Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Goodreads Reviews: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets



Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Things don't start well for 12 year old Harry Potter when he goes back to Hogwarts. After a dreary summer with his insufferable magic-hating relatives, the Dursleys, Harry is desperate to return to the Wizarding World. However, a strange meeting with an even stranger magical creature that warns Harry not to return to Hogwarts is only the start of Harry's second Hogwarts year.

When Harry doesn't listen, things go from bad to worse. From the Dursleys jailing him inside for ruining their dinner party, finding himself in a dangerous section of Diagon Alley, not being able to get through the barrier at Platform 9 and 3/4, risking his life in a flying car and getting attacked by a tree on Hogwarts property. Just ordinary life with Harry Potter.

With the new year comes new changes including an eccentric and egotistical Defense Against the Dark Arts professor as well as Harry's nemesis, Draco Malfoy, becoming his rival on the Quidditch field. While all seems to be a typical time at school, strange sounds from inside the corridors, messages written on the walls in blood and petrified students begin to put all of Hogwarts in terror.

A threatening figure from Hogwarts' past begins to reappear which may cause the school to close. And with no Hogwarts, there is no home for Harry. Desperate to save the school and their friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione break all the rules to find and stop who or what this threat is, no matter what it takes. Eventually Harry, still the famous Boy Who Lived will come face to face with not one, but two horrific monsters hidden in the dungeons of Hogwarts.

Still one the best Harry Potter books. Chamber of Secrets was balanced in its storytelling and the mystery element of the 'Heir of Slytherin' that is revealed in the end as Harry's greatest enemy was exciting. Meeting the Weasleys' in The Burrow was exceptionally fun and Gilderoy Lockhart was a riot whether you love and or hate him.

Even though it's the second book, Chamber of Secrets is considered one of the darkest in the Harry Potter series. Dealing with the murder of students, multi-generational racism and the manipulation of a little girl from an older guy are all heavy subjects. The flashback parts to Hogwarts past was also intriguing and seeing young Tom Riddle as a lonely and vulnerable student with the same desperation for a home, just like Harry really makes you feel for him.

A little bit at least.

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