Rating: 5/5 stars

Number of Pages: 352

Suitable for Fans of: The Hunger Games, Fangirl, Cinder

Synopsis:

All Harry Potter wants is to get away from the Dursleys and go back to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby – who says that if Harry Potter 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, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley’s younger sister, Ginny.
But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone–or something–starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects… Harry Potter himself.

To read my review of the first book in this series – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – click here.

Review:

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

It’s 1992, and Harry’s second year at Hogwarts has just begun. Last year included some unforeseen events, yet Harry conquered them triumphantly. Surely this year will be calmer? Not at Hogwarts it won’t! With a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and an unknown descendent of Salazar Slytherin wreaking havoc around the school, it is certain that Hogwarts will conjure up a selection of issues Harry couldn’t sleep without solving.

That’s right, everyone, it’s another month, meaning another addition to the Harry Potter series has been demolished by yours truly. I am really enjoying reading this series, because – after immersing myself in more challenging reads for the rest of the month – it’s nice to kick back, relax, and read a more simplistically worded novel, that still grips me, entices me, and makes me want more.

If I were to write a full review based on this book, I feel as though I would be repeating myself enormously from my review of the prior book in this series, especially when talking about plot, POV, themes, and characters, for many of them were very similar. However, there is one thing I specifically want to talk about in this review, that I didn’t really pick up on when reading the first book – the importance of Ron and Harry’s friendship.

Friendship, obviously, is a very important part of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. In essence, friendship lays the foundations for our modern society. It supplies someone to talk to, trust, and simply joke with, and Rowling’s representation of friendship – through her characters, Ron and Harry – is truly sublime. The 2 boys rely on one another greatly, of course, for they are constantly trying to right wrongs together along with Hermione. And, as important as Hermione is to them, she is not an essential part to their camaraderie; their camaraderie is derivative of their shared sense of humour, despise for certain people (like Draco Malfoy, for example), and their definite, unwavering trust in one another.

This became apparent to me in Chapter 7, when Harry tells Ron a ludicrous – yet truthful – story, and Ron believes him instantly, like the blink of an eye. Whilst this could be blamed on childish naivety, I like to believe that Ron simply trusts Harry so thoroughly, even the most absurd story he tells him in seriousness will be taken just like that – seriously.

On another note, you can definitely see the changes in the characters if you were to compare them on the first day of their first year, and the first day of their second. It is definite that Harry, Ron, and Hermione have all matured, and it’s great to see the story of Harry progress with his age, and I live in the hopes that this will continue. (Reliable sources have told me as much.)

Thus, I awarded this book a full 5/5 stars, as I assume I will be awarding all of the books in this series.

You can find this book here: Goodreads | Amazon

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