Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Review

Intro

Despite how swamped/lazy I've been lately, I managed to finish my current reread of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm actually surprised it took me so long. I started this reread in August and it's now November. I shudder to think how long it's going to take me to reread Goblet of Fire, though I'm planning to attempt keeping up with Alohomora's reread, now that I've started the book.

SPOILER WARNING

Although I find a spoiler warning for this book rather silly at this point, if you haven't read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban don't read my review until you have done so. My review will contain spoilers. Also, if you haven't read/listened to it, where have you been? Living under a rock? Get on that!

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

Characters:

• Harry James Potter - Main protagonist. Gryffindor.
• Hermione Jean Granger - Harry's Best friend. Gryffindor.
• Ronald "Ron" Bilius Weasley - Harry's Best friend. Youngest Weasley male. Gryffindor.
• Sirius "Padfoot" Black - Main antagonist. Animagus. Former Gryffindor. Marauder.
• Remus "Moony" John Lupin - Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Werewolf. Former Gryffindor. Marauder.
• Severus Snape - Potion Master. Head of Slytherin House.
• Draco Lucius Malfoy - Antagonist. Slytherin.
• Professor Sybil Trelawney - Seer. Divination teacher.
• Buckbeak - Hippogriff.
• Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew/Scabbers - Animagus. Former Gryffindor. Marauder.
• There are too many characters to list. I think I've got the main bunch of this book listed here, though.

Review:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my all time favorite Harry Potter book. That said, I hadn't realized until this reread that most of my enjoyment of this book is drawn mainly from chapters 18 and 19. Everything else serves to set up the events of those chapters and the ones after. PoA is also the most normal year Harry ever had at Hogwarts, I believe. There honestly isn't much that goes on and so the book jumps through the year like it's playing leap-frog with the events.

The main thrust of the PoA story, for me at least, is The Marauder's Map and the characters surrounding it. The Marauder's Map is an interesting concept, though scrutinizing it shows a few massive plot holes, though most of those show up later in the series. The Map has been shown to reveal the true identity of anyone within Hogwarts. It was previously owned by the Wesley Twins who, while probably not using it to spy on people in other dormitories, probably would have noticed that Peter Pettigrew was constantly with Ron. I honestly wouldn't have thought about this plot hole if it hadn't been for the internet, so you can take it or leave it.

The first of the Marauders is the most infamous of the group, one Sirius Black. He is mentioned first in Chapter 2, though not actually seen until much later. Sirius is the main antagonist of this book, though it's later revealed he's not much of an antagonist. Sirius was purported to have turned the Potters over to Lord Voldemort and also to have murdered Peter Pettigrew and a number of Muggles. He was sent to Azkaban and, at the beginning of the book, has managed to be the first person to escape the prison. It isn't revealed until the last chapters of PoA that Sirius is innocent of both charges.

The second Marauder we meet in chapter 5, one Remus Lupin. Lupin is the latest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He is somewhat mysterious in that we know next to nothing about him until the final chapters of the book. He is very fond of Harry and Harry of him so we see Remus is a very good light. Remus is also revealed to have been friends with Harry's parents, though this doesn't do much to strengthen the bond between he and Harry.

The final member of the Marauders we meet is Peter Pettigrew. However, as it's revealed much later in the book, we've known Peter from the very start of the series. Peter is, in fact, Scabbers, Ron's rat. He is revealed as having been the spy among the Potters' friends. He faked his death to escape whatever fate he had coming to him. Unfortunately, Peter escapes before he is able to face any punishment for his crimes.

Of course, my main interest in the Marauders, also including James Potter, is the back story surrounding them and the Map. I say "of course" because I've previously reviewed some Marauder's Era fanfiction. The birth of Marauder's Era fanfiction began based solely on the information we as a fandom gleaned from information provided by Prisoner of Azkaban.

