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

Title : Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Author : J.K. Rowling Reading Dates : 5 May - 7 May 2011
Harry Potter
The books in the series : The Philosopher's Stone The Chamber of Secrets The Prisoner of Azkaban The Goblet of Fire The Order of the Phoenix The Half-Blood Prince The Deathly Hallows
From goodreads :
For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic world of Muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig. As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry. Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighborhood and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called the Leaky Cauldron. What Harry has to face as he begins his third year at Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off easily. It seems that Sirius Black--an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban--is on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why? And why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill Harry's very heart when others are unaffected? Once again, Rowling has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering, not to mention standing in line for her next book. Fortunately, there are four more in the works. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

Book Review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The Prisoner of Azkaban is the book I like the least in the Harry Potter series.

I’d enjoyed this one originally because of the tension and mystery which first surrounded the escapee from Azkaban and then the unexpected revelation that Harry might have a new home. But once I knew who Sirius Black was and what happens to him in later books, it severely tones down the excitement in the book and makes it kind of sad.

The part that I still liked though was the change in Hermione due to the stress she’s under here. Whenever Hermione stops reining in that part of herself, she proves she can be far more formidable and capable than Harry or Ron. The other thing I liked about Hermione here is how she stands up to Harry and Ron. Like Albus Dumbledore once said, it is far harder to stand up to your friends.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Yes.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Definitely.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Yes.
• Who would I recommend this too? Everyone, but you definitely need to read the series in order.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Buy it. The series is a keeper.

Read another review on the book by :

• a thousand Books with Quotes
• Geeky Blogger's Book Blog
• Page Turners
• To Read or Not To Read

Challenges : 100+ Reading Challenge, Harry Potter Reading Challenge