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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3)

by J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)

4.47 of 5 stars 4.47 · rating details · 1,350,147 ratings · 20,823 reviews

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 safes ...more

Mass Market Paperback, 435 pages

Published May 1st 2004 by Scholastic (first published July 8th 1999)

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Community Reviews

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Feb 09, 2008 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, harry-potter

Since pretty much everyone I know has read these books, I figure reviewing them is pretty pointless. But with the new book coming out in a couple of weeks, I have to go through them beginning to end. To make the reviews more entertaining, I will be doing them in a variety of unexpected formats. For this review, I will be writing as Crookshanks fan fiction.

Crookshanks swished his tail back and forth as he crept up the stairs to the boys' bedrooms. He knew the rat wasn't what it was pretending to Since pretty much everyone I know has read these books, I figure reviewing them is pretty pointless. But with the new book coming out in a couple of weeks, I have to go through them beginning to end. To make the reviews more entertaining, I will be doing them in a variety of unexpected formats. For this review, I will be writing as Crookshanks fan fiction.

Crookshanks swished his tail back and forth as he crept up the stairs to the boys' bedrooms. He knew the rat wasn't what it was pretending to be, but all of his attempts to alert the humans to this fact had failed. "I don't know why I even bother," he muttered to himself. "I could get along fine without any of them. Let the rat do whatever it is it's trying to do. So long as Girl keeps feeding me and scratching my belly, I'll - hello, what's this?"

He could smell the rat. Its scent was like nothing Crookshanks had ever smelled, and for all his time living in a magical pet shop, he'd smelled a lot. The rat did smell like a rat, yes, but there was also something else. Something... human. It was just like that big black dog he'd met on the grounds the other day. Every instinct in him had screamed to run away, but there was that smell. And even Crookshanks knew what they said about cats and curiosity. The dog had turned out to be more than just a dog, and it had convinced Crookshanks to help it. First order of business: retrieve a certain rat from the bedroom of the Red-Haired Boy.

The Boy wasn't in, but the rat was. Crookshanks circled the bed a few times. This time, maybe, he would be able to get the damn thing. He tensed for a moment and then leapt onto the bed.

By luck or skill, he was nearly on top of the thing when he landed. "A-HA!" he yowled. "Gotcha!" He pinned the rat under his sizable paw. "Where you gonna run to now, ratty?" he asked, sneering as best he could.

The rat writhed in his grip. "Please," it said. "Just let me go. You don't know what will happen if you eat me, it would be a terrible mistake!"

"A mistake, eh?" the cat said. "We'll see about that. I have a great big doggie friend who's just aching to get his jaws around you...."

He barely had time to finish his sentence when the rat went mad. It squealed and bit and slashed with its paws. And then, against all of Crookshanks' previous experience - it grew! It nearly threw the cat off the bed as it became much more massive - its legs lengthened and its arms stretched until it had reached a human size and shape. Crookshanks goggled. Of all the things he'd expected from this rat, this wasn't it. The human grabbed at him, but Crookshanks was too fast. He jumped off the bed and shimmied under the wardrobe, where he could see but not be seen.

The human looked around, breathing heavily. He was pale and thin, and still looked ratty. "Think, Peter, think," he said. "Gotta get out of here, but..." He stopped, glanced at the wardrobe, and grimaced. "You may just have given me my way out, cat," he said. And then he bit the ball of his hand.

Blood dripped out, leaving spreading red blotches on the sheets. "They'll think it was you," he said. "They'll leave me for dead and I'll be free to rejoin my Lord." He looked at the recently repaired curtains on Ron's bed. "It's not safe here anymore." He sucked at the wound to stop the bloodflow and then went to the window. Perched on the windowsill, he looked over at Crookshanks' hiding place. "If I were human," he said, "the fall would kill me. But as a rat...." His body rippled and twisted and shrank, and then there was an old grey rat on the sill. Crookshanks was pretty sure it winked at him before leaping off.

After a minute or two, Crookshanks wriggled out from under the wardrobe, his thoughts dark. The Red-Haired Boy was going to be angry, and so was the Girl. But more importantly, the Dog was going to be furious. It was barely holding on to its sanity as it was. Crookshanks shook his head. This was going to get worse before it would get better... ...more

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Jun 30, 2013 Inge rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favourites, magic, main-character-is-cool, villain-rocks-my-socks, time-travel, laugh-out-loud-funny, smiles-a-plenty, werewolves, children, fantasy, faeries-and-elves

This is a Weasley appreciation post.

