Rating: 
Summary: Much Ado About Nothing
Review: This book, as other reviewers said, is unnecessarily long. Until page 450 or so, all we get is a retelling of what we already knew with very little action. And even when a new story begins it moves so slowly you have to keep yourself from yawning or giving up.My biggest complaint has to do with the "shocking and painful death". If I blinked I would have missed it. The method of death doesn't appear to be a method at all. In fact, unless other characters said the victim had died I wouldn't know it. Some suggest that gives it a realistic feeling as death is often sudden, tragic and shockingly ubelievable. But that is a rationalization. I would have prefered a body or more realistic death circumstance. Another missed opportunity was Snape's development. Harry had a perfect opportunity to understand the adults in his life better, but instead he absorbs himself in his own selfish concerns. He does not appear heroic, not even smart. The sad thing is this is nothing more than a filler book. It moves the whole story arc along very little. Yet we still have another 2 years to wait for another story.
Rating: 
Summary: Can't Put It Down
Review: Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix is filled with so much action and excitement that you can't put it down. I give it 5 stars for an excellent plot. I think it is great for both kids and adults.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter encourages kids to practice "Witch Craft"
Review: Harry Potter talks about a nerdy boy with glasses and some freaking scar on his head that is shaped as a lighting bolt. Heck!! why can't it be some other shape like an apple
or a banana? Anyway, during the book, you encounter words like lumnos or somthing like that, which means to make the
wand light up. Because of that, tons of kids are gonna buy
toy wands and try to copy that. That is considered witch craft.
They should ban Harry Potter from book stores. I don't even
like the story at all. Why does Harry Potter have to be some
nerdy geeky kid. It should be some cool chick like Jlo or something like that. LoL! Just kiddn. Anyway, I advise you not to buy the book. Its dumb, it has a bad story and brooms.
Why don't they make mini coopers fly and use that for quiditch instead?
DONT BUY THE BOOK!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Soaring Through Magic
Review: A series following the other four, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is new and refreshing. In this magical book it seems Harry's friends, family, classmates, and the rest of the wizard world, including the Ministry of Magic, are against him. J.K. Rowling yet again writes a very terrific book. I like the fact that one of my favorite characters is in this one, Sirius Black. He's my favorite character because he has a mystic and mischievous look about him. I would recommend this and the other four books to anyone who has an imagination and anyone who likes to leave this world for a dream one.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book but isn't the best in the series
Review: So, after three years of waiting, the fifth book is out; the question now is: Does it live up to the reader's expectations? Yes, it does, if you were expecting action, but it does not if you were hoping for huge teenage romances. JKR definitely needs to learn more about teen romances. Little flings start at thirteen, not fifteen, the age where boys look at Victoria's Secrets ads and are on chat rooms seeking out girls. Also it does not if you were expecting to learn major secrets. The little nitpicks do not satisfy your desire, and the prophecy is pretty easy to work out as is doesn't take a hardcore fan to realize Voldemort's mortal enemy. The secrets I wanted to learn should have been complete shockers and detailing Voldemort's rise to power. Then again, there are always two more book to come. The plot is even weaker then that of book one's, about a corridor. Harry enters Voldemort's mind, Voldemort finds out and transfers dreams back. Relatively simple, not complex, but then again, JKR can't see the border between confusing and complex. The plot, though more psycological, could have been a lot better and more worthy of the term fantasy. The little clash between Dumbledore and Harry vs. the Ministry and Umbridge, though cool at first, is proven to be melodramatic at the end as JKR doesn't take the time to fully explain it. The ending, mind you, is just a downhill spiral filled with short angst, which could have been a lot better. The hefty amount of subplots are unnecessary, and the climax is not half as good as book three or four's. All it seemed to accomplish was the death of a character we loved but did not fully know. J.K. Rowling definitley needs to learn character complexity, and as previouly said Snape is the only person who fits that category. Dolores Umbridge brings new meaning to the term two-dimensional, if she is not one-dimensional. Much of the book reads merely as a script unlike the other four, filled with instructions on merchandise and visual effects. During the climax the thought action movie definitley drifts across your mind. I do hope that the sixth book isn't like this also. JKR has definitely changed her writing style and improved her vocabulary, but not much. She also has to improve on her simplistic sentences such as "Hermione screamed". The book also could lose fifty pages if it wasn't for all those lovely adjectives. The humor in this book is geared toward major sarcasm fans, so I didn't really find it funny. If you are looking for an entertaining read, Order of the Phoenix and it's twenty hours of eye straining will provide. If you are expecting the best installment in the series you will be sorely disappointed. The best books are, greatest to least, "Prisoner of Azkaban", "Goblet of Fire", "Order of the Phoenix", "Chamber of Secrets", and finally "Sorcerer's Stone".
