A review by stephanieam
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Hands down my absolute favorite book within the Harry Potter series! From the characters involved (both old and new) to the thrilling events surrounding Sirius Black to the magical creatures and devices introduced, everything just works so well together. I love how this book devotes more attention to the everyday life of and around Hogwarts than its predecessors. Harry and the others are much more settled within this world and have more available to them now that they are older, and this ultimately allows for more classes and activities to shine. While the other installments all have the same main villain, I enjoy how this book is a bit of a departure in its overarching mystery as well as its villain. Like with the previous two books, I had mixed feelings about the illustrations. They did not detract from my reading experience because the story is so strong, and there were some memorable images. However, they always seemed to focus on the obscure moments and grew weaker toward the end. I understand that as the books become longer, there needs to be a stricter limit on the amount of pictures. One of the best chapters (if not the best) in the entire book though has no visuals until the very end. The pictures were stunning when they finally appeared, but I would have liked to see them woven throughout instead of making me read pages and pages of text with nothing. Overall, this a story that never disappoints. If I could only pick one book to read for the rest of my life, this would most certainly be a contender!