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Sep 12, 2014 Wil Wheaton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I'm beginning to wonder if there will ever be a Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher who is just a teacher.

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Oct 30, 2011 Saniya(Will Herondale is mine) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: saniya-malfoy, borrowed, favorites

Of-course, this book was EPIC! =D
Its Harry Potter now. It has to be epic! *Rolling eyes but smiling widely* xD

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Dec 07, 2014 Raeleen Lemay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, own, boarding-school, read-more-than-once, movie-or-tv, fantasy, people-with-powers, 2014

Re-Read in December 2014 for Harry Christmas to You

OH MAN. THIS BOOK IS SO MY FAVORITE.

The phone conversation at the beginning between Ron and Uncle Vernon was PRICELESS. I wish so much that that scene had been in the movie.

I was so into reading this book that I failed to take notes, so I don't have many specifics to add except that I love how Crookshanks was basically Sirius's secret agent spy cat friend and I LOVE THAT.

Also, this book demonstrated some very REAL aspects of school. For example, ...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, youth, out-loud, to-my-kids, faves

I know that many of you out there haven't gotten around to reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Much like Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch and Lucifer's worldwide bestseller The Holy Bible, you own a copy, it gathers dust, but its never been read. You've been thinking about it, though. You see it there on the shelf and you wonder, "Is this book for me?"

The following checklist will tell you all you need to know about Harry Potter and the Prisoner ...more

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Jul 17, 2007 pinkgal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: absolute-favorites, magic_fairytale-esque

It was September 1998; the third Harry Potter book had just been released. Pottermania? What's that? It was still unknown except to a vast population of younglings who'd read it... and I fell in love. Oh, how I fell in love. I fell in love with the poor, starved-for-affection, later known to be a twit Harry. I fell in love with the pretentious know-it-all Hermione. I fell in love with the awkward, grew-up-in-his-brother's-shadows Ron... and most of all? I fell in love with the snarky, unplatable ...more

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Jan 08, 2014 9 3/4 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, own, reread

Harry Potter changed my life. If I hadn’t read Harry Potter when I did I would not be the same person today. What I am today, in a part is due to Harry. I cannot really say enough to make you understand how much Harry Potter means to me.

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Dec 10, 2013 Jo ★The Book Sloth★ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, magic, fantasy, paranormal, non-romance

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Dec 07, 2013 Navessa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Still five stars. Love this so much. Can't review. Couldn't even take notes. Watched the movie immediately after finishing. Need next book. Wish I lived in this world. Damn you, Rowling.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Nov 29, 2014 Maxwell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, i-own-it

Reread November 2014

The third film is my favorite of the series because it's a bit darker than the previous too, and the story gets creepier and moodier with the unfolding of Sirius Black's tale. However, I don't think the third book is my favorite to read. I do love the whole Time-Turner/Inception situation that goes on near the end. And the introduction of Lupin and Black are such great additions to the series (and Buckbeak, but what ever happens to him?).

I'm really enjoying these rereads, an ...more

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Sep 19, 2014 Micheline (Lunar Rainbows Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: favorites, multiple-reads, hero-worship, magic-witches-wizards, classics, vampires-werewolves, fantasy, young-adult, epic, high-fantasy

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban has always been, in my opinion, one of the best books of the series. Even as far as the movies go, I feel that POA is by far the best book to film adaptation out of all 8 movies. Yes Harry Potter and Ron and Hermione are still fairly young in the third book, but I find they have matured quite a bit this time around. They're officially in their teens, and they've already had their fair share of adventures. This time around however, Harry has more to worr Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban has always been, in my opinion, one of the best books of the series. Even as far as the movies go, I feel that POA is by far the best book to film adaptation out of all 8 movies. Yes Harry Potter and Ron and Hermione are still fairly young in the third book, but I find they have matured quite a bit this time around. They're officially in their teens, and they've already had their fair share of adventures. This time around however, Harry has more to worry about than just Voldemort (as if that in itself weren't enough). Harry's Summer vacation at the Dursley's take a turn for the worse when Uncle Vernon's vile sister Marge comes to visit. She is completely horrible to Harry, and by comparison makes his Aunt & Uncle look almost human. After a disastrous visit ends abruptly (lol) Harry finds himself spending his last two weeks of Summer vacation in Diagon Alley. I always feel so happy about Harry being able to soak in his magical surroundings and do as he pleases...I mean how fun would it be to hang out in Diagon Alley?!

