JK Rowling really knows how to write a great book, thats for sure! Although this wasn't my favorite book in the series, it definitely wasn't because it was bad. I loved the plot and conflict, even though it wasn't as intense as the others were. I was definitely shocked at the end...so epic and mind blowing!

دامبلدور:
"این انتخاب های ماست که حقیقت باطنی ما را نشان میدهد، نه استعدادهای ما."
اگزیستانسیالیسم در یک جمله...

Me ha gustado, pero menos que el primero.
Espero engancharme como vosotrxs a la saga en el tercero... ¡a ver si hay suerte!

PD: Estoy intentando leerlos todos antes de navidad y hacer un vídeo jejeje

Destiny
Here I am with The Chamber of Secrets, the second book of the Harry Potter series feeling the tightening grip of adoration, as I get ensnared in the glorious bewitching world created by JK Rowling. Certainly, the first book and now the second, primarily introduce us to the extensive cast of characters that inhabit this sweeping magical world. The background behind Hogwarts and the major divisions that shaped their history become apparent, and how they drive the plot over the entire series, is intelligently, delicately and profoundly imagined.

I love Rowling’s patience, the ability to subtly drop a piece of information that may not mean anything for a few books. To drip actions and comments that at some point in the future you’re saying “Oh, That’s what that was for.” – Genius. The relationship between Ginny and Harry is kindled in this book and we also meet Dobby, with the unforgettable line “Dobby is Harry Potter's friend.”

The background to Hogwarts and the 4 wizards and witches who founded it, is described, where each house was named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. These names have become part of our reference, as in real-life people connect themselves to these houses and what type of person they wish to be. The rift and disagreements between Slytherin and the rest grew until Slytherin left the school. The history also states that

n  Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. ‘Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic.’n

That is a direct charge against Hermione and others who come from a muggles family, yet she is the smartest student in her year at Hogwarts. We see the gradual ramping up of tension within the school and why Malfoy hates muggles calling them mudbloods. The relationships and bonds between Harry, Ron and Hermione are aspired to in most friendships and are very well-formed here. On one incident they find Mrs Norris the caretaker’s cat 'petrified' with the following words written on the wall.

n  “THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.”n

The tension builds. A dark unseen force awaits. The brave, indomitable Harry Potter and his loyal friends, Ron and Hermione, will take this battle on – is it a spoiler to say there are 7 books so they don’t die yet.

There is always an opportunity for humour either in what someone says or does (typically Ron and the other Weasleys), or characters that are strange and provide a comic outlet. In this book, Professor Lockhart provides that mix of cringe behaviour and comedy. His desire to receive praise and recognition, regardless of the fact that it is undeserved, and regularly exposed, except to those infatuated by his charisma, provides a light-hearted element. Funny how one person’s appeal is another’s repulsion.

The scene is set, the dark wizards, led by Voldemort (yet to be revealed), against those that provide defence against them, led by Dumbledore and somehow (yet to be revealed) Harry. When will Voldemort return? Why is Harry so important in all this? Will history repeat itself? Damn most of us know the ending but reading the books just brings so much craft and ingenuity into the story that reading them is a must. Someone will do research on this series someday as its depth sits alongside Lord of the Rings. Bring on book 3, The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Perfect time to immerse yourself in this world I think, far FAR away from ours ❤️

It's actually quite fascinating how much happened in this book, to be honest.

I'm a strict mom, so at my house, you've got to: eat your leafy greens, floss your teeth, and not read any Harry Potter books until you are eleven years of age.

All three of my kids have eaten the leafy greens without complaint, lied regularly about the teeth flossing, and have shaken angry fists in my direction over the years, on the topic of Harry Potter.

My third child has been the most impatient of all. She's had to bear witness to her older siblings being smug about a secret society that has not included her. And she's hated it.

So, when she turned eleven at the end of this past August, and became the official age that Harry is when he receives his first Hogwarts letter, she had Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in her hand, ready to gain entry.

She's a reluctant reader herself, but she loves audio books and our mother-daughter read-alouds, and she listened happily to the first book in the series, but said very little.

It wasn't until we got to this book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, that I had any idea that she was a convert.

As we were nearing the end of the story, I told her that I was looking forward to reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with her, because book #3 is one of my favorites, and she surprised me by saying, “this one's really good, too.”

I responded with something like, “Oh, good. I wasn't sure if you've been enjoying them. You've been so quiet during our reads.”

She sighed and said, “I'm just sad because I know that those Hogwarts letters aren't real.”

This book was so difficult to rate it, because its was a great book but at the same time it didn’t pass my expectation, of being better than the first one. It was a little bit boring, but it was still incredible. It took me to read this book more for what is expected.

What I really like about the book is the life lesson that it has. The life lesson that this book is that we shouldn't trust what everyone says, and also not everything is what we see., in the part when Voldemort (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) revealed his real name. “Tom Marvolo Riddle” paragraph 2 page 314, “rearranged themselves: I am Lord Voldemort” paragraph 3 and 4 page 314. Also when Gilderoy Lockhart revealed that he actually didn’t did all the heroic things that were writing in his book. “all that stuff you did in your books” paragraph 7 page 297, “Books can be misleading,” said Lockhart” paragraph 8 page 297. Another event in the book that show this lesson was when Lucius Malfoy planned to give the diary Ginny Weasley, “You gave it to her” “slipped the diary” paragraph 11 page 336. But the most important event of all that show this was when Ginny trust the diary and gave all her secrets to it, “Put too much into the diary to me” paragraph 2 “From anything Ginny had told me” paragraph 1, page 313.

