Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

How it reads

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is fantasy (middle-grade fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are coming of age, friendship and power and politics. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. The ending resolves happily. At 341 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.