"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" || Book Review & Discussion

 

I finally moved on to the third book in the series and I can safely say that it was my favorite one so far! But, before you go on and read this review, feel free to check my last one on the "Chamber of Secrets" which you can find here. Now, let's move on with the review...

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I enjoyed it much more than the previous two and I thought it was objectively better than the other two in many aspects. It was generally a much more solid, much more interesting story, and an overall much stronger read. The story was suspenseful and exciting and you just can't help but keep reading, you don't want to stop! It may have taken me a while longer to finish than I initially expected, but that wasn't because I wasn't enjoying it - quite the contrary really - it was only because life has been relentless the past couple of months and I really needed to adult rather than indulge in my favorite activities. That was the main reason why it took me such a long time to finish a book I was otherwise enjoying and I felt sad for it. So, other than reality grabbing me away from this fantasy world, the rest of the time that I spent reading the book, it actually went by easily and I never got bored or tired, not even for a page, and this was a happy surprise since this wasn't the case for me with the two previous books.

Rowling's writing, even though it is already top-notch in the other books as well - and there is no denying she is generally an excellent writer - is evidently improved in this one and this makes for a stronger story and reading experience. There is not one redundant scene, every chapter is important, and every scene is essential to the overall plot and they all work perfectly together. Every chapter and every scene leads perfectly to the next one in an excellent chain of events. Each bit of the story is inseparable from the previous or the next and the story as a whole cannot possibly work without one of these important bits. This is what makes the difference between good writing and exceptional writing. Even though Rowling is already skilled enough and possessed a high writing level, you can really tell that she took the extra step here and stepped her game up. This is one of the main reasons that set this book apart from the other two in my mind and preference.

Another one of the reasons that set this book apart is its different, mysterious feeling and darker atmosphere. The story is undoubtedly darker and this book is heavier than the others before and deals with more serious subjects. This book deals with heavier, darker themes - which I am absolutely sucker for -and when they do they are very well done too. Friendship, faith, betrayal, trust, honesty, deception, justice, death, and many others are some of the themes that this story deals with. This story is also more engaging and rich with emotions.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD***

Another great thing about this book is the cast and all the new characters we get to see! Sirius was probably my favorite addition and I really loved his character even if his role was relatively small. I felt very sorry and sad for him and everything that happened to him and when he finally got to bond with Harry it was so sweet and wholesome! Lupin was my second favorite and I really enjoyed him throughout the story. He was the sweetest, greatest teacher, always so supportive and understanding, but also a very strong and skilled wizard! Trelawny was just so funny and even though I didn't love some of the scenes of her lessons, I really enjoyed her character! Peter Pettigrew was even more disgusting and horrible than in the movie and made for an excellent villain!

One part I seriously disliked and thought that the movie did much better was the scene in the Shrieking Shack. In the book, the scene dragged on and on, they kept saying that they would explain, reveal the truth and they just mumbled about it and it took so long for them to actually get to the point! When they actually got into the explaining bit it took blocks of dialogue to reach the final conclusion and not only the revelation but also the acceptance of the truth. I mean, we were at this scene, one of the most climactic and important, suspenseful scenes in the story and we had to have pages upon pages of anti-climactic, dragging dialogue/explaining. It wasn't even that necessary, because we already had it figured out by that moment, but even if she wanted to add it in, she could have definitely made it more compact. This scene should have been shorter and more compact like it was in the movie where it was so much more powerful, suspenseful, exciting, and attention-grabbing. In the movie, this scene was fast, shocking, took advantage of the moment, and had good pacing. As a result, the scene in the movie added to the whole made the story better and worked perfectly with the flow. While in the book, it took from the greatness of the rest of the story, the pacing was a bit off and it didn't help the flow of the story or the particular moment. It's also kind of a pattern I've noticed with Rowling; she just loves to dialogue dump/info dump during the most crucial scenes! I mean, it would have been way better if some of this information was conveyed right before or after this particular scene, especially since there are already existing scenes of bonding and talking between Lupin and Harry, or Harry and Serious, leaving only the most important details to be told during that scene. I feel that this would have been more effective and impactful.

The book had many funny moments and I laughed a lot during many scenes. I laughed during the final Quidditch match and I also got very passionate about it, by the end of it I was so excited and happy! I laughed during many of the cat-rat scenes and the whole thing between Ron and Hermione about their pets and it was hilarious how in the end Ron came around to trust the cat and accept it.