I think it took me such a long time getting through PoA this time around because I was chomping at the bit to get to the end of the book. Reading through the previous chapters kind of became a bore, quite honestly. I feel like knowing the end of the story made the rest seem like extraneous material. It wasn't horrible extraneous material, but at the same time, it didn't make me want to keep reading this time around.

However, the first couple times I read PoA, I ripped through it at a much faster pace. I really do enjoy the book as a whole, not just the last few chapters.

Housekeeping

Alright, that might not have been my most awesome review ever, but... meh. It'll have to do. Let me know what you thought of the book in the comments.

Next up: Either a Nuzlocke Challenge update (yeah, that's been a long time coming) or a review of something... depends on my mood.

Again, I'm sorry for getting so behind and whatnot. I've been working and tired and unmotivated lately. I'll try to break out of that funk sooner rather than later.

Love ya, Jessie

Update as of 11-9-13

Unfortunately, due to the circumstances surrounding my general life at the moment, I probably won't be catching up with reviews any time soon. I will still be posting reviews, they just won't be entirely current. I will also still be watching shows, reading books, and watching movies in the meantime, even if I don't blog about it.

If you would like to keep up with the goings on in my life, please follow me on Twitter. I'll be posting there most often.

Thank you very much for reading and I'm incredibly sorry for the delays.

Love ya, Jessie

Reign - "Kissed" - Review

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Reign, Season 1, Episode 3: "Kissed." If you haven't seen the episode, I suggest doing so before reading this review. There will be spoilers.

Reign - "Kissed" - Review

Characters:

• Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland - Played by Adelaide Kane.
• Sebastian "Bas" - Played by Torrance Coombs. Son of Diane and Henry.
• Prince Francis II of France - Played by Toby Regbo. Eldest son of Catherine and Henry.
• Queen Catherine de' Medici of France - Played by Megan Follows. Henry's wife and mother of Francis.
• Nostradamus - Played by Rossif Sutherland.
• King Henry II of France - Played by Alan Van Sprang. Father of Henry, Charles, and Bas.
• Prince Charles of France - Played by Peter DaCunha. Third son of Henry and Catherine. Betrothed to Madeleine. 
• Claude de Guise - Played by Shawn Doyle. Mary's uncle. 
• Kenna - Played by Caitlin Stasey. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Greer of Kinross - Played by Celina Sinden. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Lola - Played by Anna Popplewell. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Aylee - Played by Jenessa Grant. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Prince Tomas of Portugal - Played by Manolo Cardona.
• Leith - Played by Jonathan Keltz. Kitchen Boy.

Review:

Here's where that thing I said in my last Reign review about Historical Drama comes into play. Mary is being politically forced to accept Tomas' marriage proposal. However, if you know anything about history, Mary Stuart marries Prince Francis, not a Portuguese prince. So... however much we, as viewers, might be vying for Mary to marry Tomas for whatever reason, it's not going to happen. It's also the CW's custom to draw out this relationship drama for as long as possible so there will probably be more of this nonsense to come.

I found Greer's dilemma to be much more interesting than Mary's. Greer is in a tough position, politically speaking. Her family isn't even a little bit royal and she's mostly on her own as far as finding someone to marry goes. Not only that, but because she basically has to marry into a higher standing, she can't afford to follow her heart if it happens to lead to a certain kitchen boy.

Francis learned a hard lesson during this episode, though it's one that doesn't really make sense to me in the execution of it. How do the English have enough people on the ground in France to kill six companies of men? Francis' plan should have worked. It sucks that Bash almost died getting away from the English, or whatever he was doing that go him horribly wounded. It sucks that Francis had to figure out that he can't just lead with his heart. I did, however, enjoy Francis attempting to blackmail his father. It was slightly amusing.

There was a lot of political maneuvering in this episode. There was also a lot of explanation of the political maneuvering. I think that might be because of the usual audience of the CW. Most are probably tuning in for the drama and need the historical political stuff explained to them. I don't know. Maybe I'm underestimating the general CW viewership.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• I'm seriously starting to have issues with the music.
• During the dancing scene, Mary, Tomas, and Francis were dressed in similar fabrics, or at least similar-looking fabrics. They might be connected or something, she says knowing full well that was the point.
• The symbolism of Nostradamus' predictions is coming to bite everyone.

