Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)

Customer Reviews

• Definitely worth buying  May 26, 2000 (137 of 160 found this helpful)

  After reading the original of the recent hits and chart-topping Harry Potter series, I just had to read the second. It once again begins over summer vacation and takes Harry to his second year at Hogwarts, the best wizarding school of the day. But for some reason, people begin to be attacked by someone - or something. Harry, Ron, and Hermione start on another slew of detective work to find out what's going on, and how to save the students of Hogwarts...it's hard to give a plot summary without exposing the secrets of the ending, which, by the way, was a total surprise!

  This book is truly engrossing, more intense and frightening than the first. I loved it! It was both fun and funny, much like the other two in the series. It is interesting to read, and I honestly think it appeals to all ages. Even older readers will enjoy being taken back to the days when the line between fantasy and reality was blurred, and all the books would keep any modern teenager enthralled. Harry Potter No. 2 actually kept me laughing throughout. At some points in the middle, the story may get slightly bland, but don't worry: the best part is yet to come. I love children's stories, have read many, and these are the best, most modern works out there. There's a reason they are so hot right now, and all these other 5-star reviews are deserved! This series breaks the ordinary mold of children's books which are not always written with the same flair J.K. Rowling successfully incorporates into the plot, and they each possess their own sense of magic, not allowing the reader to put the book down! The Harry Potter books are highly recommended! Other children's authors I enjoy are Roald Dahl, Louis Sachar, Mark Twain, C.S. Lewis, and E.B. White.

• A real page-turner  Dec 14, 1999 (45 of 50 found this helpful)

  Although I am 40+ and my husband (also 40+)originally bought the Harry Potter books for our eleven-year-old daughter, she really had to fight us both off, in order to read it for herself. She finally got to read it first because she had the excuse that her homework required her to read for at least 20 minutes a day. I can't think of a single time that she stopped reading after 20 minutes;we had to remind her that she had other homework. I found this book to be highly entertaining (although not quite on a par with the first and third books). However, my biggest complaint is that (like the other books),I couldn't put it down for just a few minutes, or my husband or daughter (whoever got there first) would grab it. Then I had to keep a watchful eye out and grab it back. I usually read it during the night hours (I'm a night owl anyway), which leads to my second complaint. Not only did the book keep me awake, I found it almost impossible to read my textbooks (I'm a graduate student)until I had finished the entire book. J.K. Rowling has made a wonderful addition to literature; I'm sure these books are destined to become classics. I can't wait for the next one to come out. In case you're wondering why I gave it four instead of five stars, was that the vain professor did not ring true and I found myself getting irritated when none of the faculty did anything at all about this incompetent instructor. On the other hand, the car who turned wild, but came in the nick of time to save his friend Ron, was thoroughly charming.

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets  Jan 23, 2000 (39 of 43 found this helpful)

  In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry, a twelve year old boy is continuing another fascinating year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. This second book in the J.K. Rowling series is a must read! Not only do the main characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger set out to solve a new problem but, they realize that somebody has opened the Chamber of Secrets. Through trial and error our heroes search for clues to save one of their friends. Again Harry must put his life in danger to save others who are important to him. J.K. Rowling has introduced us to some new characters in book two. We meet a magical elf, Dobby, a new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart and finally Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister who joins the famous trio. I liked this book because it was a true page turner. As the reader you can search for possible clues along with Harry, Ron and Hermione. I would recommend this book to anyone over seven years old. J.K. Rowling did an excellent job on this book because it's exciting and full of adventure. I have learned from this book that life is full of tough challenges and problems. No matter how hard it is you have to be brave and trust in yourself to do the right thing.

• Solid second novel, as good as the first.  Oct 17, 2007 (31 of 34 found this helpful)

  Rowling wastes no time further developing the world she introduced first in PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. While the first book got us acclimated to her magical world, it is here, in the CHAMBER OF SECRETS, she really begins expanding the vocabulary of that universe.
  
