HARRY POTTER and the PRISONER of AZKABAN (Harry Potter #3) (audiobook) by J.K. Rowling







Originally Published in 1999.

This audio edition published by Pottermore in 2015.
Read by Jim Dale
Duration: 11 hours, 49 minutes.
Unabridged

I am 21 years late to the Harry Potter party. I had seen the first movie and some of the second one but I knew nothing of this novel so I was able to come to it without having already formed any sort of impression.

The first part of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban disappointed me. The tried and true plot points of the first two novels were brought back (Harry and his horrible muggle family, yet another shopping trip for school supplies, a new super-fast broom was being sold, and a focus on the strange candy.  The monster books that were actually monsters themselves probably delight children (and it is a children's book so that it is appropriate), but this middle-aged teacher kept wondering what is wrong with the administration at Hogwarts when they let a teacher order a book like that!

A little past the halfway point, the novel takes a darker turn. This was a welcome change - the novel gets much more complicated and adult. Harry has multiple tough decisions to make and the action gets pretty complicated pretty quickly. I would rate the first half of the book 3 stars out of 5. I'd rate the second half of the book 4.5 out of 5. I'll make the whole book 4 stars out of 5.

The narrator, Jim Dale, is both a plus and a minus to the book. His voice characterizations for Hagrid and Professor McGonagall are excellent. However, almost all of his Slytherin characters sound the same and his characterization of Hermione Granger is horrible. She sounds like a nagging whiner.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: HARRY POTTER and the PRISONER of AZKABAN (Harry Potter #3) by J.K. Rowling.

Note: this entire book series has been on banned book lists multiple times since it was originally published due to complaints from religious conservatives. Check out this website for more info.

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