Rating: 
Summary: this book is great
Review: when you start to read this book it my be a slow start in the first chapter but you better stick to it and finish.In my opinoyn the best book of J.K rowlings books is the harry potter and the order of the phinix.In this book it give alot of detail, and with the arivle of there new defence aganst the dark arts teacher the school gets turned upsid down.the best part of this bookis most likely the second to last chapter i dont want to give away any of the dedail but the end is really informitive. This book has magical spellbining words and trumedicle dedail no matter what it is still harry potter!
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Summary: The Darkest Book Yet
Review: Wow was all I could say after finishing reading HP and The Order of the Phoenix. I wouldn't call it the best book in the series (I think that title belongs to The Prisoner of Azkaban) because it did lack the suspense that carried through Book 3. But it was still a great read.
Harry definetly grew up in this one; feels more alone than ever after the death of someone extremely close to him (I cried when Harry thought his you-know-what could come back). But the circle of friends that he has woven is now tighter than ever now that they have to fight against Lord Voldemort and the corrupt Ministry of Magic. The professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts will make your blood curddle. Dolores Umbridge is one of the worst villians second only to the Dark Lord. The all-revealing prophecy told to Harry near the end of the book answers some questions and of course gives rise to hundreds more.
This will be the darkest chapter for Harry Potter at Hogwarts as that gives him hope that his last two years will be sunnier as he will be wiser and determined that he must destroy the most evil malevolent wizard that ever lived.
The Order of the Phoenix was worth the three year wait!!
Rating: 
Summary: Tripe!
Review: Just like the four that went before, this is talentless hack writing at it's very worst. A triumph of marketing spin over ability and imagination. Potter is plagiaristic, plotless, claptrap. Poor grammar and syntax just put the finishing touches to yet another Rowling volume that should never have been published. If you (and your kids) want to read something genuinely original, stimulating and beautifully written; pick up anything by Phillip Pulman (esp. His Dark Materials trilogy).
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Review: I doubt my nine-year-old daughter will get a lot out of this book, but I had a great read. She thinks it's a little slow, which it is, but the story telling style is changing to be more interesting and revealing on a personal level. Harry is now older and is beginning to realize all the ambiguities of being a human being. Rowling revealed a great deal of emotion in this book instead of relying solely on plot to keep the reader involved. This made the read much more personal. The story telling is changing as Harry's maturity changes. I can't wait for the rest.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!
Review: I couldn't put it down!
Ms. Rowling has outdone herself on "Order of Phoenix". Harry and friends are maturing and in addition to dealing with "you know who", they are dealing with issues surrounding adolescence and death.
Truely different than the earlier books. The character development is extended and a greater understing of why things are the way they are in Harry's life occurs.
Can't wait for the next one!!!
Rating:
Summary: Best book I have ever read!
Review: If you think that you are too old or young to read this, you are out of your mind. I really love this book. There is never a dull moment and you are always on your toes wondering what is going to happen next. It may look like a lot of pages to read, but I promise they will fly by fast. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend that you do!
Rating: 
Summary: Phoenix RULES...just, not as much as Azkaban...
Review: Just finished the latest installment in the HArry Potter series, and there is really just one lingering feeling in my mind: what, OH WHAT, is the release date for book 6?Usually, I'm not inclined to be so anxious for things like this, but Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as GREAT, ABSOLUTLEY GREAT as it is being a sequel to book 4, is even BETTER when looked at as what it proved to truely be...an INTRO to book 6. Because what this book has that the other Potter books did NOT, is a sense of serial. A sense that this story, in itself, was only a small piece (870 pages worth of small piece) of a much larger puzzle. Whereas the first three (and to a lesser, but still qualified extent, the fourth) J.K. Rowling masterpieces each seemed like it could very well be the END of HArry Potter's problems with you know who and the Death Eaters and all of that, this book stands in and makes it clearly known that this is NOT the end, it's just the beginning. And for a story that bascially sets you up for what's next, The Order of the Phoenix does WELL to not try and disguise that in the text. It's cliffhangers, character developments, and even, most blatantly, it's FINAL CHAPTER, are all OBVIOUSLY explicitly designed to get you ready for what is sure to be the most break-neck, action packed Potter yet, Book 6. So that's that. Harry Potter, and the Order of the Phoenix, is, alone, a great book, but when read without the expectation of a SOUND conclusion...er...make that RESOLUTION, it becomes extraordinary. Four stars. GREAT...but it's not PRizoner of Azkaban.
Rating: 
Summary: I laughed, I cried, I tried to not hate the book...
