The Harry Potter Saga continues when The Chamber of Secrets is opened at Hogwarts, landing some of Harry’s classmates in danger. Will Harry Potter be able to save the day?
The reading of the Harry Potter series has been quite interesting because I really liked the first movie but didn’t really care for the rest. It becomes too dark, but what does that mean exactly? So it has been an exciting process to document exactly how my feelings for the Harry Potter series evolved since the first book.
In the beginning of the book, Harry is whining and doing nothing to improve his situation. He is complaining about not hearing from his friends, complaining about the Dursleys, complaining about no magic, complaining about no quidditch. Instead of cross training for quidditch, he just complains. If I wanted to hear complaints, I wouldn’t need to pick up a book. Also, I feel that some of the extraordinariness was missing from the second book. One of the scenes that I loved in the first book was when Harry was receiving all his letters to attend Hogwarts, but this book didn’t have that. There was some animal cruelty in this book involving a firecracker, and I thought that Harry was incredibly impatient with Colin Creevey, the little boy who was asking questions. Harry, wasn’t that you just last year?
There were some portions of the book that I did enjoy, and I am grateful that the author didn’t force us into another Hogwarts Express ride and another sorting ceremony. My favorite character (although a bit overused) was Professor Gilderoy Lockheart. I was laughing so much when I saw this note, “To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockheart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly Most-Charming-Smile Award.” His various titles took up most of the note! It reminds of people who have PhD’s who try to get you to call them Doctor. Big eyeroll. Yeah. I’ll get right on that. I also loved when Gilderoy said thanks for the 46 Valentine’s Day cards, very similar to when people send themselves flowers for Valentine’s (Remember Clueless?).
The author also overly relied on fan favorites, heavily leveraging Hogwarts and the former cast of characters. I am more impressed with some other fantasy writers when they developed an entirely new set of characters and wove them into the storyline. This is a test for greatness from authors. Can they write a subsequent book without leaning so heavily on the fan favorites? In my opinion, JK Rowling didn’t meet that challenge.
Overall, it is a decent fantasy book with a system that isn’t too hard to understand. It isn’t embarrassing, but it isn’t great.
2023 Reading Schedule
Jan Alice in Wonderland
Feb Notes from a Small Island
Mar Cloud Atlas
Apr On the Road
May The Color Purple
Jun Bleak House
Jul Bridget Jones’s Diary
Aug Anna Karenina
Sep The Secret History
Oct Brave New World
Nov A Confederacy of Dunces
Dec The Count of Monte Cristo
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Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) 2022: 5/5
2021: To była kiedyś moja ukochana część… w sumie wciąż ją uwielbiam! Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) (A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: A clever conjuration, it's a cozy castle mystery, a creature-fest, and Ripper-esque: lit by monsters, ghosts, and history. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) This was a cute middle grade book. Even though it was slow, I liked it a little more than the first book since at this point the world has already been established and now we get to see more of the characters and the setting. Ron and his family, especially the twins, are endearing. I also thought it was interesting seeing Harry’s internal struggle with whether he was truly Gryffindor or Slytherin, and the payoff later on about how it is our choices that show what we truly are. I didn’t like how the mystery was conveniently solved, the monologue of explanation from the villain at the end, and how Hermione was literally petrified throughout most of the book just so that she wouldn’t have figured everything out right away. But I’m glad to finally be done with this book so that, just like Dobby, I am free. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) My late lamented lords, ladies, and gentlemen,
The best of us must sometimes eat our words,
Every time you loved the first book of a series, and then start reading the second - eagerly waiting for the story to continue - there's always the apprehension, that things might not be as great as the first. Well, Chamber of Secrets will convince you otherwise: everything keeps getting better.
Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?
I was glad to find everything I loved about the first book still applicable to the second. It'll be a bit redundant if all those plus points were to be repeated here, but still, I cannot refrain from mentioning how easy it is to read the story. In no way I'm implying that the narration is plain or just too simple - for it is definitely not the case - but it is just one smooth flow. The story itself is much more detailed than the first one, mainly because setting up of environment and characters were done in the original. Though I didn't feel so before, in retrospect, the first book now feels like an introduction to the series, and this as the first real adventure.
It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
And again, it's impossible not to start reading the next one immediately.
Regrowing bones is a nasty business. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
J.K. Rowling ↠ 0 DOWNLOAD
The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone, or something, starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects: Harry Potter himself? Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: A bit bland at times, with less wonder and discovery than before, but finishes well with a more satisfying conclusion. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) Continuing my reread with the illustrated editions! Gotta get through this one so that my daughter can start it next. <3
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It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
What can I say that hasn't been said before about this series? What words can do this book justice? I've felt at a loss on how to explain my feelings for these books as I've read them. I didn't experience them as a child and therefore my experience is clearly different than most others on here, but in some ways I think it's just as magical to read these for the first time as an adult as it was for everyone who devoured these as they were published in their childhood. I have kids, so I was constantly wondering how my 5 year old will accept these books when she's a bit older and tried to view the story through her eyes.
The holidays are always a busy, stressful time for us. All of our family is a hefty distance to travel to and, on top of that, we're moving into our new place this month. All I could think about was how desperately I wanted to escape all of my adult responsibilities for just a bit each day, and this was the perfect book to do so with. No matter your age, the magical world of Hogwarts is truly spectacular; the characters are such that they stay with you even after the final page is turned and the writing takes you back to a place you weren't sure existed for us old farts anymore. If you have been hiding under a rock for the past 20 years like I have, I highly encourage you pick these books up and get swept away like I did. Time is a precious commodity these days, and you couldn't spend it in a better way than with these precious kiddos. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” CHILLS.
(REREAD)
Okay DUH 5/5 stars. I actually liked this book more than I remembered! This used to be my least favorite of the Harry Potter books and, while that still might be true, I was more entertained than I expected! I always forget how different Book Ginny is from Movie Ginny (way better all around) and how she has such a bigger role in the books than the films.
NOW ONTO HP AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN! Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) JK Rowling really knows how to write a great book, thats for sure! Although this wasn't my favorite book in the series, it definitely wasn't because it was bad. I loved the plot and conflict, even though it wasn't as intense as the others were. I was definitely shocked at the end...so epic and mind blowing! Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) I love this book, of course I do, but the fact remains that this book prominently featured two of my most hated Harry Potter characters. Ginny Weasley and Dobby. There, I said it. I hate them both. In my Harry Potter hate list, Ginny and Dobby probably rank somewhere below Umbridge and Peter Pettigrew. Yeah, you heard me. I hate them that much.
The reason I hate Ginny is---well, never mind. I don't want to start another shipping war here, the last one was terrible enough, so let the reason for my hatred be implicit and unsaid.
Dobby is freaking annoying, yo. All his eagerness and shit - and yeah, I know what happens in the end. Doesn't matter. I still hate Dobby. Dobby is the equivalent of fingernails on chalkboard for me. If he had been my elf, I'd have given him a sock already so he could his whimpering, sniveling ass out of my life. He means well, I know he does, it's just that he's such a frustratingly well-meaning bumbling idiot.
“You know what, Harry? If he doesn’t stop trying to save your life he’s going to kill you.”Aaaaaaaand one final note.
“Ginny!” said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. “Haven’t I taught you anything. What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain?No particular reason I included that, except for the fact that it reminded me of my ex-boyfriend :3 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