The writing in this one is above reproach. I read somewhere that JK Rowling said that when she had finished writing 'Half Blood Prince' she said she hadn't been that satisfied with a book since Prisoner of Azkaban, and I feel it shows: this is JKR at her best. There are so many new magical elements added in the mix this time : The Maurauder's Map, the discovery of the identity of the Maurauders themselves, the Dementors are absolute nightmares (view spoiler) , the Patronus charms are really cool, and always have me imagining what I think my own Patronus would be. I also really enjoy the visits the the wizarding village of Hogsmeade, the only all wizard settlement in London.

(view spoiler)

As usual, the book has the requisite Dumbledore & Harry heart to heart ending. And Dumbledore always contributes a hint at a key plot element that will come to play again later on in the story. (view spoiler) Re-reading is fun just because of those little hints. My first time through, I pretty much inhaled the series whole, so some of the little hints I had forgotten about. It's brilliant to see how it all fits together in the end...every little detail is woven into the plot for a reason. Not many authors accomplish such a feat, but J.K. Rowling does it seamlessly. ...more

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Nov 13, 2013 Mohammed Arabey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

عندما قرأت هذا الجزء...كنت متخوفا من ان اجد احداث مشابهه للجزئين السابقين..ولكني كنت مخطئا

كلب اسود غريب يظهر لهاري وحده يسبب له الفزع, انه نذير الشؤم

يبدأ هاري عامه الدراسي باغرب الاحداث..منها مقابله مع وزير السحر الذي يقدم استثناء خاص لهاري غير متوقع

مجرم وقاتل هارب من ازبكان..له ماض سئ مع عائله هاري بوتر..ينجح في التسلل للمدرسه مما يسبب فزعا كبيرا

لم يستطع احد الامساك به بالرغم من حراسة المدرسه بحراس افظع من المجرمين نفسهم..يبثون الرعب في التلاميذ..بالاخص هاري

مدرس الدفاع ضد السحر الاسود بالرغم م عندما قرأت هذا الجزء...كنت متخوفا من ان اجد احداث مشابهه للجزئين السابقين..ولكني كنت مخطئا

كلب اسود غريب يظهر لهاري وحده يسبب له الفزع, انه نذير الشؤم

يبدأ هاري عامه الدراسي باغرب الاحداث..منها مقابله مع وزير السحر الذي يقدم استثناء خاص لهاري غير متوقع

مجرم وقاتل هارب من ازبكان..له ماض سئ مع عائله هاري بوتر..ينجح في التسلل للمدرسه مما يسبب فزعا كبيرا

لم يستطع احد الامساك به بالرغم من حراسة المدرسه بحراس افظع من المجرمين نفسهم..يبثون الرعب في التلاميذ..بالاخص هاري

مدرس الدفاع ضد السحر الاسود بالرغم من انه الافضل..الا انه يختفي ويظهر في ظروف غامضه,وسناب ياخذ مكانه احتياطيا..وايضا يتصرف بغرابه

هيرموني تشتري قط جديد..يتصرف بغرابه, ورون يكرهه خوفا علي فأره الذي يختفي...هيرموني نفسها تتصرف بغرابه

هديه متميزه لهاري مجهوله المصدر..عرافه تتنبأ بموت هاري بوتر الوشيك بسبب نذير الشؤم

بيت مسكون...هاجريد ينتظر حكم الاعدام لحيوانه المفضل بسبب مالفوي

اشخاص ميتون يظهرون في خريطه المدرسه علي انهم يتجولون في المدرسه..ولكن لا يمكن تتبعهم او رؤيتهم

مــجـرم هارب وحــــراس رهيــبه
عــــرافه ونــبوءه ونـذير شـؤم
كـــــلــب, قـــــط وفـــــأر