Review: Years I have been waiting for this book to come out. I was thrilled when I received my copy and thought the book was fabulous, until the last 100 pages. J.K. Rowling must have been having an argument with someone close to her when she wrote this book...throughout I felt she was too cruel to Harry to be believed and then at the end...I don't even have words. I cried for 45 minutes. At the moment I don't know that I care to read books 6 and 7, a real disappointment considering how much I loved the first four books, especially number 3. Perhaps after the shock has worn off I will feel more positve about the book. (I JUST finished it) All I can say is that I hope she gives Harry something good in his life in the next book or I will be convinced that Rowling is a bitter, sad person. The first 760 pages were a tad depressing, but otherwise brilliant, including some moments that were quite entertaing (thank goodness for the Weasleys!). Were I to do it over again I'd read the end first to prepare myself...and I definitely would not share this with a young child.
Rating:
Summary: A great book, true to the series!
Review: The fifth installment of the Harry Potter series has been worth the wait. It is a rather long book, but also very good. Harry is growing up and is beginning to act like a true teenager. While there is not as much magic and Hogwarts in this book, there is more Harry. The reader gets a better perspective of Harry and what he feels and thinks. Also, for the first time, Harry's faith in those he loves is shaken, something everyone goes through. This book is more about Harry's coming of age than other books have been, and it features more about Voldemort as well. This book will give die-hard Harry fans answers to some questions that we've been wondering for a long time. The only draw-back of this book is the length, 870 pages. The last HP book, Goblet of Fire, was roughly 700 pages, so let all Harry Potter readers cross their fingers and hope that JK does not follow her current pattern and make the next installment even longer!
Rating: 
Summary: WAITING can be a tedius occupation . . .
Review: . . . and about 800 pages of J. K. Rawling's latest installment in the Harry Potter series is about waiting. Harry spends his summer on Privet Drive waiting for news about Voldemort's nefarious plans. And the readers spend most of Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts waiting for SOMETHING to happen. Sure, Harry has the usual run-ins with house-elves and evil teachers (he's in detention more than he's out of it), but most of the book is about how miserable and depressed he is, being kept in the dark and forced to wait. Actually, no one could blame Harry for being depressed. No one believes him about Voldemort's return, and even his supposed friends are keeping things from him and whispering about him. Evil people have taken over both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. The newspapers are printing attacks on his character. His godfather has been forced into hiding. His two best friends are forever bickering with each other. Hagrid is missing-in-action for the first half of the book. The girl Harry has a crush on keeps bursting into tears at inopportune moments. He isn't allowed to play Quidditch and he's worried he won't pass his 5th year exams, which will determine his future career path. On top of all this, the illustrious Dumbledore refuses to even look Harry in the eye, much less TALK to him, for 800 of the book's 895 pages. All the action happens in the last 60 pages, where Voldemort actually appears. The final chapter, in which Dumbledore finally breaks down and talks to Harry, is actually very well done -- but it's not exactly worth the 800+ page wait. Unfortunately, the book just makes the series' central flaw more apparent -- WHY is Hogwarts School in the business of training future minions of the Dark Lord? About a quarter way through the book, the Sorting Hat makes a rather long speech about the value of working together to fight a common enemy. As part of that speech, the Hat defines the four Hogwarts "houses" as the following: Hufflepuff is for the brilliant, Gryffindor is for the courageous, Ravenclaw is for the empathetic, and Slytherin is for the bigots and racists. Every single one of the evil characters in the Harry Potter series of books (including Voldemort himself) is a graduate of Slytherin House at Hogwarts. My advice to Professor Dumbledore is simple: get rid of Slytherin, expel the evil students, and then unite the other three houses to fight Voldemort and his minions. As it is now, by teaching spells and curses to the likes of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, Dumbledore and Hogwarts are simply training future supporters of the very evil that now threatens the wizarding world. All in all, this is an interesting book. Rawling knows how to involve her readers in the world she has created. Harry's character is well developed, real, and multi-faceted (I can't say the same for such one-dimentional characters as Cho Chang, or Voldemort). I like the idea that the Sorting Hat, back in Book 1, had a little trouble deciding which of Hogswart's four houses would be best for little Harry -- the Hat even mentioned that he has a little Slytherin in him. This is interesting, because it's rare to find a hero who isn't purely good, especially in a children's book. I just wish Rawling would give the same attention to Voldemort -- perhaps there's a little Gryffindor in him! It would make the final battle (the final chapter of Book 7) much more intersting.
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