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A review by a_j_torres0
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
4.0
This is a Middle Grade Urban Fantasy novel book 2 in the series.
(NEW)**Please be aware that the author to this series has come forward as being a transphobic TERF, purposely spreading lies and misinformation about not only the trans community but nonbinary folks as well. She is unapologetic and doesn't care how much harm her platform now brings onto certain members of the LGBTQIA+ community. If you wish to read this book and/or this series, then please be aware of what she is doing. Thank you.**
Book Cover: 5* - Yup, I still love illustrated covers, this book is no exception. However, there is something I noticed thanks to an ending bit of this book, and that is Harry has a really strong neck lol. I mean, Harry is holding on to Faux the phoenix while Ron hangs on by Harry's cloak AND holding Ginny's hand! And no magic was never used to be held in this manner lmao.
Summary/Tagline: 4* - I think this books summary is much more intriguing than book 1's. We get new things in the school, one of which if pretty terrifying as it mentions kids being turned to stone. Like, woah!
Characters: 3* - I still find Harry pretty boring compared to Hermione and Ron. Hermione learns about the wizarding world while having a celebrity crush on Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Ron just having knowledge on the wizarding world in general. However, Professor Snape is still a terrible teacher that verbally abuses students that isn't in Slytherin, Draco Malfoy is very much a racist bully who I want to slap really badly, Gilderoy Lockhart is just . . . such an a**! A really big dumba**! And of course, kids are in danger in the school but most of the teachers don't really seem to take it that seriously and instead groan about how terrible Gilderoy is as a teacher and a person, and Dumbledore would much prefer to rely on a child to face the big bad baddies in order to save the school and stop the villain . . . The villain is still the same as in book 1 but in a different form . . . I just found him meh in this book.
World Building: 3* - Now I'm really surprised at myself for bringing the world building in this book 1 star lower than it was from the last one, but I'm going to stand my ground here as I ended up realizing something about the wizarding world, and that is the fact that there is a class system. The purest blood wizarding family seem to be the richest in this world, along with the Potters and the Longbottoms . . . so why are the Weasleys so almost dirt poor that they have so many kids, but barely the means to care for them and provide what they need for school? Not to mention, this is the second book in the series, and the magic is never explained. I know they use wands, and hands I guess, but I don't know where their source of magic comes from, and the magic is barely used in these books. I'm serious, there isn't a lot of moments in these 2 books so far where they utilize their magic except for as a gag. I'm just starting to think there was way more magic done in the movies than in this book. I hope this improves by book 3.
Story: 3* - This was a tough one to decide on, but I found most of the story . . . not boring, but not interesting either. It's just most of the exciting scenes were quickly breezed over and then we just get stuck with how Harry feels about the Dursleys, Snape, class or quiditch for much longer than what is actually going on. I also thought it was odd how many students quickly turned on Harry when the students being targeted for petrification were muggle born students, you know, HERMIONE! However, those short, fascinating moments were very memorable, it's just hard to get through how terrible the whole, I get it, the Dursleys suck, and if this was in real life, child services would have been called on them and Snape would have been fire, I'm just saying. Also Dumbledore is terrible Headmaster, why the h*** would he rely on Harry to save the school against a terrifying monster!? Read the book to know what I mean -_-.
Over All: 3.5* - All in all, this book was interesting, but I'm also finding this series to be ok suddenly at the same time. Maybe it's because I'm starting to ask way more questions compared to when I first read these books and finding no answers to them or something, but I honestly expected better. Anyway, if I remember correctly, book 3 and on get better based on story and characters at least, possibly the world building too, but I will see when I get to those books.
(NEW)**Please be aware that the author to this series has come forward as being a transphobic TERF, purposely spreading lies and misinformation about not only the trans community but nonbinary folks as well. She is unapologetic and doesn't care how much harm her platform now brings onto certain members of the LGBTQIA+ community. If you wish to read this book and/or this series, then please be aware of what she is doing. Thank you.**
Book Cover: 5* - Yup, I still love illustrated covers, this book is no exception. However, there is something I noticed thanks to an ending bit of this book, and that is Harry has a really strong neck lol. I mean, Harry is holding on to Faux the phoenix while Ron hangs on by Harry's cloak AND holding Ginny's hand! And no magic was never used to be held in this manner lmao.
Summary/Tagline: 4* - I think this books summary is much more intriguing than book 1's. We get new things in the school, one of which if pretty terrifying as it mentions kids being turned to stone. Like, woah!
Characters: 3* - I still find Harry pretty boring compared to Hermione and Ron. Hermione learns about the wizarding world while having a celebrity crush on Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Ron just having knowledge on the wizarding world in general. However, Professor Snape is still a terrible teacher that verbally abuses students that isn't in Slytherin, Draco Malfoy is very much a racist bully who I want to slap really badly, Gilderoy Lockhart is just . . . such an a**! A really big dumba**! And of course, kids are in danger in the school but most of the teachers don't really seem to take it that seriously and instead groan about how terrible Gilderoy is as a teacher and a person, and Dumbledore would much prefer to rely on a child to face the big bad baddies in order to save the school and stop the villain . . . The villain is still the same as in book 1 but in a different form . . . I just found him meh in this book.
World Building: 3* - Now I'm really surprised at myself for bringing the world building in this book 1 star lower than it was from the last one, but I'm going to stand my ground here as I ended up realizing something about the wizarding world, and that is the fact that there is a class system. The purest blood wizarding family seem to be the richest in this world, along with the Potters and the Longbottoms . . . so why are the Weasleys so almost dirt poor that they have so many kids, but barely the means to care for them and provide what they need for school? Not to mention, this is the second book in the series, and the magic is never explained. I know they use wands, and hands I guess, but I don't know where their source of magic comes from, and the magic is barely used in these books. I'm serious, there isn't a lot of moments in these 2 books so far where they utilize their magic except for as a gag. I'm just starting to think there was way more magic done in the movies than in this book. I hope this improves by book 3.
Story: 3* - This was a tough one to decide on, but I found most of the story . . . not boring, but not interesting either. It's just most of the exciting scenes were quickly breezed over and then we just get stuck with how Harry feels about the Dursleys, Snape, class or quiditch for much longer than what is actually going on. I also thought it was odd how many students quickly turned on Harry when the students being targeted for petrification were muggle born students, you know, HERMIONE! However, those short, fascinating moments were very memorable, it's just hard to get through how terrible the whole, I get it, the Dursleys suck, and if this was in real life, child services would have been called on them and Snape would have been fire, I'm just saying. Also Dumbledore is terrible Headmaster, why the h*** would he rely on Harry to save the school against a terrifying monster!? Read the book to know what I mean -_-.
Over All: 3.5* - All in all, this book was interesting, but I'm also finding this series to be ok suddenly at the same time. Maybe it's because I'm starting to ask way more questions compared to when I first read these books and finding no answers to them or something, but I honestly expected better. Anyway, if I remember correctly, book 3 and on get better based on story and characters at least, possibly the world building too, but I will see when I get to those books.