عندما قرأت الجزء الثاني –بعد ان كنت شاهدت الجزئين كفيلم سينمائي- شعرت ان "وماذا بعد؟"

توقعت ان يكون الامر مملا لاحقا..بالرغم من اعجابي الشديد بالعالم والشخصيات الا ان حبكه الجزء الثاني –خاصا قبل معرفه سر الهوركروكس في الجزء السادس- كنت اشعر بخيوط رفيعه متشابهه في تسلسل الاحداث ونهايتها
ليجئ الجزء الثالث اكبر,عمق اكثر للشخصيات..نظره اعمق لعالم السحر المخفي بين طيات عالمنا
والاهم..احداث وحبكه مختلفه واقوي في تصاعدها وغرابتها وغموضها وحتي "الرعب" فيها عن الجزئين السابقين مجتمعين
وفعلا اشعر ان الفصول الاخيره كانت بها كميه احداث تقلب مسار الروايه بالاخص
"كلب وقط وفأر"
وتتأكد فعلا ان جي كي رولينج بجعبتها الكثير لتقدمه

بصعوبه شديده تحاملت علي نفسي لتقسيم قراءه الروايه علي 3 اجزاء وكنت احترق شوقا لمعرفه ما سيحدث بعد ذلك, وكيف ستكون الاجزاء القادمه

الروايه اعمق بكثير جدا جدا من الفيلم وهذا احبطني..التغيير في "نغمه"الفيلم من الجزء الثالث بالمقارنه بين اول جزئين له مزايا وعيوب الا ان عيبه الرئيسي بالنسبه لي هو اختصار اجزاء من الروايه ,ربما لانها كانت اول مره اكون قد قرأت الروايه قبل الفيلم ولكني فعلا ارشح مشاهده الجزء الاول "وربما الثاني" قبل البدء في القراءه ثم قراءه السلسله كامله قبل مشاهده باقي الافلام

محمد العربي
...more

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Jan 22, 2011 kristin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Now that I have three of these under my belt, it's time to take a break.

It's not that there's anything wrong with them. On the contrary, they're holding my interest too well.

See, I've got this homework stuff that I'm supposed to be doing instead of reading. But school is so boring all of a sudden, and home life is a bit strained, too, and it's so nice to escape. . .

No, I'm not a tween. I'm nearly thirty years old. But the same general issues still apply to me. This series has come to me at the ...more

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Jul 26, 2009 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-kids, sf-fantasy-and-other-dorky-shit, girls-girls-girls

My Harry Potter Apology

A couple of summers ago I tried to read Harry Potter. I expected to be unimpressed, and I was was. The first two novels in the series are unspectacular. After reading more children's literature recently I've realized that they are fairly standard fair for the kiddie fantasy genre, but that still left me wondering why everyone cared so much about this little nerdling. If I hadn't engrossed myself in books for kids this summer I probably wouldn't have ever gotten decided to My Harry Potter Apology

A couple of summers ago I tried to read Harry Potter. I expected to be unimpressed, and I was was. The first two novels in the series are unspectacular. After reading more children's literature recently I've realized that they are fairly standard fair for the kiddie fantasy genre, but that still left me wondering why everyone cared so much about this little nerdling. If I hadn't engrossed myself in books for kids this summer I probably wouldn't have ever gotten decided to give Harry Potter another chance. I needed to figure out why, why was this series so popular? What makes this a huge cultural phenomena, while a book series like Percy Jackson is only a best-seller that adults don't jizz themselves over? Having read two of the PJ and HP, I decided I needed to investigate this a little more. It didn't hurt that I was bored last weekend and watched the second Harry Potter movie and found myself enjoying it and actually watched it all in one sitting, something I haven't done for a movie in months.

Ok. Going into HP3 I was skeptical. I found the PJ's first two novels if not better than more interesting. They were about Greek mythology, and while silly at times they were a pretty fun take on all of the creatures and God's met in The Odyssey. I'll take stories involving Athena and Gorgons over Dumbledore and Voldemort any day.

