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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
352 pages, Audiobook
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About the author
J.K. Rowling
706 books235k followersSee also: Robert Galbraith
Although she writes under the pen name J.K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling, her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.
Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
Although she writes under the pen name J.K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling, her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.
Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
March 15, 2026
The full cast audio of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” was excellent, thanks to the fabulous line up of British actors. The background music and especially the sounds were spectacular.
This production was put together exceedingly well. Just like the first full cast audio, this audio book really delivers. With most movies, so much of the book gets cut out of the film, so it was nice reading/hearing the original again.
This production was put together exceedingly well. Just like the first full cast audio, this audio book really delivers. With most movies, so much of the book gets cut out of the film, so it was nice reading/hearing the original again.
February 15, 2026
Like many people +/- 8 years of my age Harry Potter holds a special place in our hearts and minds.
I'm loving reliving the reading experience with the new Full Cast editions. I will assume that you have not lived under a rock or were raised by wolves and so you know the premise of the story. What is great about these is really the production of them is so well done. The full cast reads like a whose who of talented actors and narrators. I love that there are so many voices that wanted to be a part of this experience. The sound effects are well done but never overtake the story or make me feel like I need to play with the volume.
This is nostalgia for me at its best and it is not disappointing.
I'm trying hard to make these last...but once you pop you just can't stop.
I'm loving reliving the reading experience with the new Full Cast editions. I will assume that you have not lived under a rock or were raised by wolves and so you know the premise of the story. What is great about these is really the production of them is so well done. The full cast reads like a whose who of talented actors and narrators. I love that there are so many voices that wanted to be a part of this experience. The sound effects are well done but never overtake the story or make me feel like I need to play with the volume.
This is nostalgia for me at its best and it is not disappointing.
- Doby!!! Love him so much.
- Poor Hagrid and his love of unlovable creatures.
- Horrible professor Lockhart - Love his comeuppance
- The Weasley Twins...always a favorite of mine
- Dumbledore...never a better headmaster.
I'm trying hard to make these last...but once you pop you just can't stop.
January 23, 2026
I’m a complete Potterhead.
I first read Harry Potter in middle school and I’ve loved this universe ever since ⚡️
I just finished the full-cast audiobooks of Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets … and bloody hell, they were incredible!
Hearing Cush Jumbo guide us through the story, with Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore, Matthew Macfadyen as Voldemort, Riz Ahmed as Snape, Michelle Gomez as Professor McGonagall, and Frankie Treadaway, Max Lester & Arabella Stanton as Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and so many other wonderful actors) - it felt like coming home 🥹
So many details the movies never had time for. So many moments I’d forgotten… and yet, I loved every familiar beat all over again.
And don’t get me wrong - I love the movies. Always will.
But this? This was different. Deeper. Richer. Pure nostalgia.
Now I’m equal parts excited and terrified for the TV series 😅
And I’m waiting with so much anticipation for the next full-cast audiobooks, because I cannot wait to go back to Hogwarts again 🏰✨
I first read Harry Potter in middle school and I’ve loved this universe ever since ⚡️
I just finished the full-cast audiobooks of Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets … and bloody hell, they were incredible!
Hearing Cush Jumbo guide us through the story, with Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore, Matthew Macfadyen as Voldemort, Riz Ahmed as Snape, Michelle Gomez as Professor McGonagall, and Frankie Treadaway, Max Lester & Arabella Stanton as Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and so many other wonderful actors) - it felt like coming home 🥹
So many details the movies never had time for. So many moments I’d forgotten… and yet, I loved every familiar beat all over again.
And don’t get me wrong - I love the movies. Always will.
But this? This was different. Deeper. Richer. Pure nostalgia.
Now I’m equal parts excited and terrified for the TV series 😅
And I’m waiting with so much anticipation for the next full-cast audiobooks, because I cannot wait to go back to Hogwarts again 🏰✨
April 22, 2026
fantastic cast. dr house being Dumbledore is so money
March 28, 2026
A wonderful experience, I still prefer the Stephen Fry version, but still, I had a lot of fun with this one!
February 21, 2026
I was so nervous about these editions. The actual audio books are absolutely unreal by Jim Dale, so the bar was set so high. The little background noises and the use of some of the actors that are going to participate in the HBO series has been nothing but fantastic.