The time-turning is not one of my favorite concepts in general and I rarely enjoy it, but it was done well enough here and it didn't bother me. It was probably for the best that it didn't take up a big part of the story as well.

This book also has the worst Snape we've seen so far. He was really horrible at many points and I can see why he's been getting so much more hate from book readers. In the movie, he is more likable and he is portrayed in a much softer tone, all that combined with Rickman's great acting makes it only reasonable that he would be much more accepted and liked by the movie audience.

Now, the nerd in me did notice an important plot hole (Start of giant parenthesis... about how Sirius bought the Firebolt, sent a cat to order it, took money from his own vault in the bank, and neither got caught nor got in any kind of trouble, like getting discovered or traced, whatsoever! I mean Harry had more trouble getting his own money to buy school books than Sirius who was a convicted murderer and nobody even blinked an eye?! It would have made more sense if he had some of his money hidden in a secret, secure place. Maybe wizards decided to remove money from the bank in fear of Voldemort taking over the bank and stealing precious things from their vaults to achieve his evil goals. And then he could have ordered the broom namelessly through owl-mail and have it delivered to Hogwarts. I believe that Rowling created herself a problem that she only saw afterward and tried to patch it up however she could, yet this didn't quite work. Even I came up with a better idea without even giving it much thought and there could probably be an even better solution than that. End of giant parenthesis...) but I decided to try and not pay attention to it, since I really enjoyed the rest of the book. It exists, but I'm not going to take points from the book because of it, I'm just going to pretend I didn't see it.

***END OF SPOILER SECTION***

So, for the time being, I have rated this book 5*, even though it feels more like a 4,5*. I would also like to come back and maybe re-rate the HP books after I've finished with the series because I would also like to consider how much I liked them compared to each other, so there is a slight possibility my rating may change after I've read the other books and gained more perspective. Overall, it was a great read, a very enjoyable book, and interesting story, and easily the best one so far!

Thank you for reading once again!

20 Questions Book Tag

 I found this book tag over on Book Coffe Happy blog and I really wanted to do it, so here we go...

1) How many books are too many books in a series?

I don't think there is such a thing as too many or too few books in a series. It all depends on the genre, the story, the structure, and of course the author. As long as it is done well it can be one book or it can be 50. I only care if it is a good story and I believe a story should have as many books as it needs to be told nicely. 

2) How do you feel about cliffhangers?

I love them! I love reading them, I love writing them, they're great! 😍💙😢

3) Hardback or paperback?

I'd love to have a combination of both. They both have pros and cons. But I guess ideally the answer would be: hardbacks for the bookshelves, because they look incredibly pretty, but paperbacks for the actual reading because they are lighter and softer to hold.

4) Favourite book?

I have many, but "The Hunger Games" series is one of my favorites and has remained on the top of my rankings for a long time.

5) Least favourite book?

"50 shades of grey"... Goodness I despise this book! 

6) Love triangles, yes or no?

I usually do not prefer them, but I'm not completely negative about them too. If it is done well and written in an interesting way, it could work and I could like it.

7) The most recent book you just couldn't finish?

It's been a long time since I DNF'd a book, but maybe it was "City of Bones"...

8) A book you're currently reading?

I'm currently reading "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

9) Last book you recommended to someone?

"Living, Loving and Learning by Leo Buscaglia. I recommended it to one of my colleagues. I also have a post talking about it if you want to check it out click here.

10) Oldest book I've read?

Does the "Odyssey" by Homer count? If it does, then that's probably the one. It's surely the oldest one I can think of.

11) Newest book you've read?

I have no idea, I don't really keep track of how recent the books are and I'm definitely not one to chase the newest releases every year.

12) Favourite author?

So far I don't have one and I couldn't pick just one if my life depended on it... 😜

13) Buying books or borrowing books?

Ideally, I would love to be able to buy all the books I want and have a beautiful library in my home. Unfortunately, I cannot afford this right now so I settle for a combination of borrowing, exchanging, and downloading books. Borrowing is fine and I could go on exclusively borrowing books if the situation in my country was different. Sadly, in my country, we have very few libraries which have a limited variety of books (especially the ones I'm interested in) and the conditions are not the greatest in them. Also, due to this lack of libraries and borrowing mentality, sadly, most people also lack civilization and respect for borrowed books.

