Rating: 
Summary: Excellent fifth entry in the series!
Review: The fifth in the much hyped Harry Potter book series was absolutely worth the three year wait after the 'Goblet Of Fire' book. 'The Order of The Phoenix' is the longest of the five Harry Potter novels so far and for younger readers who haven't read the first four books, or even the movies, should start with the first one 'The Sorcerer's Stone'. Although the first three books are already made into movies, I would not throw them out because I've read some books that were made into movies and the images of the characters and scenes that I come up with in my head when reading the books are very different from the silver screen counterparts. That's why I think that books should never be discounted even if already adapted on screen. There are so many things in the books that it would be impossible to bring everything on screen. Enough of that, let's get back to the OOTP. It was another boring and unpleasant summer with the despicable Dursley family on Privet Drive in the town of Little Whinging. What's really made things more unpleasant is that his bullying cousin Dudley Dursley has started terrorizing the local neighborhood; Harry himself hasn't heard a thing from his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, nor any news about the return of the revived Lord Voldemort. One night during a confrontation with his fat cousin Dudley, Harry and Dudley are under attack from two rogue Dementors that arrived in Little Whinging, Harry barely dodges being expelled from Hogwarts. Although he continues on at Hogwarts, things only get worse after that. The Ministry of Magic vehemently is trying to deny the truth of Voldemort's return to power and Harry himself is the victim of vicious smear campaigns to discredit his hero status after his encounter with Voldemort during the End of the Triwarding Tournament. Hogwarts no longer feels like a refuge from Voldemort's increasing powers. Even then, a toad like woman named Dolores Jane Umbridge takes the position as Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher but restricts the lessons to just the theory behind the various defenses. Ultimately, she starts passing out decrees to undermine Harry's efforts to tell the truth about Voldemort's return by horrific detentions, docking points from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, while the Slytherin students form a group called the Inquisitorial Squad and undermine the other three houses performances at their various subjects and even the other staff members are feeling the strain of the various decrees that are being laid upon them right and left and at a frequent rate. Even when looking at an inward perspective, Harry is going through very turbulent times in his life so far. He is now 15 years old and the effects of adolescence are starting to take their toll on his mentality. Heavy crushes on various interests, bouts of rage and raging hormones are making things less and less pleasant for Harry but that's not the worst of it all. He has been having dreams of going down this dark hallway in some place that is called the 'Department of Mysteries' and the lightning scar on his forehead has been becoming excruciatingly painful to where it's been interfering with an already complicated life at Hogwarts. Voldemort is now gaining power again as his legion of followers, the Death Eaters, are regrouping to carry out his malicious goals of killing the muggleborns, half-bloods (wizards or witches born to One pureblood parent, one muggle or muggleborn parent), and muggles and having the 'purebloods' be the dominant race again. Harry Potter is becoming increasingly strained from Voldemort's ability to use Legilimency (The ability to penetrate into peoples minds) against Harry and force him into seeing what Voldemort's seeing and/or doing as Harry sleeps. This is a very powerful novel from the Harry Potter series on so many levels. It hits so close to home about high ranking bureaucratic government agencies trying to ruin the reputation of individuals who in fact try to do good just out of the fear of losing one's power even though that wouldn't necessarily happen. This book made me so angry not because it was bad, it was an excellent book but that it's oh so true how the inefficiency of political powers put many lives in danger by failing to warn the public about the impending dangers of an evil power rising and attempting to take over societies. Sometimes, I would even go far enough as to say that governmental agencies who undermine peoples attempts to warn about impending danger are just as bad, if not worse than the actual danger itself because of the attempts to reduce the publics ability to defend itself against attack. Cornelius Fudge is the prime example of this by refusing to believe Dumbledore's warnings about Voldemort's return and trying to discredit Dumbledore himself by sending in various cronies to ruin his reputation through various smear campaigns. Sadly, to tell you the truth, smear campaigns like this happen almost all the time around the world and even here in the US. This is the darkest of the five books so far and if it is made into a movie, this could very well make 'Chamber of Secrets' seem more like a comedy show. The artwork alone perfectly matches the dark tone of this book because the more light-hearted tone of the first book is almost completely absent on here and with some of the various scenes, I have to honestly say that this series is no longer exactly a children's book series and should evolve into a more grown up series. Althouhg some argue that this is a children's series, those who first read the 'Sorcerer's Stone' are not the same people anymore and aim for a more mature tone and 'The Order of The Phoenix' does just that. The tone of the books has gotten darker with each book and will only get more so with the final two books.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter is fun potter
Review: Harry potter ia the most amazing book i've ever read. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I had to stop about every hour to just take it all in. It's the best childs book i've ever read. Mind though that it is also extremly long.
Rating: 
Summary: "cough, cough, I'm losing my voice"
Review: In Harry Potter V we see the kids struggle through adolesence, face more evil from the now ressurected Voldimort, and work towards reuniting the "light side" on the community of magic. The kids are growing well within the story, unfortunately JK's overall story and writings aren't. She gets lost in what she is writing -- a kids book? a young readers book? an adult book that the young will like? -- developing her vocabulary yet neglecting her sentence complexity and stylistic grace -- she impertinantely uses words such as supercilious unnessisarily, and has yet to learn how to use a comma. I think she is struggling to find her own voice as these kids grow up. It is ever apperant that she is also struggling to find fresh plot points: she leaks spoilers such as, "Someone in Harry's group is going to die," and then sets up scenarious that trick the reader into thinking that a this person is dead, only to find out that they were only asleep...ho-hum, so lame, so purile. The books are for buding readers, not to be read like they've been written by one. Hopefully, for her next book, after spending a few more years as a professional writer, we will finally see her develop her writing.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix was good........