Strangely I was wrong about Harry Potter. I hate to admit when my prejudices are wrong, but apparently I am not infallible. While I still stand behind my judgment of books one and two being fairly fun but predictable and too episodic for my taste, book three seemed to move drastically beyond the almost cookie-cutter quality of Rowling's first two forays, and created a very full world that had enough depth to the characters and actions that I stopped feeling like I was being dragged along by the nose through an unengaging text. I don't know what to really say, except I really ended up enjoying it, enough so that I looked forward to starting book 4 (which I have started but have to say isn't living up to this book so far).

When I was shamefully buying this book a cashier told me that this was her favorite in the series. Someone else stopped to tell me while I sat on the stoop behind work that it was their favorite too. I'm wondering if this is the pinnacle of the series, and that after this it just becomes a need to keep on reading, hoping that the heights of book 3 will be reached again, and feeling compelled to finish a series that one could feel very invested in. I don't know.

As a side note, I had the thought that while I made fun of adults who loudly proclaimed their love for the HP books, especially around the time when the fourth one came out (this was the moment the little nerdling entered on to my myopic cultural radar, and I had my initial disgust at reading newspaper articles with adults saying they love the books and they aren't kids books, blah blah blah), I kind of get what they are saying. I don't agree with them, I don't think it's the greatest thing ever written, and I have lots of books I liked more than this one, but for a person who reads shitty books and lives on a diet of Grisham and Patterson with some other easy to digest cookie cutter adult novelists thrown in, this book would read like literature. ...more

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Dec 11, 2013 Liz* rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, amazing-heroines, author-we-should-be-friends, badass-hero, badass-heroine, fantasy, funny, mystery, read-2013, read-it-again, young-adults

Trust me when I tell you I'm in love with this series. I just can't believe it's been years since I read this and still feels the same. Just like the first time, it was all there. Excitement, surprise, sadness and Sirius. One of my favorite characters of the series.

JK Rowling is a genius. Plot twist and another twist at the end, just in case you were asking for more.

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Oct 08, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Shit got real!

For me, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was when the series got interesting. It certainly got darker and more mature. Torture, loss, a foreboding sense of dread and death itself descended upon this happy little world of magic where school exams and difficult professors were the worst things to worry about. It also introduced a reason for Harry to want to live: his godfather, a connection to his parents. Up until then there was little joy in Harry's life. Sure there was the ...more

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Nov 05, 2014 Shelby *wants some flying monkeys* rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013, favorite-series, young-adult

I loved the first 2 books in this series but this one just swept me completely away! I love the storyline that Ms. Rowling has gifted us with. I watched the movies of some of the books years ago and I liked them but these books!

I want to run outside and scream READ THESE BOOKS! But then I think I'm one of the last people in the universe that hasn't. So I'll be sorta quiet.
P.S. Read these books!

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Dec 10, 2014 Maureen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Reread in December 2014 for #HarryXmasToYou

Such a great book! I love how much these characters develop as the books go on, and Remus and Sirius are some of my favorite characters. I feel like this is one I confuse with the movie a lot because I LOVE the PoA movie, so it was interesting to see some of the changes! Though it's a pretty faithful adaptation. Overall, just so great. I LOVE HARRY POTTER OMG.

also ROWLING WHEN ARE WE GONNA GET SOME MAURADER SHORT STORIES EH???

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Mar 06, 2009 Henry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, young-adult

Since everyone is probably already familiar with the Harry Potter series and with this book in particular, I'm not going to write any sort of summary. I am just going to say that of the three I have read so far, this is by far the best.
I felt that this book had the best and well thought out story line of the series so far. But keep in mind, I have only gotten through book three. Rowling also left no stones unturned by revealing the secrets behind all of the wizardry items and people introduced ...more

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Dec 14, 2014 Sanaa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-books, read-2014

Re-Read December 2014: I'm a little late with updating my goodreads for this one, but I reread this for #HarryXmasToYou and I loved it! This one is neck in neck with the 4th for my favorite of the entire series!

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Sep 19, 2014 Rabindranauth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids, favorites, nominee-hugo, winner-locus-f

Harry just can't seem to catch a break, can he? Even when he's not wrapped in some scheme involving Voldemort, he ends up going through his most intense emotional trial to date.