Housekeeping

I think that's going to be it from me today. I hurt my thumb yesterday and all these spaces are painful.

Love ya, Jessie

The Vampire Diaries - "Monster's Ball" - Review

Intro

Another day, another dent in my review back log. Luckily, we live in this age of not watching stuff when it actually comes out... or so the media says anyway.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for The Vampire Diaries, Season 5, Episode 5: "Monster's Ball." If you haven't seen this episode, please watch it before reading this review. I spoil things.

The Vampire Diaries - "Monster's Ball" - Review

Characters:

• Elena Gilbert - Played by Nina Dobrev. Jeremy's older sister. Damon's girlfriend. Doppelganger and Vampire.
• Jeremy Gilbert - Played by Steven R. McQueen. Elena's younger brother. Sees ghosts. Hunter.
• Stefan Salvatore - Played by Paul Wesley. Damon's younger brother. Elena's ex-boyfriend. Vampire. "Shadow-Self" of Silas. Amnesiac.
• Damon Salvatore - Played by Ian Somerhalder. Stefan's older brother. Elena's Sire and boyfriend. Vampire.
• Matt Donovan - Played by Zach Roerig. Works at Mystic Grill. Human. Possessed by a Traveler named Gregor.
• Caroline Forbes - Played by Candice Accola. Vampire. Elena's best friend. Tyler's girlfriend.
• Bonnie Bennett - Played by Kat Graham. Witch. Jeremy's girlfriend. Elena and Caroline's best friend. Deceased.
• Tyler Lockwood - Played by Michael Trevino. Hybrid. Caroline's boyfriend.
• Jesse - Played by Kendrick Sampson.Vampire.
• Dr. Wes Maxfield - Played by Rick Cosnett. Human. Works at the college. Studying the effects of vampirism.
• Silas - Played by Paul Wesley. Original "Stefan" doppelganger. Vampire.
• Nadia Petrova - Played by Olga Fonda. Vampire. Long lost daughter of Katherine.
• Katherine Pierce - Played by Nina Dobrev. Former Vampire. Doppelganger. Walking "Cure." Mother of Nadia.
• Aaron - Played by Shaun Sipos. Human. Some relation of Dr. Maxfield. Former friend of Megan's.
• Qetsiyah/Tessa - Played by Janina Gavankar. Witch. Silas' spurned lover.

Review:

Holy Ridiculous Loopholes, Batman!

My opinions on this episode aren't incredibly enlightening and there's not really a lot to talk about, in my opinion. I will try my best to squeeze something out of my sparse notes, but don't expect a whole lot. This episode wasn't really full of things to discuss.

First thing, the "Silas gets his powers back while Stefan is dead" loophole. I sort of understand how that works, but since Stefan is a vampire and therefore dead to begin with, it sort of falls apart. Also, it's just dumb. Like, why even have a loop hole like that? I suppose it served to get Stefan angrier at Damon and showed Qetsiyah to be less brilliant as a character. The entire concept there was just dumb.

Gonna jump back to the beginning of the episode and Dr. Maxfield. I think it's good that someone's looking into what happens to a new vamp if they don't feed. However, I'm not sure why it's Maxfield or why Jesse seems to be lasting so long without feeding. It's just weird.

Nadia being revealed as Katherine's daughter wasn't much of a revelation, really. It figures it was something like that. Not to mention someone on Hypable's Vampire-Hype Podcast theorized that. I don't care either way, though I do wonder what Nadia's going to do about it.

Damon's plan to bring Bonnie back made me groan. Why can't we just let her stay dead? Yeah, it's taking a toll on Elena, but she seems mostly fine. I don't like that Jeremy's on board with the plan. I don't like that they're prepared to do whatever it takes to get Bonnie back. Bonnie's been a raging bitch for most of the series, damn it!