14) A book you dislike that everyone else seems to love?

The TMI series by Cassandra Clare. Her - and her books' - fanbase seems huge, so many people love those books and the author. All I can say is that I cannot see what they find in them and I'm surely not one of them.

15) Bookmarks or dogears?

Definitely bookmarks. I hate dog-earring. I don't mind writing on books, taking notes, or underlining, but I can't stand or understand dogears. (At least in novels, because I love dog-earring school and uni books, it really helped me back in the day)

16) A book you can always re-read?

Any one of my favourite books. But I have found that each time I re-read "Living, Loving and Learning I feel like a different person and probably even become a bit of a better person after I'm done.

17) Can you read while listening to music?

No, I prefer to have absolute silence while I read.

18) One POV or multiple POV's?

I love them both as long as they are done well and they complement and fit the story. They both have a place in different kinds of stories and I love to see them both as long as they are the right choice for the respective story.

19) Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days?

Though I have finished books in one sitting quite a few times, I'm generally a slow reader both because of circumstances like limited time and heavy schedule and because of preference and choice. 

20) Who do you tag?

Anyone who wants to participate is welcome to do so and feel free to share their answers with me!

"Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen || Book Review

 

It is always strange to talk about classic books because these works of art have been around for such a long time and not only have they been read by plenty of people, but they've also been widely and deeply adored by various audiences. A book like this doesn't really need one more review, it has a lot of recognition and feedback already and it also feels weird when what you have to say is not entirely positive. You know that a negative opinion doesn't really affect a book like this or its audience and, as a matter of fact, you even feel like there is something you haven't gotten, something you read wrong, or you missed and that's why you didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else. But, anyway, this is my blog, a place for my opinions and my experience with each book and this is what I sincerely share and if you don't agree or think I'm crazy then that's fine and you're welcome to share your opinions.

I read this a while ago, right after I had read "Pride and Prejudice" which I loved and really enjoyed, so I started reading this one with high expectations. I hoped that it would be as good as "Pride and Prejudice" but in my opinion, it didn't even come close. As a matter of fact, I was kind of glad when it was finally over.

Don't get me wrong, Austen's writing was still technically flawless and it always feels like an English lesson, I feel I learn more with each book of hers that I read. However, I thought that the story didn't have a very nice flow and pacing. The beginning was promising, the ending was satisfying but the whole middle part was long and tedious. I found myself tempted to give it up quite a few times, but stuck with it mostly out of spite.

The 2 main characters were beautifully portrayed, but the rest weren't nearly as memorable or interesting and felt kind of meh. I found myself forgetting their names or confusing this character with that character and I had to take a second to remind myself who was who. So in regards to those secondary characters, I couldn't care less what happened to them or how they ended up. Then there were some characters that showed potential but were then not given the attention they deserved.

Overall, it was an okay book but I didn't love it, it didn't manage to capture my attention and stay in my mind, so I reluctantly gave it 3* out of 5. I will probably read some more of Austen's works in the future, but this one was not for me.

Thank you for reading one more time!

"Avatar The Last Airbender - The Search" || Book Review & Book Discussion

 The ATLA series never disappoints! It is an amazing journey that I don't want to stop! If you'd like to see what I thought of the previous story ("The Promise") before reading this one, you can check out my full review here.

The Search talks about Zuko and Team Avatar's (plus Azula) adventure on the way to find Zuko's mother and discover the truth about her disappearance. I gave it 5* because it was simply perfect and it deserved it! This plot-line is probably the most expected after the show's end and it is definitely the one I was most eager to read.

I loved all three parts equally and gave them all 5*. I thought they were all very interesting and strong and I enjoyed them equally. The story immediately grabs your attention from the beginning of Part 1 and holds it firmly throughout the story with two strong cliffhangers at the end of Parts 1 and 2. The scenes go back and forth from Ursa's youth in her hometown, to Zuko's search on the current day and this makes it very interesting to read. Scenes full of action and suspense alternate with scenes full of feelings and this makes a very strong combination. I could repeat myself talking about the beautiful art, the great pacing, and beautiful storytelling, but I will try to speak about more and different things this time.

