Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling

After finishing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone just hours before launching into this one, I was super excited to see how Harry had developed from a first-year student to a second-year student. 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets was a complete rollercoaster of mysteries and secrets that I absolutely adored reading about!

Plot

After Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, he is back to living with the horrible Dursley’s. The only thing keeping him alive is the threat that he’ll use magic on them! Harry receives a warning before his second year at Hogwarts by a house elf named Dobby. Dobby tells Harry about a great plot and a disaster that is being planned at the school. 

As he begins his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry is pulled into deep trouble as horrors strike within the walls of the school. The heir of slytherin has opened the Chamber of Secrets, and it’s up to Harry to solve the mystery and clear his name!

Characters

Harry is such a cool character that I found myself relating to. He’s a “muggle” or a regular person that is thrown into the world of magic. It’s an incredible feeling and it’s so exciting that everytime something new would be introduced, Harry and I would both be bouncing up and down in anticipation. 

Ron and Hermione will always be the ultimate sidekicks, in my opinion. I don’t really like calling them sidekicks or side characters, just because they’re so much more than that. They are the reason Harry is alive and they have helped him navigate through the world of magic that is way more complicated than it seems. Ron is one of those characters that just adds so much plot to the book. He’s hilarious. His fear of spiders made me laugh, his stupid jokes and friendly banter with Harry just made the book ten times better. Hermione on the other hand is incredibly smart and it’s inspiring to see that kind of dedication. She’s always been one of those characters that I strived to be, especially in later books/movies where she helps Harry save the wizarding world. 

Lockhart was probably one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever encountered. From the beginning it was clear that he was going to be a character that would only mess things up. He was way too cocky and full of himself, and his assumption that Harry was in it for the fame made me really angry. 

“When in doubt, go to the library.”

I want to talk about Dobby just because I found him really adorable. I know that he was kind of annoying and definitely bothersome to Harry, but he only wanted to protect him! It was so sweet and he was so innocently lovely. 

Setting

I think Hogwarts and the wizarding world is probably one of the best settings to be created. It’s incredibly magical and I could feel everything so much more when I knew we were in a big castle full of ghosts, or diagon alley full of wizards. It adds so much to the overall story and brings it all together in a neat bow and I love how the setting is used in portraying the different moods of each scene. 

Writing

My attention was held, I hated/loved the characters which is exactly what was intended. 

In Conclusion… 

If you haven’t read the books and only seen the movies, this is your sign! I can honestly tell you that the books are ten times better and I found myself relating to each character way more than in the movies. 

Rating: 4.5/5⭐