I've now finished book 2 of the Harry Potter series -- yes, I'm late to the game -- and I do think I enjoyed this one better than the last. Given that it's, you know, Harry Potter and all ... I don't think a summary is necessary here, right? 
 If, though, you insist... 
 Harry Potter = Wizard. 
 Chamber of Secrets = Oops, you aren't supposed to know about that. 
 Bad kid with bad dad who says creepy things = people who don't have two magic parents should = dead. 
 Bad monster in the Chamber of Secrets = Yes, I agree. 
 Book = talking. 
 Harry Potter = Talking to snakes. 
 Bad monster in the Chamber of Secrets = Talking to snakes. 
 Harry Potter = Bad monster in the Chamber of Secrets? 
 Old guy with bad accent = Bad monster in the Chamber of Secrets? 
 Clueless, sketchy new teacher = Bad monster in the Chamber of Secrets? 
 Bad kid with bad dad who says creepy things = Bad monster in the Chamber of Secrets? 
 My thoughts. 
 I'm not as lost with the endless cast of characters anymore. I'm tuning out the ones that don't seem important and making friends with the others. That's the beauty of a series -- we get to see what our friends are doing over time. 
 The pattern of 'Harry Potter gets on the train, goes to school, finds a dark, scary mystery, solves dark scary mystery, goes home' is both comforting and not. Are the others the same? I guess I'll find out soon enough. 
 I was more interested in the storyline with this one, I think. I'm starting with a few tough biases -- not loving middle grade, fantasy, or young male central characters, but the plot was interesting and even though parts were predictable, others did manage to take crazy turns I didn't expect. It kept me reading, even if I admittedly skimmed a part or two. 
 Overall verdict. 
 Good story, likeable characters, but I'm not sure it's really a genre I can connect with as much as I'd like. 
 I'm intrigued enough to keep reading, though -- so that says something, right?