The Search, on the one hand, sheds light on the relationship between Ursa and Ozai and their troubled marriage. On the other hand, it explores the relationship between Zuko and his family, but, more specifically, with Azula. The two siblings have both been abused by their father and suffer from the absence of their mother, they are both still confused and both are still trying to figure out who they really are and what is their destiny, their purpose in life. They are in very different places in their journey, as Zuko has made a lot of progress and Azula still has a long way to go, but both of them feel the loss and pain, they both miss something to feel complete. They are very different but also similar in a sense and Zuko may be a lot closer to finding his truth and peace with himself, but I believe that he is also a step closer to understanding and helping his sister find her way as well. The relationship dynamics are perfect!

The story is full of feelings all the way through, it really touched me multiple times. I felt sad for Ursa being taken from her home, I felt mad with Ozai being even worse than I already thought, I felt sorry for Azula and her mental state. The time jumps were great; they were placed perfectly, they really worked with the story and complimented it and they were done beautifully. The story is structured perfectly and it manages to both unravel secrets but also to keep it interesting throughout.

Kiyi was really fun and cute and I loved the addition of her character! Her instant chemistry and bonding with Zuko warmed my heart. I really hope we get to see more of her and her relationship with Zuko in the comic books that follow and I'd also love to finally see Zuko have one healthy sibling relationship.

I loved how the story starts and ends with the same words from the conversation between Zuko and his mother, it was beautiful and impactful. The ending itself was wonderful, this story ended in the best way possible, the only way that would be right and acceptable for the build-up of this particular storyline. It would be so disappointing if we didn't get a proper pay-off after everything so far.

Seeing Zuko be able to hold off himself against Azula is very rewarding on its own. He has grown a lot not only in skills and talent, but he has also matured a great deal and is now much wiser. On the one hand, he can defend himself from his sister, on the other hand, he never hurts her, he tries to help and protect her as much as possible, and he tries to give her a sense of freedom, trust, and dignity. Even if he knows that she will take advantage of him and his kindness - cause that's what she always does - he still keeps giving her chances, he never gives up on her completely, he keeps trying, he doesn't lose hope. Why? Because he knows it can be done; because he managed to do it himself, he managed to throw off of him his father's toxic influence and harmful teachings, he rebelled against his father's corrupted values and found his peace of mind. Because he was given many chances too by someone who cared about him. He stands his ground, he doesn't back up from the throne, but also tries to improve himself and his family relationships.

It is very interesting to see the contrast between Zuko and Azula's relationship and Sokka and Katara's. These people and the relationships between them are so different, yet they have so much to learn from each other. I think that after Zuko talks with Sokka he realizes that he actually cares for his sister. He knows that she is not in a good mental state, he knows that she is not a great person, that she feels anger and jealousy, he knows that she could potentially do something bad and hurt someone, yet he still cares about her and tries to help her. He wants to be decent and treat his family with dignity. At the same time, he's really eager to get to know the parts of his family that have been missing for so long. He needs to explore that part of himself and find out the truth about his and his family's past.

By the end of the story, Zuko is a changed person. He is more complete and fulfilled than ever before and new possibilities have opened up in front of him. In this comic book, most of the characters go through significant character growth and they all become better and more complete. In the end, this is a character-driven story about family relationships and friendships, about the nature of humanity, the ability to change and evolve. It is a story about discovering who you really are, your truth, and supporting it without shame or fear. It explores different characters' morals and motivations. But most of all this is a story that gives much food for thought and a story that truly inspires me both as a person and as an aspiring creator.

This was my favorite comic book so far and this storyline is actually the one I'd most love to see on screen (fingers crossed for that). As I said ATLA never disappoints me, it always manages to make me happy, it is truly a masterpiece of storytelling. I hope the next ones are just as good.

Thanks for reading! 

My Life In Books Tag

Hello, book friends!

I found this tag over in The Journeys of a Girl blog and I really loved it so I had to do it! So, here it is... My life in books!!!

1. Find a book for each of your initials

    My initials are FMM and for this one, I'll pick books from my TBR list.

    F ---> "Firestarter" by Stephen King

    M --> "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden

    M --> "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult


2. Count your age along your bookshelf: What book is it?

I am 28 years old, so I counted 28 books and I fell upon...