Lastly, the Tyler situation. Why bring him back at all if he was mostly there to dump Caroline? Nail in coffins, I suppose.

I was not impressed at all by this episode. It was just kind of there. I am interested to see what happens in the aftermath of Silas apparently draining Katherine, but other than that... I'm beginning to not care.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• I kind of like the new Stefan. He's crafty.
• Katherine being motherly all of a sudden is creepy.

Housekeeping

Next up, my review for last week's Reign.

Love ya, Jessie

The Originals - "Sinners and Saints" - Review

Intro

Up to last week in terms of reviews now. Like, exactly a week.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for The Originals, Season 1, Episode 5: "Sinners and Saints." If you have not seen the episode, I recommend watching it before reading this review. I will spoil things.

The Originals - "Sinners and Saints" - Review

Characters:

• Elijah Mikaelson - Played by Daniel Gillies. Oldest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Rebekah Mikaelson - Played by Claire Holt. Youngest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson - Played by Joseph Morgan. Middle surviving Mikaelson. Original Hybrid.
• Marcel Gerard - Played by Charles Michael Davis. Ruler of New Orleans. Klaus' protege. Vampire.
• Davina Claire - Played by Danielle Campbell. Marcel's witch.
• Sophie Deveraux - Played by Daniella Pineda. Leader of the witches.
• Hayley Marshall - Played by Phoebe Tonkin. Werewolf. Carrying Klaus' child.
• Father Kieran - Played by Todd Stashwick. Human. Reverend of the church Davina lives in.
• Jane-Anne Deveraux - Played by Malaya Rivera Drew. Witch. Sophie's older sister. Deceased.
• Bastianna - Played by Shannon Eubanks. Witch. Deceased.
• Sean - Played by Matt Kabus. Human. Cami's twin brother. Father Keiran's nephew. Deceased.
• Monique Deveraux - Played by Yasmine Al-Bustami. Witch. Jane-Anne's daughter. Sophie's niece. Deceased.

Review:

Oh my, the exposition. Also, I got my wish. We got back story on Davina. It really wasn't what I was expecting, but it was cool nonetheless. It was interesting to get the story of what happened in New Orleans between the witches and the vampires from three different points of view. We as the viewers get the whole story, whereas the Mikaelsons and Hayley sort of have to piece it together. Although, it seems Elijah already did that.

I was surprised that the ban on magic was only eight months old. I'd been thinking it had lasted a lot longer, though it explained how Marcel ended up with Davina. Speaking of, Davina is less crazy than I'd thought she would be. I was kind of viewing her as a sort of Claudia from Interview With The Vampire rather than what she actually is. All that power didn't come to her naturally as well, which made me a bit more comfortable with her. I also like that her attachment to Marcel came because he saved her life.

I'm not sure what to think of the ritual or its aftermath. It's clear that Sophie thinks finishing the ritual will bring her niece back to life. It's clear Davina thinks she and the other girls will stay dead. I think the tie to the ancestral magic is an interesting concept. I also don't think the witches will loose their powers, just become incredibly weakened.

I thought the fight between Marcel and Klaus would have been fun to see play out. We got to see Klaus being a brat again for a bit there.

I liked that Elijah was able to connect to Davina more than anyone else. He's rather good at that, as we saw with his connection to Elena Gilbert. I think Elijah might have a thing for Hayley as well. It might even be mutual. I think I might be okay with that.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Davina is still super creepy. Her blood being really powerful is interesting.
• I'm currently siding with Davina here.
• I like that Rebekah views Hayley as family, even if she doesn't show it in a way that makes sense to Hayley.
• Everyone saying "The Harvest" kept reminding me of Buffy.

Housekeeping

Gonna have to stop the reviews here, I'm afraid. I've got chores to complete and then babysitting my nephew. I might decide to do some more reviewing after Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tonight, but don't get your hopes up. Ah well, at least I did three.