Rating:
Summary: Not the best, but Harry Potter fans will still need to read
Review: I'm a 40 year old woman that only reads books when I travel in order to keep me occupied on the plane. On a trip to Las Vegas last month, I borrowed Harry Potter The Sorcerers Stone from my Mother so I could see what all the fuss was about. Well, I couldn't put it down (even spent valuable casino time in the room reading!). Like so many others, I became obsessed with HP and tore through the next 4 books quicker than I have ever read anything in my life. Although I enjoyed this book and didn't even mind the length (It could have definitely been shorter, but knowing I wouldn't be able to read more for who knows how long, a part of me didn't want it to end) it was definitely the weakest book of the series. Where the first 4 books had wonderfully intricate plots and shocking endings, (who ever would have guessed Ginny Weasley opened the chamber of secrets, that Sirius Black was a good guy, Ron's pet rat was the bad guy and a supposedly dead Death Eater was disguised as Professor Moody?) this installment is fairly predictable. Harry spends so much of the time in a self pitying, angry at the world state, he ignores everyone that obviously has his best interest at heart and the big show down at the end that puts so many people in danger is entirely his fault. It's very difficult to feel much sympathy for him. I can only hope he mellows a bit over the summer. I knew from all the publicity that someone dies, but the only real suspense I found in this book was when a main character would have some dramatic accident or have some exotic jinx shot at them, I found myself thinking "oh no, don't it be them". But when the character does finally die, it is very anti-climatic. One second he's there, the next he's dead. That's it. (If you haven't read the book and don't want to know who it is, stop reading reviews as many reviewers give away which character dies) I also agree with a lot of other reviewers that say this book does nothing to further the characters, but we do start to get a new glimpse at Serverus Snape and Neville Longbottom, but really just enough to make us guess they will play much more important rolls in future books. Also, I think Aunt Petunia knows a lot more about the wizarding world than she is letting on. That all said, there are some really fun parts of this book. Professor Umbridge is such an evil, horrible person, it is really fun to watch the students and professors alike conspire against her. George and Fred are hysterical in their quest to open a joke shop and their final day at Hogwarts will leave you cheering. A lot of lingering questions are also answered, like why did Voldemort attack Harry in the first place, why must he always spend the summers with the Dursleys, and why does Snape have so much animosity towards Harry.
Rating:
Summary: Should LucasFilm Make the last three films?
Review: Maybe LucasFilm should make the last three films, since they seem to be based on a story that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Has anyone else noticed the resemblance between Harry Potter and the original Star Wars trilogy? Harry is Luke (obviously), Hermione is Leia, Ron is Han Solo, Hagrid is Chewbacca (a bit of a stretch, but not too much), Dumbledore is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Voldemort is Vader (OK, arguably Wormtail is Vader and Voldemort is the Emperor, but Wormtail hasn't had as big a part so far). You can even take it further. The Order of the Phoenix is like the jedi knights, not big enough to be an army but still fighting against the galactic empire, death eaters are the sith lords, the dementors are the stormtroopers, Dobby is R2-D2 (comic relief but still saving the day), and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia are Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, trying to keep Harry from realizing his destiny and following Dumbledore on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like his father did. Book 5 was like Star Wars Episode IV. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid working to fight the dark side. Dumbledore facing off against his former student, Voldemort (only this time, Dumbledore wins). The good guys get a big but not total defeat of the bad guys. (No medal ceremony, though.) Book 6 will undoubtedly feature Voldemort growing stronger and taking his revenge on those who have fought against him. I don't know if Ron will be frozen in carbonite, but I'd guess we'll leave Book 6 thinking that Voldemort has won that round. I expect that Dumbledore will die in Book 6 because he should have died in Book 5 (to follow the Star Wars pattern). Don't worry, though, because I expect that he'll be around in some form or other throughout the series, if only in a voice over. "Remember Harry, you magic power will be with you . . . always." Book 7 will involve the final, climactic battle between good and evil. Rescuing the frozen Ron, Hermione in a metal bikini (actually I hope not), the final battle with spells flying back and forth like lasers, it will all be there. Hopefully, Ms. Rowling will have the good sense not to include Ewoks in her book, but it could involve Harry finally bringing Voldemort back from being a dark wizard, saving him in the end. Think about it. That's a much kindler, gentler ending than having a 17-year-old boy kill the wizard who killed his family. I don't think that Harry and Hermione will be brother and sister, but I do think that Hermione and Ron will end up together, with Hagrid in the background making howling and grunting sounds. I'm sure there are more similarities.
Rating:
Summary: List of Questions - Not too subtle (Spoilers)
Review: I waited around at the local bookstore with my kids for over two hours and had my book by 12:10 a.m. the day it came out. I finished it about four days later. And at the end, I just didn't really like it. I have enjoyed the other books, but this one didn't seem like a natural transition from book four. In Harry's world, the time period between the end of book 4 and the opening pages of book 5 is a few weeks at most, the summer between school years. But the differences between how he acts and reacts to everything seems closer to the several years it took JKR to write this book. (As an experiment, try reading the last two chapters of book 4 and then the first 2-3 chapters of book 5 in order. There's a real difference.) I enjoyed the first four books much more. They are well written, witty, clever, and touching. They (for the most part) have not been too obvious in their plot developments. But this one is just over the top in so many areas. No subtlety here. Harry is just barely coming to grips with the realization that it was his fault that Sirius died when he finds the mirror. JKR twisting the knife. Dumbledore's long-anticipated talk with Harry poses more questions than it answers. Yes it sets up issues that will need to be addressed in the next book(s), but again there's no subtlety. It's just one step this side of JKR's pasting in her list of "Plot Twists to Be Revealed in Book Six." My criticisms are not that Harry is not acting like he did in the other books. I realize that JKR is writing about a boy and his friends going through their increasingly difficult adolescent years. And I realize that the tone will be darker as Voldemort plays a larger role. Rather, my complaints are that Ms. Rowling's style changed dramatically between book 4 and book 5, and not for the better in my opinion. I hope that in the process of writing the next one, Ms. Rowling is able to find the same creative spark that she displayed in the first books. She has the ability to write witty, humorous books about a serious subject. She did so in the books 1-4. I hope that in books 6 and 7 she can do so again.
Rating:
Summary: I agree 110% with the Providence, RI reviewer...
Review: ...Snape is without a doubt, not only the most fascinating character in the HP series, but one of the most fascinating characters in modern literature. I rank him right up there with Erik (the Phantom of the Opera) and the Mule from Asimov's Foundation novels. However, I disagree that Rowling doesn't know what she's got in Severus Snape. Based on her comments in interviews, I think she is quite deliberately building toward an epiphany of some sort between Severus and Harry. We just have to wait. Book 5 is about bringing their relationship to a crisis, ramping up the tension; at the end of the book Severus and Harry *really* hate each other in a very fresh, raw and personal way: Harry blames Snape for Sirius' death, and Snape is furious at Harry for violating his privacy. Which lays the foundation for all kinds of interesting possibilities in book 6 and 7. Rowling can't blow it all on book 5. In general, I loved OotP best of the HP books because it gave us so much info on Snape. Of course the book has imperfections, which have always plagued Rowling's writing: too many CAPITAL LETTERS, too many adverbs, too many ellipses. But that is more than outweighed, IMO, by Rowling's brilliant satire and character work on Umbridge's tyranny, the Weasley twins, Ron's foray into stand-alone greatness, Hermione's ongoing quest for social justice, Ginny Weasley's big steps toward womanhood (and Harry's heart?) and Sirius Black's frustration with being told to tarry by the stuff. The only thing I could have done without is Grawp, which I thought was boring and repetitive. Yes, we get it, Hagrid has dangerous friends/pets/relatives. And yes, Dumbledore's "revelation" was predictable, but honestly, could Rowling have come up with *anything* realistic that wouldn't have already been foreseen in three years of intensive debating and analysis on the internet? We cannot help but anticipate certain revelations.
Rating:
Summary: The Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter books
Review: I found this new book very enjoyable. If there is anything I wasn't too happy with, it's that Harry is angry throughout most of the story. But I do see the point: Harry is now suffering his teen angst years - who hasn't suffered angst at 15??? A lot of readers may think Harry's lost his charm since the first book, but Harry's not the 11-year-old we met back then. He grows older and matures. And, as shown in this book, he makes mistakes. This is very much why I compare Book 5 to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - both heroes make big mistakes by being rash, angry and reckless. Both paid a heavy price for their actions and both will learn from it. This isn't a children's story anymore, if it ever were one to begin with. Very good.
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