Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blurb (on back of book):
Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys had been so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange impish creature who says that if Harry returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls’ bathroom. But then the real trouble begins – someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possible be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects… Harry Potter himself!
MY OPINION: ****
Harry Potter and the entire universe it's set in is so iconic in the literary world and beyond that it is hard to rate it anything below three-stars. It may have its faults throughout the book but it is so well-loved and well-known that it's popularity somehow makes up for it. I am very familiar with the films as I have seen all of them at least ten times each and I found it quite interesting to note the differences and similarities while reading the book this second time.
I never considered myself a Potterhead. Yes, I know all the names of various characters, can go into detail about character arcs and the overall plot, had a Pottermore account (proud Ravenclaw!) but I wasn't nearly as obsessed as many others of the previous generation and mine were and still are. I read the books at a very young age and honestly can't remember anything about them which is one the main reasons why I am rereading them now. There's a lot of nostalgia that comes with rereading the books but I have also become a different person in terms of how I view each character and each storyline.
Harry Potter is very ordinary all things considered. You would expect him to be amazingly smart or powerful or strong but to be quite honest, he is none of those things. In fact, I don't believe he would be alive without the help of the people around him. Exhibit A: He only survived the first Voldemort attack when he was a baby with the help of his mother. Exhibit B: He wouldn't have gotten through either of the past two adventures in these first two books without Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Fawkes, Dobby, and even Neville Longbottom.
I think it's a common misconception that Harry is some all-powerful amazing wizard when in fact I found him quite average and honestly quite annoying at times. He constantly brushed aside Colin McCreevey who merely wanted to live out his fanboy dreams and take pictures of him. He mostly worried about the fact that he might have been Slytherin, creating a stigma around that house that I personally think is unjustified. Yes, every bad wizard has been a part of Slytherin but that does not mean that every Slytherin is a bad wizard, something that this book does not stress nearly enough.
Ron's character fit the role of sidekick and protagonist's best friend almost too well. I would have liked to have seen more moments for Ron to shine because he deserved to have his moment. Hermione got hers through her brains but Ron really never got any gratitude for everything he did. Without Ron, Harry would have been stuck in his Muggle house for the rest of the summer. Without Ron, Harry wouldn't have made it to Hogwarts after the barrier to the platform was closed. Without Ron, Harry wouldn't have even able to do so many of the important things that led up to the finale. RON DESERVED BETTER.
The same goes for Hermione. Yes, she got more shining moments than Ron did throughout the book but she was mostly always brushed aside in favor of Harry Potter, who honestly would be dead without her. He most likely wouldn't have been able to figure out what the monster in the chamber was and how it was moving around without Hermione; if he did, it would have taken far longer. Hermione is bright for a reason and I wish she had gotten more recognition for everything that she did. You can't have a Golden Trio without THREE PEOPLE.
I loved the idea of Tom Riddle and his diary because if I hadn't known about it before, I think I would have truly been mind-blown. It's such a fascinating idea and I liked how he was able to encapsulate a memory of himself into a diary. Poor Ginny, though. She didn't deserve to go through all of that.
The concept of Mudbloods is another important thing I want to touch on. Mudbloods are those with Muggle parents, making them appear "lesser" than pure-bloods according to many powerful, usually-Slytherin families. I liked how she-who-must-not-be-named approached this idea because it's very synonymous to the prejudice and discrimination that many people in our world face. It was an interesting way to touch on the possible prejudices that wizards and witches could face in this fictional universe that younger readers would be able to wrap their heads around.
Overall, it's Harry Potter. There's not much more to say. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a classic fantasy-adventure series centered around the balance between good and evil.
Main Character: Harry
Sidekick(s): Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Dobby, Ginny, Neville, etc
Villain(s): Voldemort, etc
Fantasy Elements: This book was based in a fantasy world.
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