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Summary: Sabian Reviews
Review: Filled with lots of fun and plenty of thrills, Harry Potter goes through yet another excitement filled year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. From the dormitories to the Forbidden Forest, Harry and his friends search for answers to their latest mystery that has them baffled. People turning into stone and strange voices keep them on their toes, while the professors make their lives harder to live by the day. You'll get all the adventure that you need in this excellent sequel to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone". Read it.
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Summary: Some things in this book just don't make sense!
Review: First I must admit I did enjoy reading the book and that I do not dislike it, but I just couldn't help feeling a little disappointed when I finished it. Some things just don't make sense here. For one thing, if Howgarts can hire a teacher like Lockhart, you can't help but wonder if Dumbledore is really that wise when he can allow such an idiot in the faculty. In this book Dumbledore doesn't live up to his image in the previous book. I think if Rowling had let Dumbledore give us an explanation at the end like she always has, as to why he hired Lockhart in the first place, it'd have definitely made Dumbledore look more worthy of Harry's trust. The Chamber of Secrets is certainly a thrilling book, but not as brilliant as the first.
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Summary: The best of the first three
Review: First of all, I am only comparing this book against the first three. I have not yet read Goblet of Fire (Book 4) as I am waiting for paperback.Second of all, a brief note on who I am. I am a 23-year-old guy, your average working guy, computer geek, metalhead who usually has no time or tolerance for children's stories and thus I never considered Harry Potter anything more than a passing fad. Then a guy loaned me the movie (I was not about to pay to see it, even though I had to admit it looked decent) and since then I have seen it seven times and read the first two books twice. I am going through "Azkaban" for the second time around. Now I love it - the whole series and the movies. If there was any flaw in the first Harry Potter book, it might be that it was too short to take place across an entire year. Chamber of Secrets is longer and while it is only 341 pages, it does not move too quickly. Rather, at the end it feels too short, but any child will tell you that's what the last day of school feels like, which I think was the point. Author J.K. Rowling takes a lot of typical children (Harry being the likeable nerd, Ron being the typical boy, Hermione being the know-it-all girl, Draco being the bully, Ginny being the shy girl and Neville being the slow guy that only the hero really has compassion for) that almost anyone can relate to at least one of them and places them in a world that nobody can relate to, and subtly describes the world in such detail with so few (but effective) words that you can just see it. Chamber of Secrets was not only longer than Sorcerer's Stone, but it was more in depth. It was much funnier (Hermione's feelings for Professor Lockhart), had more adventure (the whole bit about the Weasley's car), and the ending was more complicated yet made much more sense. Snape, Hagrid, and Dumbledore, who were all very unique characters in every way, all offer us more insight into their mysterious lives. The rivalry between Potter and Malfoy is heated and heated some more. And two new characters Dobby and Professor Lockhart, are absolutely hillarious. I would reccomend this book (and the whole series) to anyone who enjoyed movies such as Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, The Never Ending Story, and Lord of the Rings.
Rating:
Summary: A So-So Read
Review: First off, I loved the first book!! I realize that it would be hard to duplicate all the excitement that was served up in the Sorcerer's Stone, but I didn't really anticipate such a big drop off in the quality of the story. I still suggest that averyone that read the first book should indeed buy this one as there are so few quality books for children, but just don't expect the same feeling that the first book delivered..
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Summary: A Better Read
Review: First things first. You folks might want to read this beacuase this is a rarity...a good sequel. In fact, a sequel which is better than the original. This one has far more characters, more details about the existing characters and about how things have come to be as they are, with more details about Harry's past and Hogwart's history. This book has a far better plot(if there can be such a thing), a more darker story and a better plot twist. Basically its all about Harry's 2nd year at Hogwarts and how it seems to appear that someone or something is out to get him. It is about how Harry and his plucky friends Hermione and Ron get into and out of trouble..and it has more Quidditch. It must be said that the best bit about this series of books is that the entire story is like one big jigsaw puzzle and though the individual pieces may not make sense when viewed individually, at the end everything falls delightfully into place. In fact so into place, that one is tempted to read certain portions of the book again just after finishing the book the first time, just for the satisfaction of having understood how everything fits in. Please do not miss this.
