Harry Potter has been having a drab summer with the dispicable Dursleys. He takes comfort they keep their distance because he knows magic. That is, until Uncle Vernon gets a note warning Harry from using his magic outside of Hogwarts. With that, they go back to locking him up and treating him like a slave. One night while sitting in his room, a creature named Dobby comes to warn Harry not to go back to Hogwarts or something bad will happen. Ignoring this, he goes back to the school. He finds that his enemy, Draco Malfoy, has become more powerful(and has bought himself a spot on the quidditch team), and does not like the new self-centered Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart (who also brags about his celebrity status). One night, Harry finds writing on a wall stating the Chamber of Secrets has been opened and students start turning into stone. Harry must now find out the truth as one of the victims has been Hermione. Answers start coming when he finds an old diary.

I liked how we got to read more about the Weasley family. They treat Harry like a son of their own and love hearing about how muggles (non-wizards and witches) live. Learning more about Hagrid's past was interesting too. JK's writing has a slightly darker tone to it as this one takes a small step into darkness when Harry, Ron, and Hermione take a small step into the unknown. There were lots of twists and turns and in the end, the person behind it all was a shock. As with the first book, I like the little illustrations at the beginning of the chapter.

Pump myself up for the third entry, The Prisoner of Azkaban.

JK Rowling has taken us farther in the adventures of our young hero Harry. Her writing was lighthearted in the first one, but changes to a slightly darker tone in the second one. She definately has the stuff to keep the reader interested. As far as I am concered, she deserves every pound, Euro, and dollar she has made from these books.

This is just well written, period. There is plenty of detail in every chapter. For readers of the first book, it's like meeting old friends (and enemies) again.

I couldn't put this book down. It was just very interesting and had me guessing until the end who opened the Chamber of Secrets and who was behind it all. Just when I thought I knew who, the story does a 360 and makes you think it was someone else. You would never guess the real culprit in a million years. I'm sure now that I have read this book I'll have high expectations for the film (but whomever plays Dumbeldore in the third film will have big shoes to fill, as Richard Harris has passed on). This book got my mouth watering for the third entry in the series.

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Created Apr 30, 2003 at 2:35pm • Submit your own review...