordered the celebrity book I was researching.

I then did what I do when I order books – glower out of the window every morning waiting for the postman/lady to deliver my books. #crazybookworm

About Tom Felton

I think almost everyone on the planet knows who Tom Felton is by now.

If you don’t, he played Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s nemesis, in the Harry Potter books and movies.

It’s been over 10 years since the Harry Potter movies ended and he’s appeared in a lot more stuff since then but he will always be known as Draco Malfoy.

That’s not a bad thing. 

What’s Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton About?

“Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard” is a memoir of Tom Felton’s childhood growing up in London, how he got into acting and eventually landed the role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. 

The first third of the book talked about his childhood, shenanigans, his 3 older brothers, and his parents.  

I enjoyed reading about his childhood and found it entertaining and somewhat funny.

Once we move past his childhood into his Harry Potter days, he went on a bit. I would say over 50% of the book is about the Harry Potter days.

He talks about things a fan would already know about so there was nothing new there but I guess most Harry Potter fans would still love to read about it from him anyway.

His praise of everybody he ever worked with came across as a bit strange. Not one professional fight or disagreement. Not one grudge. 

Everybody was just amazing, wonderful, and awesome. I felt like he danced around a lot of crucial topics. 

I found the chapter on stepping on Severus Snape’s “fu**king cloak” hilarious. RIP to Alan Rickman. 🙁

The last 10% of the book was where things started to get real and he went into his struggle with addiction and mental health issues.

I was ready to get to know him at this stage but just when it started to get interesting, it ended abruptly.

Well, then…

Moving On…

I did expect there would be a fair bit about the Harry Potter days in the book but I also expected him to go “Beyond the Wand” as the book title suggests.

Nevertheless, at only 272 pages, it was a fast read, and took me 3 days to finish reading it. 

There was also an absolutely lovely forward in “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard” by Ms. Emma Watson who played Hermoine Granger in the movies. I gather they are BFFs. 

While it didn’t deliver 100% on what I thought the name suggested, I still enjoyed reading it and was happy to have it on my bookshelf afterward. 

After reading “Beyond the Wand”, I became overwhelmed by an urge to watch Harry Potter from start to finish so subscribed to Crave for a month to do just that. lol. 

I wonder how many people did the exact same thing after reading this book. I do have the DVDs but I don’t have a DVD player.

Final Thoughts on “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard”

In conclusion, if you’re a huge Harry Potter fan, it’s a great book to have in your collection. 

If you’re not a Harry Potter fan, you might find it a bit of a snooze fest and gloss over those parts quickly but without those parts, there are not many pages left.

It’s entertaining in certain parts and engages you for most of it. Overall, I rate it 3.5/5.

Beyond The Wand Book Tour

If you want to keep track of Beyond The Wand book tours, your best bet is to follow Tom Felton’s Twitter account for updates.

Where To Buy Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton?

You can find Beyond the Wand at most bookstores and online. Consider buying it through Bookshop.org which supports local bookstores.

Up next review – I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy.

Wunmi inherited every sarcastic bone in her parents’ bodies and channels the genetic feistiness through her fiction stories. She’s always eating chocolate and plans to never stop laughing while she can. Learn more about Wunmi here…