Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful but sad.
Review: I just read Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix and I loved it. But the book is very sad. Harry is very angry and it's understandable. I had tears in my eyes while I was reading the book (and it almost never happened to me even tough I read an awful lot of books)and I felt the anger too. I'm wondering if this book is still for 9 or 10 years old kids. On the other hand, the fact that Rowling made kids read again is wonderful. I'm french speaking and Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone was the first book I had the guts to read directly in English. Now I read easily in English and I'm grateful for that. Enjoy your reading but don't be too sad. This book is as good as the others but very different in many ways.
Rating: 
Summary: Being Harry Potter
Review: A great thing about a movie on a DVD is the commentary by a director. He explains why he had to cut certain section of the movie to keep the story moving even if he liked the scene as it was. J. K Rowling didn't have a set of test audiences to screen the book before it was published, but she could have used one. There are parts in the book that slowed the story dead on its track. I'm not complaining about the book being long. I loved Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and its impressive 734 pages. I give that book 5 stars. It had smooth transition, well paced story, exciting "who-done-it" element, and better-than-anything-I-could-have-imagined ending. Rowling's first three books each get my 4 stars. Three really good books, but just not as good as the Goblet of Fire.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a wrap of story. It ties the previous four books together, and sets up the story for the last two books. It shows Harry as a true teenager: confused, angry, and jumping to conclusions. And as anyone who looks back to his adolescent years would say, "I'm glad its over." That was my feeling after reading this one.
Rating:
Summary: The series just keeps getting better and better!
Review: Year 5I picked up this book on Saturday morning and I did not want to put it down. Like the previous four Harry Potter books, this is a book that once I started reading I had to keep at it until I finished the book. I absolutely loved this book. Rowling continues to impress me with each book and takes each book in a different direction than I had anticipated. She surprises with what she puts into the books and surprises with who she may kill off. By now many will have heard that a major character gets killed off in this book. I'll just start off by stating that I will not spoil the surprise. I'm not going to tell who is killed. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix starts out like the other four books: it is summer and Harry is living with his aunt and uncle at the house on Privet Drive. Harry is now fifteen years old and is eagerly awaiting the day when he can return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When book four had ended, the Dark Lord Voldemort had returned and come back to power. The Wizarding world is divided on this. Some believe Harry and Headmaster Dumbledore that Voldemort really has returned and that there is now a real threat. Most do not. They believe the reports in the Daily Prophet newspaper that claims that Dumbledore is slipping and Harry is lying. The problem is that the only witnesses were Harry and Cedric Diggory (a fellow student). Harry is being discredited and Cedric was murdered by Voldemort in book 4. Harry is angry. He is angry that Dumbledore sent him back to the Dursley's to live instead of with his friend Ron Weasley. He is angry that nobody is permitted to tell him anything about what is going on during the summer, and he is angry that Dumbledore has pretty much forgotten all about him. Every day Harry checks the newspapers (Daily Prophet and the muggle news) to try to get a whisper of an unexplained disappearance. Nothing. One day Harry is out walking in the park when he (and Dudley) are attacked by Dementors (the soul sucking guards of the Wizard Prison Azkaban). Harry fights them off using magic, and this now sets off events that will reunite him with his friends and eventually return him to school...where everything has changed. There is a semi-secret group called the Order of the Phoenix that is dedicated to fighting Voldemort at every opportunity. Anywhere that Harry goes, a member is usually close by (even if Harry doesn't know about them). Everything is different at school, though. There is a new teacher for the Defense Against the Dark Arts: Professor Umbridge. Umbridge was chosen by the Ministry of Magic (which officially does not believe that Voldemort has returned). Umbridge is granted incredible power at Hogwarts by the Ministry and she changes absolutely everything. This is an 870 page novel (in hardcover) and it begins rather slowly. A lot of the adventure and action that is found in the other Harry Potter books is absent from the beginning of this book. Instead, we are given what I call "institutional action". There is a lot going on, but there isn't the adventure aspect. The early plot deals with Harry on Privet Drive, with the Order, and what is going on at Hogwarts. Luckily, this is very interesting and compelling. The best stuff is at Hogwarts and deals with Professor Umbridge and the changes she is instigating at the school. The fast paced action that we get in the other books is still here, but it comes a bit later in the book. In no way is this a flaw. There is a slightly different structure to the plot in this book, but Rowling pulls it off wonderfully. As I mentioned earlier, this is a book that I just didn't want to put down. 26 hours after buying the book I was finished with it. It reads quickly, just like the others. The only complaint I have is that I'll have to wait several years until Miss Rowling publishes the next Harry Potter book. This is a wonderful book in a fantastic series and it is not just for children. It is good for all ages.
