Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

After a bit of wavering about in the first two books, in The Prisoner of Azkaban we are presented with a novel that feels fully developed. In retrospect, The Philosopher's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets seem like practice runs for JKR in which she hones her craft, builds and furnishes her wizarding universe, and cements the quirks and traits of her characters' personalities. With all that out of the way, our patience is rewarded with a gripping, clever story that doesn't rely on a clumsy Dumbledore related deus ex machina to bring it to a conclusion. Huzzah!

My eldest tells me that this is her least favourite of the books, and I suspect the reasons for that lie in the difference between reading it as an adult and reading it as a child. This is undoubtedly my favourite of the series so far but I can imagine a youngster could find it quite boring without the relentless, quickly paced twists and turns found in the previous books. This is a tale to be slowly unraveled, and although it doesn't have the charm of The Chamber of Secrets there is a lot to love about this book. Fred and George's relentless pranking of poor, overly-earnest Percy had me laughing out loud as I read, and I sincerely hope we get to see more of gentle Professor Lupin. The Marauder's Map was a stroke of genius, and the reveal of the origin of the names and their accompanying backstory gave me the warm fuzzies.

With my ratings steadily creeping up, I have high hopes for the next few books. Four stars.