In this book you could also see that Harry was more mature in the way of thinking, like for example when he found out all about the chamber secrets, with a little bit of time and with no so many clues. And it really impressed me that he found it, because if I was him the school would be already closed when I just found out only one clue of the puzzle.

As well in this book they showed more about the history of the school and of some characters such as Hagrid and Dumbledore. An example would be when Harry found out, what did Hagrid did to be expelled from Hogwarts

In the end, I really like the book and how they continued where they left the last book, also I will still continue watching the series because I really like it, and is like the only book that can get me out of a reading slump.

I will rate this book a 4.5 because it was good but also it was not as good as the first one.

Update
Four years after I read it for the first time, and now I like it even more, than the first book. It just surprised me that even though I have seen the movies multiple times and have already read them, I was still surprised, when they revealed information or solved a mystery, and I can't understand why, but it did. So now I'm giving this book 5 stars and the first one 4.5 stars. It's amazing how after four years my opinion about this book changed.

After the last book I read, I thought I deserved a treat and decided to read the second HP book and true to everyone’s claim, I enjoyed and savored every single page on which everything written magically fits one another, exactly like the 10 year old me dreamed of. The experience was ten times better when I used Professor Mc Gonagall’s voice to read the entire thing. Lol!

Just a few of the abundant awesome moments/stuff:

1.tThe heroic, flying car, duh!
2.tMrs. Weasly’s feistiness and Mr. Weasly’s fascination over Muggles.
3.tPlate of delicious sandwiches refilling itself. (Yum!)
4.tThe Howler. (lol!)
5.tHarry catching the snitch (awesome!)
6.tBasically all scenes with Prof. Lockhart (LMAO!)
7.tHarry’s ultimate battle. (freaky but awesome!)
8.tThe scary monsters! The giant spiders and the basilisk. Eeep! (Aaah!)
9.tAll Dobby scenes. (Awe, Dobby. <3)
10.tAnd how can I forget Prof. Dumbledore’s wisest words! n  "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” n

RIP, Sir Alan Rickman- the indomitable, unforgettable Professor Snape. *sniffs*

n  n

I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets even more than Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I loved that I read a few scenes that were new to me. A few things I noticed were not in the movie. I expect that will happen more and more as the series goes on. I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narration was fantastic. In fact, it may have convinced me to do the rest of the series in audio!

n  “You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.”n




Summer with the Dursleys has been excruciating. Cut-off from the magical world, Harry is alone.

He is more than excited to return to his favourite place in the world, Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but receives the strangest warning from a house elf. He tells him that Hogwarts will be a dangerous place for Harry to be this year.



But Harry doesn't want to stay with the Dursleys all year. So with the help of Ron and a flying car, Harry is off to his second year despite the spooky warning he received.

The year starts off normally, though when Harry begins to hear voices that no one else seems to hear and it becomes unsafe for students in the castle for fear of attack, he realizes that he should have taken that warning more seriously. Strange and dangerous things are indeed walking the halls of Hogwarts.

n  “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”n


It's clear that there is an improvement in JKR's writing. What the Philosopher's Stone lacked, this book had.

The side characters are more fleshed out and we get to explore new parts of Hogwarts! I loved the ‘new’ characters introduced, like Dobby, Lockhart and Moaning Myrtle.



Lockhart was obviously very annoying sometimes but he brought a great element of humour that the story needed.

The mystery aspect of each of these books will always be a favourite, even if I already know what's going to happen.

It's the small details of everyday life at Hogwarts that makes this world seem so vividly real to me. I love finding all the Easter eggs that will come into play in the later books. It's so amazing how something as inconsequential as a wardrobe has its own significance that you'll only pick up on further down the road.

This re-read was the best idea and I'm having an awesome time slowly convincing Fares (who I'm buddy reading with) that this is an epic series.


______
My reviews for:

1:  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Before I say anything else, it's important you know that I LOVE HARRY POTTER. In my fingers and my toes. LOVE.

That being said, this is my least favorite of the early books (I'll let you know whether it's my least favorite overall after I reread HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX).

The reasons are LEGION:

1. Gilderoy Lockhart is a prat and I hate him.
2. Deathday party. It's creepy and gross.
3. Poor Ginny.
4. The trouble Harry and Ron get Mr. Weasley into stresses me out.
5. I don't like snakes.
6. I HATE spiders.
7. Dobby needs to calm the eff down:



BUT. This is Harry Potter we're talking about, so there's also plenty of awesomeness:

1. Dwarves dressed as cupids, delivering singing valentines.
2. MOLLY WEASLEY.
3. Ford Anglia in the wilds of the Forbidden Forest.
4. Polyjuice Potion
5. Gnomes shouting "geroff."
6. Lucius Malfoy getting taken down a peg.

SO. Even if this is my least favorite, it's still Harry Potter, and Harry Potter = AWESOME. If you haven't already, READ IT. If you have read it, read it AGAIN. That is all.

My other reviews for this series:

n  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)n