Re-Read 2015: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Summary (from Goodreads):

Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has already survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. But his hopes for a quiet term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It's assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it a coincidence that he can feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney's ghoulish predictions seriously?

Review:

This is and always has been my favorite Harry Potter book. There’s Sirius Black. And also, there’s the best teacher: Professor Lupin (I even named my first clunker of a car for this professor). There’s the introduction to the Marauder’s Map. There’s secret Hogsmeade outings, secret passages, dementors, Buckbeack, the time turner, the Firebolt, my favorite quidditch game, werewolves, animagi, and lots of dramatic quarrels among friends. Most of all, though, there is hope.

I loved this one because of the hope it brings to Harry for a different kind of future. There’s the possibility of family that didn’t exist before. There’s Quidditch cups and awesome broomsticks. Really, this is just the most fun book.

Again, I was impressed by the connections I was making here to the final book. I also liked that this book wasn’t as directly connected to Voldemort as the others. I liked that the trio wasn’t perfect in this. They fought and held grudges for periods of time. But, I also liked that they always came together for what was important: helping Hagrid, cheering Harry on in quidditch, and doing what was right.

I forgot about the tidbit of Snape’s backstory that we learn in this book. That also comes into play again later. But, it was interesting learning about it so early. So much happens in this book, but it never feels like it’s too much. Everything about this just had such a nice pace. By this book, readers are used to Rowling’s writing style and there is a bit of a formula to the school year. However, it never feels repetitive.

Everything from the quarrels among friends, to the cat chasing the mouse, to the extreme anxiety of exams just felt so believable. And I guess one of the best things about these books for me is how believable it is. So much of this book is impossible. So, it’s nice to have the characters and character problems feel so real in comparison.

All in all, I love this book to pieces. I’m so happy I was able to re-read it. It’s the book with the most hope. And it’s certainly one of the more fun books in the whole series. I give it a 10/10 of course.