This is my 3rd, possibly 4th, time reading Prisoner of Azkaban. It’s one of the more exciting books in the series, and where I feel like the adventures start to mature. While I know the gist of the story and have seen the movies countless times there always seems to be something new for me to catch on each read through.
In this book Harry is now 13 and in his 3rd year at Hogwarts. I’ll try to be as spoiler free as possible with this review. If you haven’t seen them be sure to check out my reviews of the first two books Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets and come back!
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World building in POA is great. There’s a whole new part of the wizarding world that we’re introduced to! We get to see more of Diagon Alley, as well as other wizarding parts of the land. I really like how this book expands on our known wizarding world. We get to see more people holding different roles in the world as well which really starts to bring the world together nicely.
World: 5
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Character building is great in this book. We get to meet several new characters that go on to play a bigger role in the story to come. But I also think this is where the kids also start to grow into who they are, they are learning a lot more about the good and bad of the wizarding world and where they are in the world. I also think Harry grows the most as a character in this book, he’s learned a lot about what his abilities are but also a lot about his history.
Characters: 5
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Relationships in this book finally get a true positive spin on the family relationship. The Weasley’s and others at Hogwarts show the importance of family and friendship to Harry. This is also the book where we finally meet Cho… ! While there’s no romance going on, the characters are young still, it’s good to see a more positive view of relationships.
Relationships: 5
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Emotions are finally really coming into the story in this book! As Harry makes stronger friends and builds his own little family it definitely allows for emotions. I did cry for a bit toward the end, kindness and understanding get me every time! I also laughed and felt anxious throughout the story more than I had in the previous two books. This new growth of emotions shows the transition into a more mature being formed, and I think that it’s a good way to show the importance of what is going on.
Emotions: 5
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The plot pacing is good. The book takes place over the span of about a school year. With this story having a little time travel , one day in particular takes up a little more space than usual but it’s evened out by the normal time jumps between events of the story. I feel that the pace of the story is still withheld even with the time changes and skips, because not a lot happens during the time skipped in the story – just average school stuff. As usual, per Harry Potter stories, the last part of the story is where the majority of the action happens, and the end action for this book is where the story starts to go from children’s book to YA book in my opinion… after this book there’s really no returning to the innocence of the Wizarding world for Harry and more dark truths are starting to be known.
Plot: 4.5
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Overall, I give this book 5 stars out of 5. I love the new characters, creatures, and adventures that are introduced in this book. Some of my favorite characters are now playing much bigger roles in this book than before. The themes of “family” and friendship are growing stronger for Harry and the Wizarding world itself for Harry is getting bigger! I feel this book starts the turning point to YA from Children’s story, which is a special transition for all young readers..
TTYL,
Squared
Squared's Book Reviews 