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A review by hootinglance
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
5.0
So for some reason this has a reputation for being the worst harry potter. No idea why, when they're all perfect (aside from #8). But I've often heard 'the harry potter and the chamber of secrets of blank' as an insult. Again, no idea why.
If Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone had been attacked by a steak knife until there was nothing left other than plot and cliches, The Chamber of Secrets is the guy whose just gotten back from the fitness camp and is currently in the best shape of its life. There's still a strong preference for plot above all else, with the only lessons being those which directly relate to the main story. But there are more scenes of world building, such as the de-gnoming scene at the start which - aside from briefly introducing Lockheart - is completely pointless. Being so familiar with the movies, there are multiple instances where scenes were executed much better than in the book, such as funny lines that simply aren't there in the novel. Most action scenes are also still glossed over quickly, such as the scene with Aragog that's literately over in half a page. Within a sentence they go from certain death to completely safe, and if the flying car hadn't been shown very briefly a page before, it would be the very definition of a deus ex machina.
Also, having read Prisoner of Azkaban before, its blindingly obvious that many parts of the world weren't thought out completely before writing this book (not that that's a thing to be ashamed of, just interesting for its lore inconsistencies). Not only do characters still continue to refer to werewolves as though they're just a type of magical wolf, rather than a person with a curse (for lack of a better word), but its obvious that Azkaban isnt run by dementors yet, although JK at least had the forethought to be vague about it, referring to them as 'prison guards'
The book is still extremely easy to read. Aside from a few scenes which could do with expanding, it was borderline perfect. Its darker, certainly, and fairly bleak, but a fantastic sequel. Knowing how big the books are going to get, you can see the origin of it here, but hey, we've still got one more to go before they get big, and Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite, so yay!
If Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone had been attacked by a steak knife until there was nothing left other than plot and cliches, The Chamber of Secrets is the guy whose just gotten back from the fitness camp and is currently in the best shape of its life. There's still a strong preference for plot above all else, with the only lessons being those which directly relate to the main story. But there are more scenes of world building, such as the de-gnoming scene at the start which - aside from briefly introducing Lockheart - is completely pointless. Being so familiar with the movies, there are multiple instances where scenes were executed much better than in the book, such as funny lines that simply aren't there in the novel. Most action scenes are also still glossed over quickly, such as the scene with Aragog that's literately over in half a page. Within a sentence they go from certain death to completely safe, and if the flying car hadn't been shown very briefly a page before, it would be the very definition of a deus ex machina.
Also, having read Prisoner of Azkaban before, its blindingly obvious that many parts of the world weren't thought out completely before writing this book (not that that's a thing to be ashamed of, just interesting for its lore inconsistencies). Not only do characters still continue to refer to werewolves as though they're just a type of magical wolf, rather than a person with a curse (for lack of a better word), but its obvious that Azkaban isnt run by dementors yet, although JK at least had the forethought to be vague about it, referring to them as 'prison guards'
The book is still extremely easy to read. Aside from a few scenes which could do with expanding, it was borderline perfect. Its darker, certainly, and fairly bleak, but a fantastic sequel. Knowing how big the books are going to get, you can see the origin of it here, but hey, we've still got one more to go before they get big, and Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite, so yay!