March 5, 2026
4.5 ⭐ (Near Perfection)
I think this is my least favorite Harry Potter book. Gilderoy Lockheart is a total annoying pile of crap. I know he is supposed to be, but I just can't stand him. He doesn't add anything except annoyance. Dolores Umbridge from book 5 might be the same way but she is a great bad character, if that makes any sense. Lockheart just sucks. That, on top of the fact that I noticed some holes this go around that just don't make sense to me at all. Or at the bare minimum they should have got brought to attention inside the book itself so at least it doesn't raise obvious questions.
Either way though this is still a great installment. And I will probably say this again and again, but Dumbledore is truly one of the greatest characters ever written. And by the end of the book all my problems that I did have I found melting away.
The full cast audio continues to impress so far. It is extremely well done and I'm happy that it still feels like a book rather than an audio drama. I love a good audio drama, but that isn't what I wanted. I wanted exactly what I'm getting here.
It's been fun to pay closer attention to the things that I know are coming and look at the foreshadowing of it all. There are lots of subtle little hints along the way for all kinds of different things and I love it.
I'm super excited to start book 3! Because this has been great so far and The Prisoner of Azkaban is really where the series takes off in my opinion on top of the fact that it introduces some more of my favorite characters.
I think this is my least favorite Harry Potter book. Gilderoy Lockheart is a total annoying pile of crap. I know he is supposed to be, but I just can't stand him. He doesn't add anything except annoyance. Dolores Umbridge from book 5 might be the same way but she is a great bad character, if that makes any sense. Lockheart just sucks. That, on top of the fact that I noticed some holes this go around that just don't make sense to me at all. Or at the bare minimum they should have got brought to attention inside the book itself so at least it doesn't raise obvious questions.
Either way though this is still a great installment. And I will probably say this again and again, but Dumbledore is truly one of the greatest characters ever written. And by the end of the book all my problems that I did have I found melting away.
The full cast audio continues to impress so far. It is extremely well done and I'm happy that it still feels like a book rather than an audio drama. I love a good audio drama, but that isn't what I wanted. I wanted exactly what I'm getting here.
It's been fun to pay closer attention to the things that I know are coming and look at the foreshadowing of it all. There are lots of subtle little hints along the way for all kinds of different things and I love it.
I'm super excited to start book 3! Because this has been great so far and The Prisoner of Azkaban is really where the series takes off in my opinion on top of the fact that it introduces some more of my favorite characters.
May 6, 2026
Kit Harrington as Lockhart is delightful!
January 25, 2026
I <3 Ron Weasley
February 21, 2026
Jim Dale's narration is better than the whole cast version.
March 26, 2026
The production quality on these audiobooks is absolutely incredible. At one point, I wanted to see how much was left, and felt shocked to see I'd listened to more than half the audiobook. "How can this be?" I said to myself. "I've barely listened to this audiobook! It must be abridged! I've been ripped off!" No no, it is not abridged. It's just that I have so much fun listening that it doesn't feel like hours have gone by.
Ever since I started my own writing journey, I have been in awe of J.K. Rowling. Hogwarts is vividly and fully developed, the plot elements are masterfully placed and planned. This isn't just a fantasy story at wizarding school - it's a mystery with so many different layers. The evidence is all there, and yet it perfectly balances solvable and surprising. It's fun, and different, and once again, vivid.
I can't recommend these audiobooks enough... which is why I hate that they're exclusive to an Amazon service. Will I buy all of them? Probably not, I don't plan to be on Audible for much longer. But I will certainly be listening to my favorites in the series, enjoying the hundreds of unique voices and sound effects.
Ever since I started my own writing journey, I have been in awe of J.K. Rowling. Hogwarts is vividly and fully developed, the plot elements are masterfully placed and planned. This isn't just a fantasy story at wizarding school - it's a mystery with so many different layers. The evidence is all there, and yet it perfectly balances solvable and surprising. It's fun, and different, and once again, vivid.
I can't recommend these audiobooks enough... which is why I hate that they're exclusive to an Amazon service. Will I buy all of them? Probably not, I don't plan to be on Audible for much longer. But I will certainly be listening to my favorites in the series, enjoying the hundreds of unique voices and sound effects.