Love ya, Jessie

Once Upon a Time - "Good Form" - Review

Intro

Second review for today. Still not sure how many I'm gonna be cranking out, but it might be a veritable flood.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Once Upon a Time, Season 3, Episode 5: "Good Form." If you haven't seen it, save yourself with spoilers and go watch it.

Once Upon a Time - "Good Form" - Review

Characters:

• Emma Swan - Played by Jennifer Morrison. Daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. Birth Mother of Henry Mills. Product of True Love. "The Savior."
• Regina Mills - Played by Lana Parrilla. Mother of Henry Mills. Step-Mother of Snow White. The Evil Queen.
• Prince Charming/David Nolan - Played by Josh Dallas. Father of Emma Swan. Husband of Snow White.
• Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard - Played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Mother of Emma Swan. Wife of Prince Charming. Step-Daughter of Regina Mills.
• Henry Mills - Played by Jared Gilmore. Son of Emma Swan, Baelfire, and Regina Mills. The Truest Believer.
• Captain Killian "Hook" Jones - Played by Colin O'Donoghue. Pirate.
• Neal Cassady/Baelfire - Played by Michael Raymond-James and Dylan Schmid. Son of Rumplestiltskin. Father of Henry Mills.
• Peter Pan - Played by Robbie Kay. Big Bad of Wonderland.
• Felix - Played by Parker Croft. Peter's messenger... or something.
• Captain Liam Jones - Played by Bernard Curry. Hook's older brother. Deceased.

Review:

Hooray! Back story on Hook! I was super excited for this. I should have known it would be a bit lackluster. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but the back story itself wasn't as fun as the earlier/later bits of back story we already have. It was pretty awesome seeing Hook in something other than his black pirate gear. It was also pretty awesome that he was able to temporarily save his brother. The lack luster bits were mainly on Liam's shoulders.

Liam would probably have been more interesting if he'd a) had more of a personality and b) hadn't been so dumb. I did not connect with him at all. I mainly wanted to whack him over the head with something. If there's someone who lives in the place you're visiting or whatever and they tell you that the plant you're looking for is poison, frigging listen to them! Don't dismiss them because they're "younger" and don't poison yourself with the plant to prove a point. Liam clearly failed on both counts and died because of it.

I liked the budding "bromance" between Hook and David. It was fun to see, even if David was being ridiculously judgmental the entire time. Also watching David go through what would have been the last hours of his live was... strange. He seemed to have parts where he was perfectly fine and then parts where his punches went completely wild. I liked that Hook gave David the choice of whether or not to drink the water. It showed that Hook is honorable, even if his methods aren't always the best ever.

I thought the dynamic between Emma, Snow, and Regina was interesting. Emma's essentially the tie-breaker between what has been fed to us as ultimate good and ultimate evil. I think at this point, Regina's plans are more likely to bear fruit than Snow's. Snow comes from a place, mentally speaking, where never doing something that could be perceived as wrong is better than ending up with the results you want. Yeah, Regina is a bit rough around the edges, but her plan made the most sense.

I'm not going to talk about the Emma/Hook kiss. It was there. I have nothing to say about it.

I'm not sure how I feel about Henry at this point. On the one hand, he seems to be falling in line with Pan's plan for him and on the other, he's being really sulky. I wasn't really phased by anything that went on with him, except the bit with the mirror. A) Thinking the mirror thing is Pan's doing is really strange. Pan's mostly been upfront with what he wants from Henry. B) Did Henry really throw the mirror away and break it? It has more chance of being found now and it's broken. This bugged me, a lot.

But yeah, pretty solid episode. I enjoyed the ride.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Just how big was Pegasus supposed to be?
• What was so important about Hook killing David? Like, why did it have to be Hook?
• Emma and Regina referred to Henry as "our son" FINALLY!

Favorite Lines:

"Listen to my mother?" - Emma

"At least you got to say goodbye. Most people don't get that much." - Hook

"That you were stubborn? Yes, I gathered that rather quickly." - Hook

"She didn't. I did. That's what I'm here for." - Regina

"What I wouldn't give for another sleeping curse." - Regina

"I don't do rum." - Regina

Housekeeping

On to the next review!!!! This one only took 25min to crank out.

