Goodreads Rating: 4.55 stars

Goodreads Summary:

Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts is full of new dangers. A convicted murderer, Sirius Black, has broken out of Azkaban prison, and it seems he's after Harry. Now Hogwarts is being patrolled by the dementors, the Azkaban guards who are hunting Sirius. But Harry can't imagine that Sirius or, for that matter, the evil Lord Voldemort could be more frightening than the dementors themselves, who have the terrible power to fill anyone they come across with aching loneliness and despair.

Meanwhile, life continues as usual at Hogwarts. A top-of-the-line broom takes Harry's success at Quidditch, the sport of the Wizarding world, to new heights. A cute fourth-year student catches his eye. And he becomes close with the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, who was a childhood friend of his father.

Yet despite the relative safety of life at Hogwarts and the best efforts of the dementors, the threat of Sirius Black grows ever closer. But if Harry has learned anything from his education in wizardry, it is that things are often not what they seem. Tragic revelations, heartwarming surprises, and high-stakes magical adventures await the boy wizard in this funny and poignant third installment of the beloved series.

My Thoughts:

I always enjoy books with revelations that totally make sense. Each time a mystery was unfurled I was like “yeah… that makes sense.” The characters continue to grow and evolve in realistic ways. I did feel for Hermione in this book multiple times because her friendship with Ron and Harry was being tested and she always came out on the sad end. However, this plot point seemed totally realistic to me. Kids can be mean and sometimes situations aren’t black and white with one person being right and one being wrong.

Dumbledore was less infuriating in this book, but I know that will be short-lived moving forward. Snape continues to be the worst ever. I’m not sure how Snape-lovers can still him looking back at how much of a terrible bully he is to everyone.

Lupin may have become my favorite character of this series. Only time will tell. On to the next book!