Rating: 
Summary: The bar has been lowered
Review: As a parent I am very disappointed at the cursing that is used in this book. Within the first few chapters a pattern is established that the use of bad langue is acceptable, even with the character Harry Potter. Some may argue that the use of cursing is just a way of showing the growth of the character. I believe that there are other ways to show adolescent growth in story telling that would not be offensive to parents and detrimental to young, developing minds. The series has done wonderful things to permote reading in children and should be applauded for it. With all the wanting media that is produced these days for children and teens it was nice to see a literature series that was entertaining and approiate for children. It's a shame that Rowlings and Scholastic have lower the bar to join those that think that our children need to have profanity as part of their everyday conversation. Again, as a parent, and being responsible for my child's development, I will choose better material to expose to my child. Sad to say, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the last book I purchased from J. K. Rowling.
Rating:
Summary: She's done it...again!
Review: This book is equal with, and quite possibly transcends, JK Rowling's previous novels. It is a very different tale in many respects, and, I'm forced to admit, rather depressing, but that should not affect your enjoyment of this book rather than your growing empathy for Harry himself. In this book you explore locations Harry has not previously visited, such as the Ministry of Magic and the Hog's Head pub, and gain further insight into matters Rowling has not previously shed much light on, such as prophecies and the Department of Mysteries. Altogether, you will race through these pages, and there are many, like you would with any other Harry Potter book, up to its breathtaking conclusion, which will, at the very least, take your breath away. Without ruining anything else, allow me to offer one helpful bit of advice: READ IT.
Rating:
Summary: OOTP - fantastic
Review: 9 hours. I was like a 5 year old at Christmas, and I am, well, much older than that. It was in the post box in the morning and 9 hours later it was read. That, if anything, should explain OOTP as a readable, expressive and tantalizing book. OOPT, as many of you now know, brings the old, shows us the new and creates a great new story. The death, while upsetting, was necessary. It gave Harry the killer edge he is going to need two books from now. The training program he and his sidekicks develop is a fantastic development. Additionally, Neville Longbottom (one of, if not my absolute, favorite charachters) is brought to prominence, in more ways than one. For me, the exstensive use of primary and (not secondary, but) sub-primary main charachters, multiple layers of plot line running over multiple novels make the Potter books compelling. Well, this has been a frenetic and rambling review. I do have one request of the author: Please, please, not another 3 years. I must know what happens.......
Rating: 
Summary: Dark yet satisfying
Review: This is my first Amazon.com review, so I am somewhat at a loss as to what to say, especially about a book that is close to 900 pages. I have read the previous 4 books in the series at least 2x each. I found this book to be of the standard that J.K. Rowling is known for, and definately worth the late nights that I put in finishing it. Rowling manages to develop the main characters even further, following the trio of young wizards into their more difficult teen years, exploring relationships and dealing with heartbreak, while at the same time not having the book come off as a "teen" book. Rowling also does a great job of introducing a few new characters into the story, such as "Tonks," a young Auror. I remember reading in an interview somewhere that this would be a much darker book than the previous 4 volumes, and I must say that I agree. The atmosphere created by Rowling in the magical community, the Hogwarts school and in the title character's personal life is downright dismal at times. It made the read somewhat frustrating at times, as you WANT things to go well for the heros of the book...Rowling, however, demonstrates to the readers that this is not always the case. All in all, I thought it a good read, and would recommend it to anyone who has read the first 4 books. I don't think it would stand on its own very well, however.
Rating:
Summary: The New Harry Potter Book is Fabulous
Review: Rowling continues her magic in her fifth book in the Harry Potter series... It starts off great, and grabs you until the end. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer magic for the fifth time in a row
Review: Along with thousands of others, I waited with baited breath for Saturday 21st June, the day on which, after a three year hiatus, a new Harry Potter book was finally being released.
I had planned to savour the book, not read too quickly, so that it would last longer. Little chance of that ;-) From page one the story is moved along at an excellent pace, the character development is particularly interesting, and of course, you just have to keep reading to find out *what* Dumbledore is going to tell Harry ;-)
In many ways, this book is superior to "Goblet of Fire"--better constructed, and the prose flows beautifully. More than worth the wait for Potter fans around the world, though its probably necessary to have read the other books in the series first before tackling this one.
Rating:
Summary: Crazy for Potter
Review: After plowing through this latest installment in just over a day, I am suffering from withdrawal! Unfortunately, I am now going to have to wait a few years until # 6. This latest chapter in Harry Potter was an incredible read. Plot twists, character development, and sub plots abound. It ties in alot of the things that we learned in the first four books, and Rowling did a great job of making Harry all the more real for his emotional response to the horror and chaos he has been facing - in particular the death of Cedric in the end of Goblet of Fire. All that being said don't expect to many questions to be answered right away. The last 100-150 pages are where the story really takes off. As you may have read in the teasers Dumbledore finially tells Harry about the scar he bears, and about his parents death. While a great read it is the darkest yet. However, I think that there were still a few loose threads that needed to be tied together. (stop reading if you don't want to know more). I wish that the book had delt with the following:
What happened with Percy and his family?
Did Hermione ever find out that the SPEW hats were all taken by Doby?
The section of Hagrid's half-brother needed to be developed more.
How did everyone do on their OWL's?! Irregardless of these minor points, if you are a Potter fan, then this is a must read!
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