"The Raven Boys" by Maggie Stiefvater

I haven't read this one yet but it is very high on my TBR list and I really want to read it soon!


3. Pick a book set in your city/country

I am from Greece and for this one I'll go with "The Island" by Victoria Hislop. I read this one a long time ago and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was a brilliant book, but I am sad to say I don't remember it well anymore, so I really want to reread it sometime.

4. Pick a book that represents a destination you’d love to travel to

I really want to visit the UK; all of it! I want to travel to England, Ireland, Scotland, all of the places in the UK and I cannot really pick which one I'd like to see most, so I had a hard time deciding which book I should pick for this one. In the end, I decided to pick "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, which is set mostly in Scotland but features quite a few other places as well. I chose it because it is one of the books I most want to read in the near future and because I absolutely loved the series and it totally makes me want to travel and see new magical places. 

5. Pick a book that’s your favorite color

I don't really have a favorite color. In my life, I love to have many colors on my clothes, my objects or my home, but in books, I really like black or white plain covers, so I'll go for a black cover for this one. I wanted to pick a book from the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I really liked the covers of all the books in this series, even if the books are not my favorites. The two that always stood out the most to me were the covers for "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn". I'll choose "Breaking Dawn" because there's just something about this chess piece that I love and with black, white and red you can't miss with me.

6. Which book do you have the fondest memories of?

I couldn't possibly pick just one, but I'll go with the "Secret Seven" series since it was the favorite series of my childhood. I have a whole other post dedicated to my favorite childhood books where I talk extensively about them. If you want you can go check it out and read more about them over here 

---> My Favorite Childhood Books

7. Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?

This will have to be "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie. I thought that it was a difficult book to read and I ended up DNF'ing it.


8. Which book in your TBR pile will give you the biggest accomplishment when you finish it?

It is not a book, it is a series and it is the Harry Potter series and it'll give me a sense of accomplishment because it is a big series and I have been avoiding it for the longest time, so it's kind of a leap for me to finally finish it.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you liked this Tag feel free to do it, I'd love to see all your different answers! I want to tag my friend Elektra over at My Trending Books!

Thank you for reading!

"Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope" by Mark Manson || Book Review

I read the "Subtle art of not giving a f*ck" by the same author a few months ago and I really enjoyed it (you can fine my review of it here), so I was very excited to read one more of his books. 

Unfortunately, this one did not live up to the quality of the other one and it didn't have as much of an interest or hold on me and this is the reason I'm rating this one lower. I gave this book 3* while I had rated the subtle art with 4*. The narrator was great and this really helped me get through the book more easily. I'm not sure if I'd like it as much if I had to go through the effort of actually reading it.

My main problem was that it felt repetitive and at a few points it tired me out. I think this was partly because it was actually repetitive, but also partly because some of the ideas were also introduced and talked about in the previous book I read so maybe that added to this feeling.

I liked some of the stories it included like about Nietche's friend Meta (pretty sure I butchered both of their names and I'm not even going to try to write their full names) and her life and about the Buddhist monk who set himself on fire. I felt like I learned quite a few new things and it made me go and research more details about them.

It was interesting to read his views about religions - all kinds of them - about people and about the thinking and feeling brain.

Even though I didn't love it, it was still a good read. It may not be as enjoyable or attention-grabbing as the subtle art, but it is still a good read and it gives you food for thought. It helps you reconsider life and your ideas and learn some new things about life and about yourself. Overall a good read but not great.

Thanks for reading!

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" || Book Review & Book to Movie Comparison

Hello friends!

Today I'm here with a review of the second book in the Harry Potter series. If you'd like to check out my full review of the first book ("The Philosopher's Stone"), you can find it here.

I've always liked the second Harry Potter movie more than the first one so I entered this book with more expectations and hope. Luckily, my expectations were met and I liked the second book of the series much better than the first one. The story of the Chamber of Secrets always seemed more interesting to me and I was very eager to read it. I started reading this book back when I was a teen but I only got halfway through it. You see, I had borrowed it from a friend of mine and she had to leave and take the book back before I could finish it. Many years passed since then and I can say that even though I knew what it was about and remembered a thing or two, for the most part, I didn't really remember much so it was like reading it for the first time.

***RATING***

I really enjoyed this book and it deserves a good rating. I also was sure that I was going to give it a higher rating than the first book which I rated 3*. It wasn't perfect, I still found a couple of small flaws so I couldn't give it 5*, but it has definitely earned 4* from me.

