Rating: 
Summary: Jim Dale should listen to his previous recordings ...
Review: There are thousands of reviews of the book, so I won't touch on any plot/theme/characterization here - this is a review of the Audio versions (I assume the recordings are the same for both the CDs and Cassettes). All I will say in regard to the books themselves is that, in my opinion, the Harry Potter series are books about children, NOT "children's books", and this books starts to expand that divergence.Anyway, back to the point of this review of the Jim Dale audio recordings. Jim Dale should have listened to his previous recordings of the earlier Harry Potter books before recording this one. That way, he would have heard the voices he used for the characters previously AND USED THE SAME VOICES IN THIS RECORDING. I'm not talking necessarily about the childrens voices (because they are growing up), but about the adult voices. The only voices that seem to be close are Sirius and Moody - Lupin, the Weasleys, etc. aren't even similar. I was very disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Harry, Harry, He's My Man
Review: Having fallen in love with Harry Potter several years ago, of course I had my copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix fedexed to my home on that Saturday. Once in my hands I did not stop except for sleep until I had finished the "much too short" saga of the fifth year at Hogwarts. As everyone has pointed out, it is a tough year for Harry. He is in a dark mood and events do not go his way. There are many wonderful things, however, my favorite being the revisiting of the Pensieve which Dumbledore loans to Snape and which permits Harry to have new insights into his father's character. James is Harry's hero and like all fathers, he has flaws that Harry needs to accept and forgive in order to mature. Harry's relationship with Cho is totally realistic and again allows Harry to grow and mature. Rowling is a genius as no other writer for many years. Like others, I reread all four previous books so that I could "flow" into book 5. I only wish I had read it slower, but I will read it again soon and savor it next time, as soon as my husband finishes. In our family, there are four generations of us reading Harry Potter's story, the youngest is ten; the oldest is ninety. We can't wait until book six appears.
Rating:
Summary: The best one yet!
Review: I have read all of the Harry Potter books, watched as the characters have grown up, and intently followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione's tests of courage. This installment of the series was the best one yet. The plot was incredibly rich, the characters were dynamic and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I read. I would recommend this book to anyone with a love of reading!
Rating:
Summary: Two Thumbs Up
Review: I am a student at West Virginia State College, and I was required to read a banned or censored book for my summer Childrens Literature course. Since I have read all of the Harry Potter books I decided to read the fifth book. Since, I was going to read it anyway. I think that this was the best book yet. It starts of a bit slow, but it's a great book. I would highly recommend that if you are buying this book for a child that you read the book first to see if it is suitable for your child's age. I would like to thank Mr. Roger Samples (The best teacher in the world)for letting me share this book with the class.
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Summary: A Dark Yet Delightful Installment of the Harry Potter Saga
Review: I've read all of the Harry Potter books and have loved them all, but the most recent one has got to be the best. 'Order of the Pheonix' has all the great traits of the Harry Potter books: a wonderful plot, fantastic characters, hilarious quirks, and a stunning conclusion. Not only does this book have these, but it also has plenty of surprises and a sort of dark and brooding Harry as he deals with Cedric's death, which is something readers have never seen before. Some readers may not like this new Harry, but I thought it was interesting to see this new side and helped to put Harry's persective into place. But of course, this is just my opinion and yours may be the total oppisite. Anyways, to try and summerize what I'm trying to say: this is a truly enjoyable book and a great read for anyone. Bravo Ms. Rowling!
Rating:
Summary: Fun but...