Harry's off to start his third year of Hogwarts, after blowing up his aunt, going on the lam and finding out Sirius Black, a convicted mass murderer and major supporter of Voldemort, is after him. Fearing for his safety, the Ministry of Magic stations the Dementors of Azkaban, soul sucking monstrosities with a curiously e Harry just can't seem to catch a break, can he? Even when he's not wrapped in some scheme involving Voldemort, he ends up going through his most intense emotional trial to date.

Harry's off to start his third year of Hogwarts, after blowing up his aunt, going on the lam and finding out Sirius Black, a convicted mass murderer and major supporter of Voldemort, is after him. Fearing for his safety, the Ministry of Magic stations the Dementors of Azkaban, soul sucking monstrosities with a curiously evil fascination with Harry. Needless to say it's going to be an interesting year, especially with sightings of Sirius Black that indicate he's headed straight to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry . . . . . .

So, confession time; I've always considered this in the running for my least favorite of the series, topped only by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Which is the first major surprise of the re-read for me; I absolutely loved it. I couldn't help myself, I completely blew past everyone else in the read along and I have no regrets. I just enjoyed it too much. Rowling ups the ante in this book on many levels.

Rowling finally seems to master her handling of the darkness that I pointed out she begins to use in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The entire book takes on a dark, sinister air right off the bat when we learn Sirius Black is on the loose, and it rapidly becomes clear the name is synonymous with extreme violence. In addition to this, we meet the Dementors, truly some of the most foul creatures in the entire series. On top of all this, as the Dementors draw near, Harry relives the murder of his parents with a level of detail unlike anything to date, adding a morbid pall to the tale helped along by the threat of execution lying over Buckbeak the Hippogriff. It's the little things, that all come together and makes it work. She finally stops trying to add a childish, wonderous spin to the darkness, and what we end up with is an even darker, but infinitely more powerful story.

I like to think of this as the book when Harry finally hits puberty. His infamous temper begins to rear it's head, and over the course of the novel Harry deals with plenty of emotional turmoil as the relationship between Sirius Black and his parents is slowly revealed. In addition to this, even the best of friends will argue now and then, and when Crookshanks enters the picture, Ron and Hermione begin to squabble. Precisely like two kids that secretly like each other, but Rowling's still holding that card close to her chest in this book. It's a laundry list, when you think of it; the book opens with him enduring some pretty horrid insults from Vernon Dursley's sister, then he spends all year listening to batty old Professor Trelawney predict his death, amplified by his seeing death omens all over the place.

I actually have one complaint with this book. I think it wraps together far too neatly in the end. It's a signature Rowling ending, with all the threads tied off except those she intends to use again, but the final straw for me was the letter he receives allowing him to go to Hogsmeade. That really made me groan. But at the same time it felt like precisely what the book is, a middle grade book ending.

All in all, considering I never held any special love for this book, I'm glad I chose to re-read this series. So far not only has every book been even more fun to read than I can recall, it's also interesting seeing everything from a new perspective. And now with the first act of the series over, things are only about to heat up with the Goblet of Fire. Onwards! ...more

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Dec 10, 2014 Wart Hill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-scifi-fantasy, childhood-in-a-box, over-and-over-and-over

I was going to try to write a review and articulate why this is my favorite of the Harry Potter series, but I don't think I can...

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Jan 27, 2014 Brendon Schrodinger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

So I have been visiting Hogwarts while up a ladder painting my house thanks to the dulcet tones Stephen Fry. It's a great method of making the job seem not so big. I have read all the series before and the earlier volumes several times now, but I haven't read any since Deathly Hallows came out. It was getting time to revisit these great books and I found the most brilliant way.

What can I say about the books that hasn't been said before? I have no idea. So I guess I'll just write a little about t ...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: geekdom, children, bronte-milos-books, fantasy

***There may be some spoilers ahead, but can these books really be spoiled at this point?***

So this time through Prisoner of Azkaban something struck me about our general pop cultural acceptance that Albus Dumbledore is the goodest of the good, the best of the best, the most heroic of the heroes in Rowling's world (trumping even Harry because his sacrifice is genuine).

I am not interested in Rowling's intentions for the characters in this; I am interested only in what I see. And what I see tells ***There may be some spoilers ahead, but can these books really be spoiled at this point?***

So this time through Prisoner of Azkaban something struck me about our general pop cultural acceptance that Albus Dumbledore is the goodest of the good, the best of the best, the most heroic of the heroes in Rowling's world (trumping even Harry because his sacrifice is genuine).

