Nourez Rawji

DNF @ about 65% I've always thought Cleopatra has had an undeserved bad reputation, so the concept of a novel re-examining her through a new lens seemed like a fantastic idea. A chance to retell her story without the revisionism of Augustus, Shakespeare and Elizabeth Taylor's interpretation. Then I started listening and found it to be boring at best and aggressively aggravating at worst. The real Cleopatra is a bit of a mystery, there are few sources on her from sources within Egypt at the time of its downfall. Most writings in the era were written through the Roman lens, painting her in a negative light as a negative influence between the civil war between Marc Antony and Octavian in the transition from the Republic to the Empire. She herself wasn't ever intended to sit the throne of an Egyptian kingdom that was already in decline, itself trapped in civil wars and growing debt to Rome, which was openly discussing annexation well before Caesar. This leads to the books setup of Cleopatra directly telling the audience that history misrepresented her, and she was in fact a good ruler, not a witch or a seductress. Then the book does nothing to validate the assertions it makes. We never see her as a competent ruler. She's arrogant and constantly leans on the weight of her fathers will granting her divine right to rule, but at no point does the novel or the character really explore the state of the kingdom or what being a good ruler even means. In the context of the time the character actually existed, then taking the throne by divine right could be seen as a valid exploration of the character, but the constant 4th wall breaks with Cleopatra talking directly to a modern reader makes this fall apart. And things get worse by the time Caesar shows up. She spends page upon page talking about how in love with Caesar she was, how good he was. It's like the author is so hellbent on saying “she didn't seduce him, it was mutual” that the novel has to grind to a halt to keep repeating it over and over. And again, the constant fourth wall breaks just do not add anything to the story. Being constantly told directly (I.e. “you recall that Caesar will die”) just did not work. It adds to the sense of arrogance in the character, and makes the entire thing start to read like hagiography. It ended up being a DNF at about 65% for me. Libby loan ran out and I couldn't be bothered to get back in the queue for a renewal. I'm sure the audience who's familiar with Cleopatra as a concept and looking for a more romance focussed historical novel will probably like this. But for me, as someone far more interested in the broader exploration of a ruler who was dealt a poor hand of cards and tried to play as best she could, this book was a complete letdown.

I highly recommend the audiobook. It's fantastic.

The Harry Potter series was integral to my childhood growing up, each new release feeling like an event in the way that I don't think I've ever had since. I recall lining up at midnight for the release of each of the books after Prisoner of Azkaban as they released, seeing each of the movies in theatres on release weekend and so on.

But I haven't re-read the series since the release of The Deathly Hallows films, give or take.

So I came into the start of thir re-read a little apprehensive about if the books would live up to my expectations and memories as as a teen and young adult now that I'm comfortably in my 30s.

I'm glad to say that The Philosopher's Stone abosolutely did. It's the perfect example of a childrens novel that's still just as magical and relatable as an adult as it is when you're 11. Rowling's worldbuilding is masterful, and the prose while not the focus infuses the story with a fairy-tale sense of whimsy and wonder that holds up to this day.

The only real complaint I have coming back to it over the years is that the short length does mean a lot of the charcter development and friendship between the core trio of characters happens off-screen, with chapters jumping months ahead into the future. We're told about half-way through that Harry and Ron became friends with Hermione, and it then jumps forward from Halloween to Christmas, where she's home for the holidays. In fact, we don't actually see the three of them doing much of anything before the final confrontation due to the lack of pages. As a child, I was okay with "then they were friends" as being enough, as an adult it felt like the book would have benefitted from just a little bit more content in the middle act. However, this is a minor complaint that has no bearing on my enjoyment at all.

I also listened to the Audible Full-Cast audiobook, which was also great. It's more of an audio-drama with music and sound effects than a straight audiobook, so I wouldn't recommend it for first time readers, but I thought for a re-read it added so much to the experience.

I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but I really do think it's impossible to talk about this book without diving into the specifics. It's a fun take on a relatively well-tread narrative structure of a time travel loop, with characters creating a mess as they travel back to change things. Specifically, it reminded me a fair amount of Steins;Gate, which also focusses on dual protagonists with a romantic undercurrent, to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if it was a direct influence. It has some structural issues, I like the first half which is more neo-noire than the second which hits the gas and goes full thriller and feels like it crams more than it can handle into the back third. But I enjoyed it, especially due to a solid audiobook performance. I just wish the second half had a bit more time to breathe.

I've been re-reading (or listening, in this case) to the entire Harry Potter series leading up to new TV series, and The Chamber of Secrets is the one that I don't really have much in the way of stong memories towards. I recalled it being a bit of a retread of The Philosopher's Stone as a child, and I never really gave it fair shake beyond that as an adult.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much more than The Philosopher's Stone I enjoyed it ont his re-read. Though a lot of the narrative structure is similar in both stories, Chamber benefits tremendously from simply being able to dive the reader into the story without having to fully establish the world beforehand. Harry, Ron and Hermione attend Hogwarts for another year, find another dark secret within the school, and spend a large amount of time sneaking off to investigate it when they'd be better off simply telling an adult in the room.

Where the book really differentiates itself from The Philosopher's Stone is in the level of nuance given to the world and to the characters. The first book was framed from the perspective of a boy just learning that Wizards and Witches exist, the second is able to dive into the nooks and crannies and make the world feel alive. The first really felt scoped in on Hogwarts as a location, here we get little tidbits of information from outside, spending time at the Weasley family home, new locations in the magical parts of London, and getting a fair amount of expansion on the views and ideas of various types of Wizards outside the school. It's the book that marks the shift from The Wizarding School to The Wizarding World.

The characters are more fleshed out. Harry is able to grow into his newfound identity as a wizard, feeling more comfortable at school, allowing more of his personality to shine through, rather than simple confusion at every new thing he encounters. There's a bit of sass there, a confidence that this is where he belongs that leads to a great payoff in the ending. This allows Ron to be more involved as a character rather that an exposition device. Some of the banter between the two of them is endearingly hilarious. The villain is more deeply integrated into the school storyline, and it leads to palpable tension for everyone along with some genuinely creepy moments. However, if there is one flaw, it's that Hermione is absent for a suprisingly large amount of the novel. It does really let the Harry and Ron friendship blossom, but her absence is noticable.

All things considered, this is a review for a series that has been reviewed to death at this point. If you liked The Philosopher's Stone, then The Chamber of Secrets is a funnier, darker and more refined version of the same formula. It's the best kind of more of the same.

And, as a final note, I'm listening to the Audible Full-Cast versions of the audiobook, I need to give a shoutout to how incredible Kit Harrington is as Lockhart. Lockhart is one of my favourite characters in the series, and Harrington's performance stole every scene he was involved in. He has the perfect level of smug stupidity for the character, and makes the new audiobook worth listening to by himself.