 Mary Stuart thought the final conflict with Tom Riddle in the Chamber was almost as scary as in some of Stephen King 's works , and perhaps too strong for young or timid children . She commented that " there are enough surprises and imaginative details thrown in as would normally fill five lesser books . " Like other reviewers , she thought the book would give pleasure to both children and adult readers . According to Philip Nel , the early reviews gave unalloyed praise while the later ones included some criticisms , although they still agreed that the book was outstanding . 