I am not interested in Rowling's intentions for the characters in this; I am interested only in what I see. And what I see tells me that only one character is good and great and heroic in the kind of goodness and greatness and heroism that interests me.

I am not saying that Dumbledore's a bad guy. He's no Voldemort, obviously (although I am not entirely convinced that Voldemort is the embodiment of evil we often think of him as), and he leads the battle against Voldemort's fascist rise, which makes him the Churchillian leader of English myth. He does sacrifice himself. He does risk his health and welfare to destroy horcruxes. He does protect Harry (while moving the boy around like the chess piece that the boy is). But what strikes me is that everything Dumbledore accomplishes is accomplished to maintain the status quo, and the status quo I see is far from worthy of maintenance. It is a status quo with a classic English power structure, rich white guys at the top (Dumbledore anyone?) and everyone else beneath. It is a status quo with the usual class divides. It is a status quo with some pretty hefty racism (goblins and giants and other Others). It is a status quo with institutionalized slavery (and Dumbledore himself uses a small army of House Elves to run Hogwarts without a hint of distaste). It is a status quo with a prison system of torture. And Dumbledore does nothing to disrupt that status quo.

In my opinion, the character who is the goodest of the good, the best of the best, the most heroic of the heroes is the one who rails against the status quo while simultaneously battling Voldemort, and she fights Mr. Riddle far more significantly than the rest of the wizarding world. And she fights the status quo in spite of being mocked for her beliefs by everyone at every turn. For me the paragon we should aspire to is Hermione Granger. Not Dumbledore and certainly not Harry Potter.

So with that in mind, what's not to love about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It is the moment that Hermione comes into her own. She is the key to the resolution. She keeps them all alive. She's sceptical, she's smart, and she is potent. I love Hermione. Take that Hermione haters. ...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, ya-fantasy

The waters are getting deeper in this volume, and a little darker...but the first readers were growing up between volumes when this was first published. These are some of the most well written books around. Kudos To Ms. Rowling.

This book stands out for a couple of reasons...not to give any spoilers, it stands out as introing us to a couple of important characters and also for the nonappearance of another. The characters stay true to themselves and we get to know them even better.

The characters i ...more

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Dec 18, 2013 Erica Ravenclaw rated it 5 of 5 stars

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING AND TRAGIC AND EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.

That is all.

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Oct 11, 2014 Alexa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: awesome

Writing a review for this is probably impossible without spoilers. Let's just say I love this book.

I love the mystery, I love Remus, I love the Marauder's Map (Come on! You know you love it too!) I love the deus ex machina ending, and I love all the clues I should have seen but didn't.

But more than everything else, I love the background story. And I can easily say that I love the 'old' characters almost as much as the current ones.

Now for a little bit of Marauding fangirling.

All images by Vi ...more

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Jul 11, 2013 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-physical, young-adult, fantasy

Not as tight as the second book in terms of pacing and the major plot twist(s) at the end, but still enjoyable. Because Camp NaNo has my brain fried, here are a few random tidbits that stood out.

1) Professor Lupin, who I accidentally called Professor Lupus in the middle of a conversation with my friend. Love this guy, and he better come back into the series because awesome mentor figures are awesome.

2) Loved the minor character development. Rowling knows how to keep each character in the fray; I ...more

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Nov 29, 2010 Miloš & Brontë rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-with-pa, read-to-us, harry-potter

Pa: So we finally finished Prisoner of Azkaban, you turkeys, what did you think?

Miloš: I thought that the time-turner was really cool.

Pa: How come?

Miloš: Because I liked how Harry and Hermione went to save Sirius and save Buckbeak, and how Ron woke up and said what happened.

Pa: How about you, Te? Did you like that part?

Brontë: Yeah, I liked it. I like how they were going back in time. And I love how Harry, at the end, didn't know it [the person who cast the Patronus] was him because he thought i ...more

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About J.K. Rowling

See also: Robert Galbraith
Although she writes under the pen name J.K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling, her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she ch See also: Robert Galbraith
Although she writes under the pen name J.K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling, her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.

Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.

Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.

Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books. ...more

More about J.K. Rowling...

Books by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)

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