Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my favorite books in the series (although they are all my favorite book in the series at the time of reading). It is Harry's third year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and there is an escaped murderer on the loose coming after Harry.
There are so many things I like about this book, so I'll try to be brief:
-Lupin and Sirius, two of my favorite characters from this series, are introduced.
-Reversals: Every time you think you know something, it gets flipped on its head... over and over and over again. And it never feels gimmicky. The third book is full of twists and turns and heart-wrenching moments.
-The series really starts to kick off. We get the prediction that Voldemort will rise again and see the event that will set it all in motion. This is the book where the stakes of the entire world are raised, where things get serious and deadly and delightfully terrifying.
-No easy answers. This book has a very satisfying conclusion even though almost NOTHING is wrapped up neatly. We get answers and Harry survives. That's about it. It's the first time we learn that Dumbledore can't fix everything (an important point to make before delving into the rest of the series). One of the reasons I love the Harry Potter books so much is that Rowling doesn't shy away from hard truths and a gritty reality. In the hands of a lesser author, this book could have tied up nicely. I'm glad it didn't.
I'm stopping here, because I feel it's impossible to say much beyond I LOVE HARRY POTTER. Oh so much. This book counts toward the following challenges: 100+, Read Me Baby One More Time, and the Hogwarts Reading Challenge (obviously :) ). Track my progress on the 2011 Challenges Page.
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Great post Steph!
ReplyDeleteI just started re-listening to the audio version of the first Harry Potter but I'm not going to do my best not to rush through them all.
I completely agree with you that this is the book that sets off the series. The first two books are just introducing us to their world and it's limits and rules, there are stakes but they are nothing compared to what is to come. The third book has an entirely different tone.
Great review! This is the book that really got me to love the series because I felt like it's where the story really got going. (And there was less repeating details from the first two). It's been awhile since I've read these, but this kind of makes me want to do a reread. :)
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