Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Overall, I liked this volume a little better than the first volume. With each volume I notice more and more how much I would like to go to school at Hogwarts and how much fun I have reading the story. It's just a part of my childhood & even though I'm reading the series for the first time, it's a bit like coming home.
But I still have a few things to criticize: the chapters are too long for me, the narrative perspective makes it difficult for me to read & what really bothers me is that there is simply no discussion of emotions. J.K. Rowling uses almost exclusively the outside perspective & really only focuses on the plot. I think that's a shame because it means I can't get to know the characters more closely.
Nevertheless, I love the story and am looking forward to the third volume!!

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divine529's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is a book and series I'll always love. This reread was no different, but this time I read the illustrated edition.

I won't deny that I've been hesitant to read the illustrated edition of this because growing up with this, I have certain ideas of what characters look like and ways I imagine the world, but let me just say that this enhanced that love. Every version I've experienced of this just adds to my vision and understanding of it all.

Since this is the illustrated edition, I'm primarily going to focus on talking about the artwork this reread. Jim Kay did an absolutely phenomenal job illustrating everything. I adored his work, even if it didn't always match my own version in my head or what we've all seen in the movies. I saw a documentary and I've read several articles about the work he did and pressure he felt with this project and it's astounding. He made sure to get all the details right and you can see the research on the page. I know he was concerned about ruining the series with his illustrations, but really, as I've already mentioned, it enhanced it and gave me a different experience.

Compared with TSS, the illustrations in this book were even better. I seriously loved them so much.

I definitely enjoyed this and I'll be curious to check out the other books in the future.

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kmoyer07's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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