Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
And the HP tale starts lurching into darker, more mature material. We learned backstory about Harry’s dad (and part of why Snape is so snarly). We see people framed, people lose jobs due to prejudice, killers escape justice, the arc of Voldemort’s return beginning in earnest, and Harry getting the snot scared out of him a good half-dozen times by creepy ringwraiths …
On the bright side, there’s a cool new broomstick, a new relative, some nascent romance, and Draco Malfoy getting his comeuppance. Oh, and the Marauder’s Map (via Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs) is just a lot of fun.
Good stuff, with plenty of storm clouds on the story arc horizon as we approach the half-way point of the series.