Review: Harry Potter was good and was different than what I expected. I expected Voldemort to be in a lot longer in the book, but it was good due to the fact I wouldn't even have an idea about what would happen. It was suspenceful, but in a good way.
Rating:
Summary: one of J.K.'s best books
Review: Everyone has waited for this book and now it is finally out and the expctations have been met...alot of people who have reviewed this book were blinded because of how long it was and because there are many subplots....Shawn Watson quotes "If all the usual stuff was left out and the book focused only on Lord Voldemort's return then it would have been entertaining to read."i highly disagree with this beacause if J.K. only focused on Lord Voldemort then the book whould have been to boreing to go on with. I loved this book and understood what Harry was going though because me being a teen and all, i am sure all of the ones who gave bad opinons of this book should reread and then do a new review because you wont get the book that well if u sit and read once. by reading it twice you will get that the book is awsome and worth reading again and again while you wait for the 6th book to come out.
Rating:
Summary: Seems like I'm in a minority here...
Review: .. but I had to say this. Frankly, I was disappointed. After 4 fantastic book, it seems like Rowling's success went straight up to her head. This book, although not bad, was definately the lesser book of the 5. Too long, introducing too many new characters and all in all- unsatisfying. It seems like at each and every page something drastic has to happen.. a little exhasting. I would still recommend it (ok, it IS Harry Potter after all), but it doesn't even hold a candle to "The Goblet of Fire". Too bad.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5 Audio CD)
Review: While a darker book than the others, it is still a fascinating tale with twists and turns. Jim Dale's reading of this book transports you to Hogwarts and Platform 9 3/4 in the blink of an eye. He is such a dynamic reader, using all the voices of the characters. Can't wait for Book 6.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books in the series
Review: My dad says that the longer the H.P. books get, the worse. That was true for the 4th book, which I didn't like-too many characters, slightly confusing plot, and boring. But the fifth book helped me remember why I love the HP books. It kept me addicted and I kept wanting to read more and more. I finished it in a month-I had my finals after X-Mas break-probably the fastest yet. It is the longest HP book to date at 870 pages and 38 chapters long-the first was only 309 pages and 17 chapters. Even though I do wish that Ms. Rowling would keep them shorter, this book was truely good. We see Harry go through the madness and angst of his past-we do find new information about his past. It isn't a huge twist but does explain a lot. And we also see him struggle around girls, especially Cho, who is still mourning over Cedric. Here's a spoiler-somebody special and important to Harry dies. After I read the last few chapters, I was in tears. I had PMS, but I still cried. This is the first book that I have read and cried during. This book was well-worth the time. I loved it so much and I can't wait until the next book. P.S. Ms. Rowling, I have three words for you-Ron and Hermione!
Rating: 
Summary: Harry's growing up (SPOILERS)
Review: I admit to being one of those people who preordered the OoTP and waited anxiously for it to arrive. When it did, I was not entirely disappointed.
I know that Harry has grown up but I must admit I lost a lot of respect for him. He has grown dark and pompous. He's taken to believing he is better than Ron and Hermione, who are just as brave and talented as he. I didn't like a lot of Harry's thoughts and actions and rantings. He was acting like a child for the first couple of chapters. Also, it seems as if Ron and Hermione will get together, which I am not particularly looking forward to.
However, there are a lot of good things about the book.
1. Ginny Weasley. Ginny has been one of my favorites from the begnning, and here she takes on her own personality and to date is the only one who has been able to calm down Harry and make him shut up. She is a strong character, and I hope Harry will realize that.
2. The Order. It was refreshing to see new characters and a new element to the series. The order is very prominent in the book and will be for the rest of the series.
3. A new layer to James. Before, we believed that Severus hated James with no reason. Now we know why and the reader is even a bit sympathetic to Severus. Sadly, though, Harry's image of his father was shattered. However, I liked looking into James' and the Marauders' world.
4. The death of Sirius. This was an extremely sad event, but what it did was it opened several doors. For one, it added an air of reality to the series. It will be a basis for book 6, and I think book 6 will have a lot of growing up for Harry in coming to terms with Sirius' death. While this book solves some open mysteries in books 1-4, it also reminds the reader that it's not over yet.
Rating: 
Summary: a concerned mother
Review: My son Jonah and I started reading Harry Potter, and 5 minutes into the book I immediately noticed that Jonah had fallen asleep. THIS BOOK IS SO BORING. It could't entertain my 7 year old son and I barely read through it without falling asleep also. I read on without Jonah and i realized that the book often contains adult things that are not suitable for children's literature. Harry goes dating for the 1st time in this book and personally I dont think it is right for 7 YEAR OLDS to be reading about dating just yet. Teen pregnancy is up in this country and we don't need MS.Rowling to keep it on the rise for our future teenagers. Also, as a jewish mother I keep a tight watch on Jonah's younger sisters, Debra and Sandra. I have kept them away from Harry Potter since it came out. My daughters see Jonah dressing up as a wizard and trying to cast a spell on Mr.Johnson, our neighbor. Mr. Johnson is an old man who was scared out of his wits when little Jonah came out of the bushed and screamed Wingardio Levioso! I recieved a complaint by Mr.Johnson the next day and was forced to confine Jonah to his room. Jonah then stole a broom out of my closest and tried to fly out the window. He broke all 7 bones in his leg. Now he is in the hospital until may. This book is dangerous to all future adults and should be outlawed.
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