None
5 stars
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Dumbledore is a wise nut.
Paperback, 360 pages
English language
Published Sept. 1, 2014 by Bloomsbury.
4 stars
(568 reviews)
Throughout the summer holidays after his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter has been receiving sinister warnings from a house-elf called Dobby.
Now, back at school to start his second year, Harry hears unintelligible whispers echoing through the corridors.
Before long the attacks begin: students are found as if turned to stone.
Dobby’s predictions seem to be coming true.
The Gnome King reviewed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, #2)
Review of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
When an author writes an epic series of books you gotta expect that some stuff maybe recycled and that the beginning of each book will be similar as you get a recap of what happened and the characters are introduced again, for those who forget easily or maybe for those who like to read a series in random order. What I wasn't expecting was Rowling to just rehash the first potter book, I don't understand why nobody has complained more about this. Everything that happened in this book is just slightly tweaked from the last book. Here's a run-down of both books.
1. Harry has horrible foster parents and they lock him away because they don't want him going to wizard school (it looked like they had learnt their lesson in book 1 but conveniently forgot all that for book 2)
2. They go to Diagon ally to buy some …
When an author writes an epic series of books you gotta expect that some stuff maybe recycled and that the beginning of each book will be similar as you get a recap of what happened and the characters are introduced again, for those who forget easily or maybe for those who like to read a series in random order. What I wasn't expecting was Rowling to just rehash the first potter book, I don't understand why nobody has complained more about this. Everything that happened in this book is just slightly tweaked from the last book. Here's a run-down of both books.
1. Harry has horrible foster parents and they lock him away because they don't want him going to wizard school (it looked like they had learnt their lesson in book 1 but conveniently forgot all that for book 2)
2. They go to Diagon ally to buy some stuff.
3. They go to school, lessons are tough, Ron moans about something, One possibly evil teacher is in a bad mood and takes it out on harry.
4. Something bad is happening at the school, in this instance kids are ending up long term in medical, where the hell is OFSTED or social services? Why aren't the parents there worried for their kids? Magic! That's why.
5. Hagrid has a strange pet.
6. The boys go into the woods and meet a strange creature
7. The teachers are completely oblivious to what is going on, all their years of experience and training are out the window at this point. IMHO the only teacher with an excuse is the amazing Gilderoy Lockhart. What a guy!
8. Oh Hermione is a goody goody two shoes who likes to learn.
9. Harry figures it out
10. There is a battle under the school
11. Harry wings it like a pro.
12. Bad guys get what's coming to them.
And repeat for book 3?
Given it 2 stars as the writing has improved from book 1.
jellybeyreads reviewed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, #2)
Review of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Have decided to re-read the entire series. Will not change the original star ratings, but will include my updated star ratings in the wall o' text.
4 stars
The first time I read this, way back in high school, I remember thinking that it just wasn't as good as #1. When I read through the first part of the series again before reading #5, I remember thinking #2 might just be my favorite. This time, I know already it won't be my favorite of the series, but it's a huge improvement over #1, as there's actually a plot.
Review of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sits rather awkwardly in the crossroads between the juvenile read that was The Philosopher's Stone and the steadily more sophisticated series that was to come.
Certainly we get a more directed plot in this book than we did in Philosopher's Stone (which was more of a jaunty tour of Hogwarts than anything else)but there are times when the characters behave in a manner that simply defies adult logic... and it works.
This is certainly not the end of the world. After all the target audience is young and the logic will probably seem sound to them. But re-reading this and knowing what is to come, the notion of Harry and Ron hiding in a cupboard, listening to the teachers and knowing the location of the Chamber of Secrets... but not sharing it... is a little bizarre.
I am still impressed though by the …
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sits rather awkwardly in the crossroads between the juvenile read that was The Philosopher's Stone and the steadily more sophisticated series that was to come.
Certainly we get a more directed plot in this book than we did in Philosopher's Stone (which was more of a jaunty tour of Hogwarts than anything else)but there are times when the characters behave in a manner that simply defies adult logic... and it works.
This is certainly not the end of the world. After all the target audience is young and the logic will probably seem sound to them. But re-reading this and knowing what is to come, the notion of Harry and Ron hiding in a cupboard, listening to the teachers and knowing the location of the Chamber of Secrets... but not sharing it... is a little bizarre.
I am still impressed though by the number of elements that will be important in the later books are set up this early on. And there's certainly much more of a sense of fear in this book than in the first (where no one really ever felt they were at any risk).
Our trinity of characters are established firm friends now and it's good to see them stretch a little beyond the roles they had in the first book. The secondary cast expands a bit as well, though I did think that Neville got short shrift in this one.
And of course we're still at the point in the series where it remains focused for the entire book rather than meandering in the middle as happened with some of the later installments. Pretty much everything that happens here is relevant to the plot in some fashion.
Stephen Hayes reviewed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, #2)
None
5 stars
One of my criteria for a good book is that I must enjoy re-reading it, and I enjoyed reading this one for the third (or perhaps the fourth) time almost as much as I did the first time.
The Harry Potter series came out at a time when there was a dearth of good children's books. For years the children's shelves in book shops had been filled with dreck like the "Goosebumps" series, and so one of the reasons the Harry Potter books seemed so good was simply the contrast with the other reading material available at the time. But twenty years later this one still seems good, and that, to me, indicates that it has stood the test of time, and can be counted as a classic of children's literature.
I recall, from my first reading, that I liked this one best one the whole series, Each book in …
One of my criteria for a good book is that I must enjoy re-reading it, and I enjoyed reading this one for the third (or perhaps the fourth) time almost as much as I did the first time.
The Harry Potter series came out at a time when there was a dearth of good children's books. For years the children's shelves in book shops had been filled with dreck like the "Goosebumps" series, and so one of the reasons the Harry Potter books seemed so good was simply the contrast with the other reading material available at the time. But twenty years later this one still seems good, and that, to me, indicates that it has stood the test of time, and can be counted as a classic of children's literature.
I recall, from my first reading, that I liked this one best one the whole series, Each book in the series seemed to be longer than the previous one, and the quantity did not seem to correlate with quality, so I don't know how far I'll get with the series in this re-reading, since I recall that it was all downhill from here.
Zéro Janvier reviewed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, #2)
Review of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Le deuxième tome de la célébrissime saga Harry Potter, qu'on ne présente plus. Je sais que celui-ci a ses détracteurs, mais j'aime beaucoup ce tome, peut-être parce que c'est le premier où la noirceur des derniers tomes commence à faire son apparition, avec ce thème du racisme et de l'intolérance en toile de fond.