Love ya, Jessie

The Vampire Diaries - "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - Review

Intro

Alrighty then. I just finished watching this week's episode of Sleepy Hollow and my brain's a little frazzled. that review probably won't be up for a couple days, at least. Today's number of reviews, however, is entirely up to the amount of stuff I have to do/get distracted by.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for The Vampire Diaries, Season 5, Episode 4: "For Whom the Bell Tolls." I recommend watching the episode before reading my review because I will spoil things. It's in my nature.

The Vampire Diaries - "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - Review

Characters:

• Elena Gilbert - Played by Nina Dobrev. Jeremy's older sister. Damon's girlfriend. Doppelganger and Vampire.
• Jeremy Gilbert - Played by Steven R. McQueen. Elena's younger brother. Sees ghosts. Hunter.
• Stefan Salvatore - Played by Paul Wesley. Damon's younger brother. Elena's ex-boyfriend. Vampire. "Shadow-Self" of Silas.
• Damon Salvatore - Played by Ian Somerhalder. Stefan's older brother. Elena's Sire and boyfriend. Vampire.
• Matt Donovan - Played by Zach Roerig. Works at Mystic Grill. Human. Possessed by a Traveler named Gregor.
• Caroline Forbes - Played by Candice Accola. Vampire. Elena's best friend. Tyler's girlfriend.
• Bonnie Bennett - Played by Kat Graham. Witch. Jeremy's girlfriend. Elena and Caroline's best friend. Deceased.
• Tyler Lockwood - Played by Michael Trevino. Hybrid. Caroline's boyfriend.
• Jesse - Played by Kendrick Sampson. Human.
• Dr. Wes Maxfield - Played by Rick Cosnett. Human. Works at the college.

Review:

Essentially, this episode was a recap episode. It was a creatively done recap, but it was definitely a recap. I was mostly pleased because Jeremy finally told everyone that Bonnie's dead! Unfortunately, she's not going away so... that kind of soured things for me a bit.

I'd completely forgotten that "Remembrance Day" was a thing. I vaguely remember it happening earlier in the show, but other than that, it served a more plot-based purpose than I would have thought. It was interesting to see Stefan and Elena sort of rehashing their romance, even if that did add more fuel to the Stefan/Elena fire. It was somewhat annoying because I'm soooooo over Stefan/Elena. I'm glad the show found a way to hopefully kill it for good, though so... I guess it was okay.

I really had no interest in the Caroline parts of the episode. I love Caroline, don't get me wrong, but seeing her hanging around with Jesse and getting annoyed at Stefan was rather boring.

I thought the exploration of Stefan's "Ripper" thing was cool. Not sure whether or not his emotion baggage was actually tied to the "Ripper" thing, but it's as good a theory as they come. It was stated at some point that the reason Stefan put the pieces of the people he killed back together was because he was guilty about it so the psychological aspect worked for me.

I was really glad Jeremy finally told people about Bonnie being dead. I cannot express the amount of happy I felt at that. The funeral was... weepy. I cried, but mostly because everyone else was crying and the music was affecting me. I'm glad Bonnie's dead and now all I want from her is to GO AWAY. GAH!

But yeah, not really much else to say about the episode. That's the problem with recap episodes, even well done ones that aren't meant to feel like recaps.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• I liked Matt trying to figure out what was wrong with him in a very human way.
• Being threatened by someone inside your body is never good.
• What's with the knife?
• And look, Tyler showed up randomly.

Favorite Lines:

"You're a vampire, not a caveman." - Damon

"Hey, I never said I know what I'm doing." - Damon

Housekeeping

Slowly creeping closer to getting caught up with these reviews. I'm really sorry these are so late, but if it helps, I'm planning to get them done in the next couple of days... in which time I will also get more behind because I'm working while my shows are on. Drat.

Love ya, Jessie