Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on September 25, 2015 | 5 Comments


Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #3
Published by Scholastic Press (7.8.1999)
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Paperback, 435 pages
Source: I own it


4.5 Stars

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 safest place for Harry to be. But is it a coincidence that he can feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney's ghoulish predictions seriously?

My thoughts

I am very surprised by how addicted to this series I’ve become! I’ve been trying to watch each movie after I read the book, but the anxiety caused by the differences in this one tell me I should probably stop doing that, ha.

I’ve reached the point now where I’m starting to see drastic differences between the book and the movie, unlike the first two. I was really upset that the significance behind Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs wasn’t explained! That was one of my favorite parts of the book. It barely even mentioned Sirius being the black dog and his relation to the Grim. Actually, most things weren’t explained. Hermione’s class overload and her being in two places at once, the Patronus, Scabbers’ missing toe….Crookshanks was nearly non-existent, Buckbeak’s situation was glossed over…it was all very frustrating. I’m glad now that I did read the book, because I got so much more out of it. There were SO many things going on behind the scenes that I didn’t even realize…everything makes so much more sense when you’ve read the book. So many little yet important details were skimmed over! I think the fact that they left out Prongs and the reason behind Harry’s Patronus being a stag upset me the most. Like, how long would it have taken just to say that was his father’s Animagus?

I also really didn’t like how they showed Peter Pettigrew (in the movie) on the map wandering through Hogwarts, because it wasn’t a surprise in the scene when Sirius finally appears. Bad planning there! Two other scenes I didn’t think were portrayed very well were the Quidditch match with the dementors and the discussion about Sirius and his involvement with Harry’s parents (seriously, how awkward was that?).

Anyway, back to the book. The map!! I loooved the Marauder’s Map. I totally want one!! I loved that it was created by the four best friends and the whole backstory behind it.

I also love that Sirius was portrayed as a bad guy but he really wasn’t. The whole book was building him up as this evil villain, and the perception was broken when Harry finally met him. I think Sirius is my favorite character of the series so far!

Side note: Okay, am I freaking tripping, or was Dumbledore’s quote from the movie, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light” NOT in the book?! I mean, I love that quote to death and I swear I never remember reading it, and surely I would have remembered that…?!?!

Favorite quote

“You think the dead we have loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?”

Overall assessment

Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 4/5
Cover: 3/5
Overall rating: 4.5/5

Previous books

HP sorcerer's stone HP chamber of secrets

Jessi (Geo)

Posted in: Book Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , ,

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5 responses to “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

  1. I think you have to watch the films and try to forget about the books, otherwise it will drive you nuts. I went to see all the films with my best friend, and she’s one of those people who can remember everything that happens in a book. The kind of person that makes you doubt that you both read the same book because you swear you can’t remember some of the things happening that she’s talking about. Anyway, afterwards she’d rant about the differences. I still don’t think she’s got over the lack of information about horcruxes in the films.

  2. The first three books of this series were my favorite. Although obviously the book is better than the movie, there are parts of the movie that weren’t so much in the book that I really loved. My favorite part of the movie is when H&H went back in time to save Buckbeak. If you have good hearing or have the subtitles on (that’s me) you can listen to Dumbledore in Hagrid’s house stalling the executioner. It’s so funny to listen to – and even funnier when I keep in mind that he “shouldn’t” have known they were there, since he hadn’t given them the Time Turner yet.

  3. Thank you! My husband and his best friend both really like the Azkaban movie, but it my opinion it is by far the worst of the HP films. It’s a bad adaptation and has terrible directing overall. But the book is fabulous! :)

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