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

Does anyone ever talk about the child abuse and utter neglect in the Harry Potter series? Like damn, they are some next level messed-up-ness. It's beyond surprising that the boy still turned out quite alright. But jeez, how awful and inhuman can you get? It's rather poignant, because it's actually, sadly, a reality for so many people. Not just the abuse, but to have such mindsets as the Dursleys. 

As for the book itself, I'm not sure how much I'm really enjoying the illustrated version. It's quite nice, and I'm enjoying the art and all that, but it's not the same as reading it in actual simple unillustrated book form. I think the illustrated edition would be nice to be read to someone or even if you're reading the book a second time, but for a first-time read, I'm sticking to the novel editions as from now. 

I couldn’t help but psychoanalyse Rowling's Dementor metaphor. Well, I'm turning it into a metaphor for interpretation, but here's my hypothesis; The Dementors (reminds you very much of the word demented, of course), is the mental illness. It's the depression that sucks the life and happiness out of you until you are left with nothing but your darkest thoughts. And as long as the Dementor is around, you cannot come out of this abyss. And you can't escape them except with great effort and concentration (see: The Patronus Charm). But then you also have the chocolate, akin to tianeptine (see: antidepressants). The warmth it spreads through the wizards is the dopamine released by the pills that courses through your nuclei. Just like the chocolate. But it's not a permanent solution, is it? It just calms the symptoms when you've really just been through it. And the Dementor's Kiss, the last weapon. Utter despair to the point of insanity. Comparable by a stretch to the end of life. Because depression can kill you. How brilliant, Jo.   

One thing that never sat right with me though, is how Ron and Hermione are always so interested and involved in all of Harry's problems, but Harry never gave a damn about any of their issues because he's such a narcissist. At least until much later in the book when he was done worrying about himself. He doesn't even blink twice when Ron tells him about Hermione's bizarre ability to be omnipresent, but just like Ron is, I'm intrigued too. Tsk, Harry. Does he deserve such good friends?

But oh my gosh, finally Harry thought a girl was pretty. I like her - Cho Chang. Smart too, she is, observing the champion's move and replicating in Quidditch. And I love Lee Jordan's commentaries - they're so funny. Especially when McGonagall tells him off. I must also say, the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw was by far the best and most tense one I've read in all the books. I would even go so far as saying it was better than the final match that won Gryffindor the Cup against Slytherin. It would’ve been so cool to experience that in the movies.

One of my favourite characters in this book has got to be Professor Lupin. He's so gentil and mysterious and sweet. Pft, Harry doesn't deserve any of them. I could've fallen at Professor Lupin's feet in reverence when he told Harry off for being so careless with his life and acting childishly and impulsively when his parents died to save him. Like, yas, go off.

Overall, this book was pretty much a ride in a rollercoaster. It was entertaining, funny, and kept me on edge even though I already knew the general storyline. And also definitely far better than the movie. I feel like the movie lacked a lot of the coherence you get from the book, and twas a bit cringe imo. I daresay this particular book is my favourite in the series, but it's only the third one so let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

The quote that stuck:

"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?"

                                                        Albus Dumbledore (Of course)

Toodles xo