Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)

by J.K. Rowling

[KitsuneBae]

Reread in 2017

Reread in 2016

Reread in 2015


After a long week hiatus from the virtual world, here's my review for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. For the full review, you can always visit my blog at: Thoughts and Pens


Plot
Just like the first Harry Potter book, Chamber of Secrets (CoS) is also a fast paced novel bringing us deeper into a world of realistic fantasy. Unlike from other books, CoS do not suffer the middle book syndrome and a great read whether stand alone or together with book 1. JK Rowling is a master of cliffhangers and mystery that totally left me hanging on the edge of my seat as yet revelations of awesome and awful truths were uncovered in this beloved read.
The story of Chamber of Secrets is weaved wonderfully that every pieces of the puzzle connected at the end with a flourishing click. I also like the fact that JK provided us a very vivid picture of Harry’s world without lingering but instead, brought us to live with Harry and his gang of friends and enemies. It was delightful, it was funny, it was scary, and yet darker than the first book. Rowling is just a genius, don’t ya think?

Characters
Aside from the plot, I love the characters of the book that became more loveable as time passed by. Ms Rowling gave us characters that were authentic and most importantly, are people whom we can relate to. Harry, Ron and Hermione were heroes to look up to doing things that we thought they can only do and yet, at the end of the day, they’re just like us facing the normal woes of everyday life. They’re not even perfect but then their choices and their actions to make things rights despite the odds were amazing and that actually made them perfect in my eyes.

Interaction and Dialogue
One of the ingredients that I love in Harry Potter books is that it never failed to make me smile, laugh and raise my brows. The interactions and dialogues between characters are just witty, funny that I can’t stop talking to myself trying to come up with a joke that was as funny as the characters’. Even Hermione and Percy who were considered nerds were also funny in their own comfort zone.
What I also like about the book is that even without a lot of dramatic words, you can feel how friends and family members were important to the leading characters (as depicted with the Weasley family’s relationship and the trio’s friendship). Even if they joked with each other, you can actually feel that kind of burning love between the characters and how they would sacrifice everything to make things alright and normal once again.
For the funny, loveable and realistic heroes, I gave JK Rowling a big round of applause.

Lessons Learned
Again, at the end of each book, you will always take a stop and try to reflect on things. And this, I always does whenever I finished a book and ponder on the things that make the book worthy of my time. After reading CoS, I was left to contemplate about the following things:
• Never trust something unfamiliar- What Mr. Weasley told Ginny at the end of the book was always a reminder that if we are in doubt, stop and try to consult people who are in authority. There are so many times in my life that I made hasty decisions, impulsive actions on unfamiliar things that did not only threaten my job but my personal life as well.
• Our choices make us- Right-o, Dumbledore. No man is perfect and along the way, we would make some wrongs and rights. And it is within this premise, that we are defined by our choices. We may stumble and get hurt along the way but it is our choice whether to wallow in the mud we’ve been buried or die trying to stand up victorious.
This concept is a very good example for those who have been embittered by life so much who think that the future is bleak and that staying in the pits of darkness is the right thing to do. Again, we always have a choice, a choice to back down or to keep fighting until the end. If you are good or evil today, that is your choice and every second is a chance to change who you are.


Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Thoughts and Pens