***NON SPOILER REVIEW***

The book was very good, Rowling's writing is brilliant for once more, the atmosphere is magical and the worldbuilding impeccable. One of the things I've come to really admire in her writing is the rich vocabulary. The imagery is vivid and the descriptions are strong. 

Something I really loved about the book was the humor. There were so many funny scenes throughout the book even in the tragic moments and those funny moments were coming from all the characters. I caught myself laughing so many times.

For one more time, I had my objections with the pacing. The first half of the book was a bit slow, while the second half is much faster, more interesting and it goes by easily. It felt like the actual story took a bit to get started and it was quite a long way to get to this point. The book is generally quite long, longer than it should be. There are a couple of scenes that aren't necessary, you could remove them and the story would stay the same, it wouldn't change at all, and it would, in fact, be even better. Then there are a couple of scenes that are important to the plot, but still, they go on and on and they drag so long to the point that it becomes tiring. I believe that if these scenes were trimmed down and if the book was a bit shorter, the story would have been much stronger, more solid, and compact. This is one complaint I had for the best book as well and it is the main reason I removed a star from my rating in both cases.

It starts to look like a pattern now that each book ends with a talk between Harry and Dumbledore which results in a beautiful lesson. This is something I've come to love and hope to see in the other books as well.

***REVIEW & BOOK TO MOVIE COMPARISON***SPOILERS***

I loved that we got to see a bit more of Voldemort and we got to learn more about his life as a young student. Tom Riddle's story was dark and mysterious and it really grabbed my attention. I loved learning what he was like and how he turned into Voldemort.

It was great to finally see Ron's house and life and having Harry be with them like it was his actual family was heartwarming and beautiful. It was also the first time we actually got to see how an all-magical family actually lives and goes through their routine. We've seen plenty of the muggle life with the Dursleys, but now that Harry got to spend time with Ron and his family we got to explore a whole other reality and this is so exciting.

The more I read these books the more I grow to love Ron and I start to see what people have been talking about movie-Ron versus book-Ron. Book-Ron is awesome, he's not just funny, he is smart, helpful, and loveable. Movie-Ron is mostly just goofy, just a character to provide comic relief and this is annoying. I could already see a couple of Ron's lines that were given to Hermione in the movie and not only does this ruin the character, but it makes absolutely no sense. There are certain things that logically only Ron should know being pureblood and raised by wizards, on the contrary, it makes absolutely no sense for Hermione to know those things. Even if she reads a lot there are some things that she and Harry could not have known since they were raised by muggles. Book-Hermione on the other hand is far less likable than movie-Hermione who is in fact pretty awesome.

One thing that the movie did better than the book in my opinion was the chamber of secrets scene. In the book, it was way too much talking and so little action. It felt like they were talking for so long and the action was too short. I get that Riddle was trying to delay the whole thing to make sure that Ginny would die and he would return to life but it felt so disappointing that when the time of action came it wasn't even much of a fight. In the movie though, the scene is much better, there is some talking and then quite a bit of action. Harry runs a little bit, tries to get away from the snake, tries to outsmart it and when the snake attacks him it feels like quite a threat so when he kills it, it's much more satisfying.

On the other hand, I loved the final chapter of the book and I thought it was so much better than the final scenes in the movie. I loved the part where they talk to Dumbledore about what happened and I also loved when Harry and Dumbledore confront Lucius. In the movie this scene was more subtle, it was more implied, but in the book, everything was said out loud! In the book, they looked him in the eyes and confronted him with no fear or doubt whatsoever and just talked to him straight and it was so awesome! I loved it! I also liked the scene where Doby gets freed more in the book. Oh, Doby was just so annoying most of the time but I really felt sorry for him and it was so sweet and heart-warming when he was finally free.

I really liked the addition of Lockhart. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was an incredibly annoying character and a horrible person, but his presence in the book was so funny and entertaining. He was written perfectly to be this incompetent, obnoxious idiot. His character feels as real as any other in this book. I enjoyed him but I'm surely glad he is gone.

***END OF SPOILERS***

So, these were my thoughts about it. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable read. I liked it and thought it was better than the first one. I'll soon read the third book in the series and I'm really curious about it.