Review: This is something of an anticlimax after "Goblet of Fire". That ended along lines of: Now Voldemort is back and the great conflict begins. Only it doesn't all that much. It doesn't, it would seem, begin in earnest, until the Ministry of Magic is convinced Voldemort has returned and they still think it's all nonsense. This causes the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, to turn on Harry and his friends with a somewhat over-the-top ferocity, trying to have him expelled from Hogwarts on a specious charge and, that failing, installing his vindictive sidekick Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts in the role of "High Inquisitor". And it is Harry's persecution by Umbridge that supplies the central thread of the story. Voldemort is still around and up to no good and of course takes centre-stage at the climax but his antics seem a more or less secondary plot line after the business with Umbridge and the Ministry. And Umbridge is a bit of a problem and a symptom of a wider one. Like Lucius Malfoy and his Slytherin gang and like the Dursleys, she is a rather crudely drawn uncomplicated baddie, in effect simply a pantomime villain, there for us to hiss at when she enters the stage. That's OK in a short simple children's story but in a book of this considerable length, we surely want characterization with more depth and complexity. As always, at the end of the book, various little mysteries are cleared up that will have intrigued the reader but don't hold your breath if, like me, you find yourself wondering, So, where is Umbridge coming from, what is her beef exactly, just why is it she is behaving like this? We really learn nothing to address this and are presumably meant to take the answer to be simply, Because she is very very bad. And that's disappointing. The big exception to the more general complaint is of course Snape, the most interesting and ambivalent of all the book's characters and it's good that he features prominently in this one, where, incidentally, we learn something about just what is driving his hostility towards Harry, just the kind of insight we look for with other characters and miss. It's a particular shame with the Dursleys perhaps as they are the only muggle characters and it would be nice if they were just a little less one-dimensional. So as someone who has enjoyed these books I was a little disappointed by this one. But not so much so that I failed to enjoy it. Nor so much that I won't be devouring the next when it appears...
Rating: 
Summary: Waste Of Time To Read This Book
Review: I have been waiting for this book for so long to see what hapens to Harry. When I got this book my mom and I. We thought this book was stupid. We only got to page 90 and stoped. We had to ask a family member how it ended. I told some of my other famliy members the J.K. Rowing can wirte a craby book like this one and still make over a millon dollars. All this book is about is how Harry is so loney. Take it from me do not read this book!!
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down
Review: I thought I'd seen it all with the dragons in the 4th book. I just don't see how J. K. Rowling keeps the ideas coming. The whole Order of Phoenix organization in the book was extremely suprising. That is the reason I love the Harry Potter books. They are surprising. Her books are the best that I've ever read, but the fifth was one of my favorites. The Harry Potter books have inspired me to take up writing, but I could never write anything near as good. J. K. Rowling has the imagination of a child, and that's the highest praise I can give her.I read it for a solid eight hours, and no matter what my mom said, I wouldn't put it down. If I could give it 1,000,000 stars, I would.
Rating:
Summary: Can't Wait For The Next Installment
Review: Whew! Having read each of the previous books three times, I was more than ready for Year 5 at Hogwarts & I was certainly not disappointed!
Yes, it's true that it's "darker" than some of the early volumes. Yes, it's true that some bad & scary things happen. Yes, it's true that Harry seems angry or depressed all the time.
Think back to when you were 15. It was a dark, angry, and depressing time for some of us & we weren't being pursued by an evil wizard bent on our destruction. Nor were some of us orphaned & forced to live with emotionally abusive relatives who treated us worse than Cinderella's stepmother did. Nor were we able to express our deepest feelings & desires to parents, teachers, or even to our closest friends sometimes. Nor did we understand what exactly was going on with our bodies, our emotions, or the world around us.
Now, if you put yourself in Harry Potter's place, it shouldn't come as any shock that he would be angry, depressed, withdrawn, or resentful during much of this book. In truth, I believe the brilliant author has hit the proverbial nail right on the head with this one. In addition to pegging the personality of a brooding 15-year old wizard, she has introduced some fascinating new characters & given added dimension to some much-loved old ones.
No criticism here - just bring on the next two books!
Rating: 
Summary: Hugely disappointing
Review: Yes, I am one of those adults who likes the Harry Potter books. Or at least until this one. Sure, it is still an escape from reality and some of the new characters are interesting, but overall, big thumbs down. The magic and charm (sorry for the bad puns) of the first four is sorely missed here. Book five feels forced, as though she just wanted to get it over and done with. There's no heart or soul to it. I understand that we need to feel the discomfort, claustrophia and pain that the characters are living with, but with nothing pushing the plot along, it was wholly unenjoyable. Three years...so long to wait for so little...
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