Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Book 2 of 7
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: June 2, 1999
Pages: 352
From Goodreads:
It's hard to fall in love with an earnest, appealing young hero like Harry Potter and then to watch helplessly as he steps into terrible danger! And in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the much anticipated sequel to the award-winning Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, he is in terrible danger indeed. As if it's not bad enough that after a long summer with the horrid Dursleys he is thwarted in his attempts to hop the train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his second year. But when his only transportation option is a magical flying car, it is just his luck to crash into a valuable (but clearly vexed) Whomping Willow. Still, all this seems like a day in the park compared to what happens that fall within the haunted halls of Hogwarts.
***
For me, this was definitely a lot more emotional than the first book. While Harry does confront Voldemort/Quirrell at the end of the Sorcerer’s Stone, it really doesn’t compare to meeting him in the Chamber of Secrets. The drama is also escalated with Ginny being possessed and taken into the chamber by Voldemort to die. You can begin to see the developing relationship between Harry and the entire Weasley family.
I love the way this book starts out with Harry meeting Dobby and his well-intended but misguided intentions. Poor Dobby just wants to help and yet cannot seem to get it right throughout the book. And it gets even better when Harry is rescued from the Dursleys by the Weasleys and their flying car. What better way to escape from a boring, dreadful summer?
The Chamber of Secrets, in my opinion, is the last book in the series before the plot turns really dark and the magical world starts to spiral downwards with Voldemort’s return. It has always felt like a turning point to me whenever I read the books or watch the movies – like after the chamber, it really only gets worse from there. Don’t get me wrong – I love every single book ,but the last five to me are far more intense than the first two.
You are very right...TPoA is when the series starts getting darker and more mature. CoS was still a bit light and fluffy at points, but perfectly set up the third book, too. I'm an avid HP fan, and this series is just pure brilliance :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent review!
Interesting what you say about the plot getting dark after this book. I actually thought the third book was the most happy and hopeful of all of them, and loved it so much when I first read the series because it was so different and ended with so much more hope than the first two.
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