February 21, 2026
I did not expect to be this obsessed.
I’ve read this book before. I’ve seen the film more times than I can count (hello, ✨trauma✨). But the full-cast audio production made this feel like an entirely new experience. The sound design, the performances, the atmosphere — it genuinely brought Hogwarts to life in a way that neither the original text nor the movie ever quite did for me.
This was hands-down the best experience I’ve ever had with Book 2. The mystery felt sharper. The tension felt higher. The emotional beats landed harder. Scenes that used to feel transitional suddenly had texture and urgency. It was more immersive, more cinematic, more alive.
For a book that sometimes gets ranked lower in the series, this version elevates it. It reminded me why the world captured me in the first place.
If you think you “know” Chamber of Secrets — try it this way.
I’ve read this book before. I’ve seen the film more times than I can count (hello, ✨trauma✨). But the full-cast audio production made this feel like an entirely new experience. The sound design, the performances, the atmosphere — it genuinely brought Hogwarts to life in a way that neither the original text nor the movie ever quite did for me.
This was hands-down the best experience I’ve ever had with Book 2. The mystery felt sharper. The tension felt higher. The emotional beats landed harder. Scenes that used to feel transitional suddenly had texture and urgency. It was more immersive, more cinematic, more alive.
For a book that sometimes gets ranked lower in the series, this version elevates it. It reminded me why the world captured me in the first place.
If you think you “know” Chamber of Secrets — try it this way.
March 29, 2026
3.75 stars. My main sticking point with this audio version is that certain voices are not fitting into my idea of the character. One main example is the voice of Draco Malfoy. It is so way over the top to the point of ridiculousness. I am also not a fan of Snape’s voice. It can be distracting. However, I still enjoyed the story!!
February 13, 2026
Draco Malfoy's laugh is still the most annoying thing I've ever heard.
OMG Kit Harington as Lockheart was a complete surprise, he was just PERFECT. (Also, could not for the life of me picture him as Lockheart though, in my mind Kenneth Branagh was doing all the talking)
OMG Kit Harington as Lockheart was a complete surprise, he was just PERFECT. (Also, could not for the life of me picture him as Lockheart though, in my mind Kenneth Branagh was doing all the talking)
March 5, 2026
So good - no surprise! As someone who has read the books many times, it’s like a whole new experience listening to the full cast editions. The sound effects and amazing casting provide a fantastic new way to dive into this familiar world.
January 28, 2026
Loving the full cast audio of this series!
January 29, 2026
JON SNOW AS GILDEROY LOCKHART 😍
February 2, 2026
Liked the audio for the 2nd book so much more than the 1st!
February 6, 2026
I cannot express how much I’m loving the full cast!
February 8, 2026
It’s so much fun to go back and reread these! I am absolutely loving the full cast readings!
March 2, 2026
Dobby is a free elf!!!
March 14, 2026
Again listened to this in the car with my daughter over many journeys. We loved this more than the first - the audio was so much better! Bring on book 3!! 😃
April 2, 2026
5⭐️. 🗣️🐍
April 12, 2026
I had forgotten all about Peeves not being in the movies! I love his mischief and it was so fun to listen to the entire story.
Lockhart’s voice acting was excellent, and I particularly loved the sound effects with Dobby as he was forced to punish himself for helping Harry.
Lockhart’s voice acting was excellent, and I particularly loved the sound effects with Dobby as he was forced to punish himself for helping Harry.
April 25, 2026
What an awesome way to read this book - a full cast and spectacular sound effects. Will definitely make my way through the entire Audible Harry Potter book series!
April 27, 2026
these are so fun ✨
May 6, 2026
The full cast audio editions are amazing!
February 5, 2026
These full cast audible versions are so immersive and I am thoroughly enjoying them! It’s like listening to a movie but EVERY line and scene from the book makes it into it. I love it.
February 6, 2026
AMOR PURO por estos libros con full cast.
February 23, 2026
A TRIUMPH!!!! it had been long enough for me to forget the plot details and just how MUCH is packed into book 2. I cannot recommend this full-cast series enough.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews