Rating: 
Summary: Horrid Harry
Review: I've just turned 16, and consider myself better read than most people my age, which is why I believe I see Harry Potter as what it is - one needs to have something to judge by, else it cannot be good or bad.Harry Potter captivated the world a few years ago, with its creativity and JK. Rowling's ingenious writing - I too enjoyed her books; it was one of the books which formed the foundation of my love of reading. However, over the years her books have become monotonous and repetitive, lacking any real changes within her world. Harry Potter is static, and it's for this reason why I recommend the following authors instead of Horrid Harry: -Raymond E. Feist - author of the riftwar sage (GREAT books, perfect for ages 12-14)
-Philip Paullmen - author of the northern light series (also good books, lacks the action of Feist's writing)
-Wilbur Smith - author of the Courtney and Ballantine novels (The Courtney novels are some of the best novels I have read, HIGHLY recommended to anyone 14+, note: some sex scenes, but at that age, if you don't know what sex is about, you're not going to be capable of reading the book anyway.)
- Bernard Cornwell - author of Sharpe's adventures, as well as the Starbuck chronicles (I am currently reading these, also 14+, great books, also are historically correct. I am currently reading Sharpe's Trafalgar, in which he participates in this epic sea battle). I strongly discourage parents insisting that children read Lord of The Rings or any other classic novels, so far my experience with these are largely negative. I believe them overly descriptive and hard reading - Lord of the Flies isn't too bad though... ...
Rating: 
Summary: Oh Dear JK
Review: Oh dear! JK J.K. Rawlings most recent delve into the world of Hogwarts and Harry is, I am afraid, a bit of a disappointment. As a teenager Harry has developed a personality with which no sane person would feel sympathy. While this may be forgiven as a caricature of teens in the UK, our man Harry seems also to have dropped his IQ 30 points. As the plot is tediously re-explained to Harry he consistently fails to see the obvious, throws tantrums and has a little sulk. This is amusing at first but soon grows tiresome, the iterations of explanation, tantrum, sulk leading to the inevitable and now familiar conclusion. Even the much touted, 'death of major character', (a rather cynically pressed marketing feature on UK chat shows), does little to save the plot; the 'major character' most arguably isn't and the 'death' is also questionable as to its finality.
J.K. has tried to grow Harry up and got it wrong, in short if you want to pursue some exciting children's literature - look elsewhere, if you must follow Harry's every move - wait for the movie. JZ
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, but it went for the chop.
Review: Book five I was looking forward to and later dissappointed me. The Harry in this latest book is completely different: angry, bitter, and depressing. Not the loyal, honest guy he was in the previous four books. J.K. Rowling must've worn out her caplock key on her keyboard just from all that yelling in the script. I doubt I would read it again, I didn't see why Sirius died just because he was thrown behind a curtain! Knocked out maybe, but die? I didn't see the point.
I agree with other one star reviews which said that it seemed to be more about quantity than quality. If the other books keep going downhill, J.K Rowling's fame may also come tumbling down right behind them.
Rating: 
Summary: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Review: I personally enjoyed this book for multiple reasons. For one, the plot is easy to follow if you pay attention to whats going on. Also, I feel that J.K. Rowling had a smart idea as to having Albus Dumbledore make a mistake, mainly because, over the first four books, he earns the image of an elderly man who has never made a mistake in his entire life. although, I feel that having my favorite charactor die was a very cruel thing to do. This book has great word choices and surprising new twists that you never would have thought possible. I would recommend this book to all who can read long novels, for I throughly enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I immediately must say that this book left me out of breath!It is surely the best one in all HP series.I just couldn't left it untill I read the whole book and it kept me in dark till the last page.I just couldn't wait to get to the next page to see what will happen.The characters develop so much,the evnts are more serious and this book is the masterpiece.I can't wait untill the 6th book comesd out to see how the questions that the 5th book left unanswered.I can say that this is one of the best books I've read.
Rating: 
Summary: Harry Potter needs some serious counseling
Review: The events that took place at the end of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts, along with the events that unfold in his fifth year, make Harry a very angry person in this book. Fed up with being talked about his back and being accused as a liar, Harry spends a lot of this book being angry and lonely and losing his temper. He flies off the handle seemingly every other page in the first half of the book. It seems he has an uncontrollable temper, a lot of suppressed rage and bottled-up anger. He seems to have lost all sense of self-preservation and he seems intent on going around bad-tempered all the time making enemies and getting in trouble on a regular basis. He hates being whispered about, but he keeps giving people reasons to whisper. I got tired of reading about his constant unhappiness and his continual temper tantrums. It was overkill. This book was a bit too long. It's not until 200 pages into the book that the students even arrive at Hogwarts. A lot of that first 200 pages is devoted to the description of cleaning the old Black house. One good part about the pre-Hogwarts story was that it was interesting to finally read about the offices of the Ministry of Magic. But on the whole, Rowling starts trying to create too many subplots in this book. And as usual, everything tries to get explained all in the last 20 pages, but there were a lot of questions left unanswered. After five books, we find FINALLY find out at the end of this book the reasons why Harry is forced to spend his summers with the Dursley's. However, the explanation contradicts the fact that Harry had to be followed, guarded and protected during the first part of the summer, while he was still at the Dursley's. There were lots of other unanswered questions as well. What were the parchments that Bill and Mr. Weasley were looking at after the first Order of the Phoenix meeting that took place upon Harry's arrival? Why was the time and location of the hearing changed at the last minute and who changed it? Why did they have a full trial in the old courtroom? Why did Fudge seem flustered that Dumbledore managed to show up at the trial? What exactly was Umbridge's motivation for wreaking such havoc at Hogwarts? Why was Umbridge going to allow the Slytherin team to reform but not the Gryffindor team? What were the brains in the tank all about, and all the other strange stuff in the Department of Mysteries? What was with the veiled archway? Luna's "explanation" didn't really explain anything about what was behind that veil. And where did the person who fell through that veil end up going? But the book wasn't all bad, not by any means. Despite the problems I had with it, I still found it more enjoyable than not. The focus of the story is Dumbledore's and Harry's efforts to convince the wizarding community that Harry is telling the truth about the return of Voldemort. There are new revelations about Harry's past and some ominous warnings about his future. Despite the overall gloomy mood of the novel, there are some fun parts. The awkward relations between Cho and Harry are highly entertaining. I wish there had been more of that. Ron's reaction to Ginny having a boyfriend is quite amusing. There some interesting new characters in this book. Dolores Umbridge is the Ministry of Magic employee who takes over the Defense of the Dark Arts position and makes enemies out of nearly everyone she meets. She is convincingly hateful, sickeningly sweet and maddeningly irritating. An awful woman. My favorite new character is Tonks, who is only seen briefly at the beginning and end of the book, but who is hilarious nonetheless. I liked this book. It's not as good as the first four and there are too many ominous and dark parts for my taste, but I still enjoyed reading it. I do miss the lighthearted fun of learning about the magical world, though. For once, Harry thankfully doesn't end up in the hospital wing at the end of the book, but that doesn't change the fact that this book has a thoroughly depressing ending. It's one of the worst endings to a book that I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Thirsty for more
Review: as always, thumbs up! It's no surprise at this point that Rowling knows how to grab her audience by writing an engaging story that one cannot help but be drawn to it as if he/she was part of it. The stress Harry Potter has had to deal with in the previous four books is certainly starting to surface, as is very apparent in his behavior. This book is much less dark than the previous, and the final battle story is somewhat missing heroic action. Still, it is impossible not to sympathize with Harry's struggles, and want to continue to be a part of his complex and burdening life.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: This was an awesome book. J.K. Rowling has done it again. The Order of the Phoenix is really not a kid's book; it's deeper, darker and much more complex. We get to see new sides to all of the characters, and there is just as much action as before. I highly recommend it! Sneeble, snarble, snooble, snoo. Sibble, snabble, snib, snib, snib! Bleeble, blarble, blibble, bloo. Blamble, blamble, blib, blib, blib! Snippity, snarpity, snoopity, snerpity, blippity, blarpity, bloppity, bloo! Neeble, narble, nooble, nooble, nee, nee, nee, nee, neeeeeee!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Well...it's definitely a change
Review: I've read this twice. The first time I rushed through it just to find out who was the "victim." Yeah. Wasn't really surprised about that. I'm sure a few people are thinking it was a serious mistake to off our lamented victim, but honestly, I wasn't really enthused at having to slog through this book. I understand that this is covering the adolescent years of young Mr. Potter, but the whole teenage angst thing came out of nowhere. There should've been some hints as far back as "Chamber" but instead, we have four years of pent-up hormones come flooding out of the page. It is overwhelming at times, a feeling made worse when you realize that there wasn't a big plot; if anything, this was written partially for contract, partially to continue the story (I, personally, could have lived without the whole Hagrid/Grawp subplot, not to mention 50% of Dolores Umbridge, who herself is part pun, part metaphor, yet neither part really does anything but make one groan). But one thing to be said, there is growing tension and suspense in the book, which is written and intended--if we remember for a moment and think (perhaps somewhat naively)--for young adults and not those of us with seasoned palates. This is why the book deserves a high rating; to me--and to many individuals over the age of, say, 16--this isn't a great novel. But it is an excellent novel for the young adult crowd and anyone who wants a mystery/fantasy/pseudo-thriller with characters who are reaching the genesis of their development. We may not like the person Harry becomes or the browbeating attitude of Umbridge or Ron's jealousy rearing its head at odd turns, but it is a realistic portrayal of adolescent confusion and angst, of the tendency for some individuals in today's society to repress information and punish anyone who tries to resist the "system."
Yes, this is a heavy-handed statement, but this book is a metaphor as much as it is a fantasy. Remember, the Harry Potter series is desgined as an arc, so we naturally have to have the stage set for the final two books in the saga.
Hardcore Potter fans will enjoy this. Anyone expecting a great epic, however, will be disappointed because of their misconceptions. But, if you shelve your misconceptions as I was able to, you will come away from "The Order of the Phoenix" with a greater appreciation for Rowling's ability to tell a story and keep her readers on the edges of their seats, biting their nails and asking themselves "could this be who dies?"
Until Book Six, I suppose we'll have to read this again. Hopefully then we'll see who Harry decides to become involved with in a more intimate level.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many annoyances
Review: Yes, the book kept my interest and I did not find it too long. But for me she doesn't know when to tone down the exaggerations that make the story unbelievable (give one accepts the magical world). So many characters are over the top that it is hard to accept that no one seems to notice. Draco and his father might as well have "evil" tattooed on their foreheads. Crabbe and Goyle could never have made it this far in the school, Snape's malevolence is getting really boring, it is unbelievable that an incompetent fool like Fudge is Minister of Magic, and the Inquisitor Umbridge is so extreme as to be totally unbelievable. Her books would be far stronger with a bit more subtlety.
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