  Apparently, Potter, at this early stage in the story, is already in grave danger. He has a house elf named Dobby appear to him in his uncle's house, warning him he must not go back to Hogwarts. Dobby even gets Harry in trouble with the Ministry For Magic (thus reads the unaltered UK edition, rather than the Americanized "Ministry of Magic"). When Harry and Ron try to get onto Platform 9 and ¾ they find the way blocked, an so have to (illegally) take a flying car Arthur Weasley, Ron's father, had enchanted. Once they land, Severus Snape reads them the riot act, for they have been spotted by muggles. And that's just the opening section. Danger doesn't stop there.
  
  Murders and attacks begin to occur within the school, and whispers of a dark area known as the Chamber of Secrets somewhere in the castle, where the Heir of Slytherin has bred a monster, is begingin to circulate. Apparently this Chamber has been opened before, and the last time it was opened, someone was murdered.
  
  It is here, in the second novel, we are first introduced to Potter's ability to speak Parseltongue, though we were told of this ability in the first book. Here this ability takes ominous overtones, for it is thought the Heir of SLytherin, the one who can open the Chamber of Secrets and command Slytherin's monster, would also be able to speak parseltongue, and so Potter must endure persecution on that front as well.
  
  A funny character in this one is Gildery Lockhart, that fraud of a teacher who is world famous and takes credit for work that is no this.. His fate is well deserved.
  
  Eventually, Harry finds his way into the Chamber of Secrets, and through the aid of Fawkes the Phoneix, fights off the magical beast of Slytherin and learns more about Tom Riddle, the boy who would become Voldemort.
  
  Ultimately, All of these mysteries are unraveled, and Potter and the gang are safe again. However, in typical Rowling fashion, there are some central facts regarding the storyline that would not emerge until much later in the series. It is not until Book 6 we learn the importance of Tom Riddle's diary, and that it in fact a Horcrux.
  
  Rowling introduces some new features and characters in her universe. It is here in CHAMBER OF SECRETS we first really get to meet Ginny Weasely (though she appears briefly in Book 1), who at this early stage has a crush on Harry though Harry does not return this crush. We are shown the Whomping Willow, Aragog the giant spider, and are given more backstory on Hagrid. We are shown Polyjuice Potion, and learn about Moaning Myrtle, the ghost in the third floor lavatory. We see that Hogwarts is not as safe as you may suppose (though the school was never THAT safe to begin with). Probably one of the most important additions to Rowling's cast of characters is Dobby, the house elf who would became a major character throughout the remainder of the series.
  
  CHAMBER OF SECRETS shows, more than anything, that the success of PHILOSPHER'S STONE was not a fluke accident, and it is with this novel we get the first real rumblings of the Pottermania that was about to take over the globe. This book is easily as readable as the first, and most readers will fly through this novel.
  
  
  
  
  This is my order of Potter books by preference:
  Deathly Hallows
  Prisoner of Azkaban
  Order of the Phoenix
  Philosopher's Stone/Chamber of Secrets (I rank them both the same)
  Half-Blood Prince
  Goblet of Fire.
  

• Amazing!  Nov 29, 1999 (26 of 28 found this helpful)

  I was doubtful when I started the Harry Potter books- in fact I was only going to read them because a friend begged me to do so. Much to my surprise, I was immediately hooked on the first novel, and finished all three within a week. I can honestly say that the three Harry Potter books are among the best books I've ever read. I now recommend them to everyone- children and adults alike. They're thoughtful, original, suspenseful, and humorous- everything you could ask for in an adult's novel. I'm 17 years old, and I never thought I'd be reading kids' books. But now I'm glad I did- don't miss out on these amazing books, especially the third one. The Chamber of Secrets is by far the best of the three books. Rowling explores new dimensions of Harry's world and reveals the secrets readers have been dying to know since the first book. This book leaves you hanging for the fourth novel, which is sure to also be incredible!