Monday, June 3, 2013

Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)

Goodreads Summary: Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has already survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. But his hopes for a quiet term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It's assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it a coincidence that he can feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney's ghoulish predictions seriously?
Goodreads / The Book Depository

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 435
Publisher: Scholastic Inc

First Line: "Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways."

Favorite Quote: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Review:

Out of the three Harry Potter books I have read so far, this one is probably my favorite. This is most likely due to the fact that though the first one was great, I was still getting used to the world and wasn't as emotionally invested in all the characters. The second one was great as well, but for some reason - after some deep reflection - I realized that the ending left me feeling just a tiny bit disappointed, but I can't say the reason without spoiling (it's kind of hard to explain anyway, definitely one of those things that makes sense in your head but not so much when you write it down). However, in The Prisoner of Azkaban, I was completely enthralled and satisfied with the story when I finished the book.

I loved how we learned a little more about Harry's past - the early books in this series so far definitely give the reader a "setting-up-the-story-for-bigger-things" vibe, and I have no doubt that by the last book, all hell will break loose, and I'm looking forward to it. As usual, the twists and turns left me breathless, and by the last few chapters, after I had processed all the new things that we learn, I was stuck by the sheer brilliance of the plot. J.K. Rowling has some imagination. I'm beginning to have extremely high expectations for her books. I loved the Quiddich matches, loved learning about hippogriffs and boggarts, loved everything in general. I was, however, miffed at how often Harry and Ron fought with Hermione; she did do quite a few annoying things, but I felt like the boys should have realized sooner that her heart was in the right place, as Hagrid put it.

There is definitely a pattern going on here: Harry has some kind of quarrel with the Dursleys (all of whom I would like to turn into mice and leave alone in a room full of hungry cats), he goes to Hogwarts, he discovers something sinister going on, he solves the mystery, the school celebrates, he goes home, and then it all starts over again. It made me think of A Series Of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket - for the first seven books or so, pretty much the exact same thing happens. You'd think that this would get annoying, but J.K. Rowling makes each adventure fun and new, so I don't even care that it's the same. I cannot wait to start The Goblet of Fire and find out what's going to happen next.

View Spoiler

5/5 stars

Books in this series:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 

Other opinions: 

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8 comments:

  1. It's definitely very interesting to read a review of the HP series since I read it when I was a kid so I never analysed it much. I do agree that there is a sort of pattern but it does start to change as you go further into the series :)

    I loved and adored the Qudditch matches! One of the best aspects of the HP novels. So glad you enjoyed this! :)

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    1. Yeah, I don't see a whole lot of proper reviews for these books, and I can see why that is. They're kind of hard to talk about individually; it's like one big, awesome, magical adventure. Thanks for stopping by. :D

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  2. What can I say? It's Harry Potter! :D Great review!

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  3. I love reading a review from someone who hasn't read this series! I definitely agree that there's a slight pattern to these books, but after The Goblet of Fire, it does start to change a little (which makes sense, considering Harry and his friends are older and the stakes are higher!)

    I remember loving this book a lot more than Chamber of Secrets; it was a little darker and a little more twisty.

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    1. It did feel a bit darker than the other two; but you're right, it would make sense for the books to do that with the main characters getting older. I'm loving Harry Potter so far. <3

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  4. I liked this book but it's the movie version I really love-HP3 is hands down the best of the films! I should probably reread the book version to remember the differences that exist since I'm way more familiar with the film version by now.

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    1. I just recently watched the movie (I've been watching each after finishing a book in the series), and I also thought it was really good! So far, I don't think they've really changed much of anything that happened. They did take out bits and pieces, but that's necessary, so the film isn't 8 hours long (not that I would complain, lol). Thanks for stopping by.

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