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Summary: attractive to all ages
Review: First, a little background...I received book 1 as a Christmas gift. When my mom saw it on my Christmas list, she asked me why I, a 25 year old college grad, would want a kid's book? I told her that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So she bought it for me and I put off reading it until about a month ago. Surprisingly, I was hooked. So I rushed out and bought book 2. I know that everyone has been going on about how wonderful the books are, but I am pleasantly surprised by the depth of these books. The "Chamber of Secrets" has so many layers that I found it hard to keep track of at times. However, the book itself is so engrossing, I read it in one sitting. Although Harry is only a teenager, Rowling writes him in such a way that people of all ages can either look forward to being that age and having similar situations and thoughts, or look back on when their lives were much simpler. The reader is led through Harry's struggle to understand what being a wizard is all about and who is really is. And the latter is something we all face.
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Summary: The fun of the first, with more magical mystery
Review: First, I absolutely reccomend that you read the first book (even if you've seen the movie) before reading this 2nd installment to fully appreciate and enjoy the work. Although "Chamber of Secrets" does stand on its own and contains all the basic info in case you didnt read "Sorceror's Stone", the first book does such a wonderful job of setting up the exposition and world of Hogwarts so that you are already excited as Harry is to see Ron again when they reunite in this story. Although "Sorceror's Stone" does capture all the wonder and discovery, I did find this book to have a bit more excitement and mystery which was needed to progress the adventure in this fun series. The first few chapters each end with great "cliff-hanging" page-turning suspense and the wild excitement happens even before Harry reaches Hogwarts for his second year. There is a few new characters introduced such as ego-maniac Prof.Gilderoy (the new defense against the dark arts instructor), and Ginny (Ron's younger sister), along with a few new ghosts roaming the halls (or stalls) and monsters of the forbidden forest. There's also a few new tricks and magical discoveries without negating what we've already learned during our Freshman year. I do worry that parts of this story may be too intense for younger readers. Some of the final scenes involve abstract psychosis and even death. By the end, most of the hero's are restored, but some parents might find it still disturbing and use caution.(just read it yourself beforehand and use your judgement. It might even lend to good discussion with your child) I did find the plot twists and final confrontation exciting and caught myself off-guard with surprises ("I can't believe I didnt pay much attention when that happened in the bookshop!"), especially because the reader is usually caught in the daily life, humor, and mischief of life at Hogwarts School. As an adult, I have the guilty pleasure of finding great fun and escapism in these books. I think J.K.Rowling has done another wonderful job capturing the anxieties and friendships of a childhood and presenting them in the magical way we wished we had them. PS: After reading books 1&2 in paperback, I instantly invested in getting the box set of 1-4 in hardcover.
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Summary: The Greatest!!!!
Review: First, I loved Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and I was truly afraid that with how fast they were coming out with these books, it wouldn't be as good. But I just finished reading it this morning, and its just as good as the first one! Adults and children alike should definitely like this book. This is a must read for sure!!
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Summary: Entertaining, but....
Review: Following the huge success of her first book, J. K. Rowling reintroduce us to the magical world of Harry Potter. In the sequel, Harry once again faced a lethal yet unknown threat which petrified (turn into stone) many of his colleagues. The structure and pacing of the book is close to the first one yet it still manages to create enough suspense and surprise along the way, so that the readers can hardly put the book down. As addictive as it is, there are some points I do not like about this book. First, some characters, e.g. Lockhart or the Dursleys, are stereotypical to the extreme that it got annoying. I understand that this is a book for young reader but I believe that young audiences can be intelligent enough to appreciate characters that are multi-dimensional. Second, this book may send a wrong message to children, being as successful as it is. In this sequel, Harry did almost every illegal things to achieve what he wanted, e.g. steal, lie, or hurt other people. Worse, he went away unpunished at most of those things. That is not the way it works in real life, isn't it?, even if you did it for a good cause. Despite all these, I still enjoy this book immensely and finish it in only two days. However, parents would be advised to communicate with their kids after they read this book to prevent children from embracing wrong ideas.
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Summary: Almost unbelievably good
Review: For a children's book, this is amazing. The first Harry Potter book didn't excite me too much. It was just a better-than-usual children's book. The second book blew me away. It is good even by the standards of adult fiction.
When harry returns to Hogwarts, the wizarding school he attends, some sort of monster has been released on the school and is attacking students. During the course of the book, Rowling weaves a complicated puzzle around this mystery, and by the end of the book, the reader still has no idea what is going on, until she drops in the last, tiny piece of the puzzle, and everything becomes clear.
But the along with the mystery, Rowling still manages to fill in the other, more mundane details of Harry's year, his classes, his teachers, the Quidditch games, and many other minor details. Yet I'd still call this book an easy read.
The bottom line is, if the first Harry Potter book didn't impress you that much, pick this one up and you'll be an instant fan.
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