Rating: 
Summary: Stunning, yet again!
Review: Ah, what a glorious feeling it is to FINALLY find that a much-anticipated product was worth the wait and lived up to (if not exceeded) all it's hype. Of course, I am referring to a most recent example of this rare phenomenon, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". So long after the wonderful fourth installment, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", Harry Potter fans were drooling most emphatically by the time "Order of the Phoenix" was ready to hit bookshelves, and it is sure that this Potter maniac was pleasantly surprised by how much the book EXCEEDED my expectations. If you've ever wanted to give the Harry Potter series a chance, now is the best time to do so, because you'll be able to read through the series and end up at the end of "Order of the Phoenix", which indeed sets up for a very interesting 6th installment. What a classic book! I can't rave enough, it's just too good to be true. These are the classics of our time, to be sure.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Review: I was not disappointed at all with this book. I thought Rowling did a fantastic job. You might think after 869 1/2 pages you might be bored or the author might have run out of ideas but, nope, pure amazement.
I really think you need to read the other 4 first to understand parts of it. Personally I liked the Prisoner of Azkaban best, very thrilling.
Yes, it is true this book is darker than the others. But, what can you expect, Rowling's fans are growing up, and so is Harry. Harry is really an angered teen through the whole book. There is quite a lot of yelling yet it is a high-quality book no matter what.
The rumors are true someone does die. Someone I consider a main character. I won't tell you anything more about that.
There is of course a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This one, Professor Umbridge, is just as bizarre as the other 4. Umbridge causes great havoc at Hogwarts. When I say great I mean really great.
In this book there is also interesting trips into the Forbidden Forest, exciting Quidditch matches, a confusing love interest for Harry, very huge Ordinary Wizarding Level, O.W.L, exams, those bloodcurdling dementors, the scandalous Daily Prophet, and outrageous trips to Hogsmeade.
Just in case I didn't make my point, YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: worth the wait!
Review: VAGUE SPOILER WITHIN: I felt this book was much darker than the previous. Harry's angst got in the pit of my stomach and I remembered what it was like to be a teenager (of course I never had to face his demons!). Nonetheless, I could not put that book down. The best thing that I got out of it was the idea that everyone should come together to fight the evil and the censorship. I thought it was appropriate for our times with the woeful state of the current administration and the stripping of the Bill of Rights.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth a look--Not spectacular
Review: Well, looks like either you love it or it was so-so....I'm on the so-so front. The first four books were fabulous and deserved every accolade they got. Somehow this one just felt flat.
First: Style. I think J.K.'s writing has started picking up a little "King" flair (as in Stephen King)....long, arduous descriptions that seem to go on for no other reason then to pad pages (don't get me wrong--I LOVE King's novellas and short stories). I REALLY missed her breezy, fast paced writing that was the trademark of the first four books.Second: Angst. Yes, Harry's a teenager, but must it be dwelt on to the exclusion of the plot? And why aren't Ron and Hermione suffering the same teenager woes? OK--so he's had a less-than-perfect life and in our world would probably be on every designer drug on the market to make him feel better about himself, but I'm not reading Harry Potter to get a belly full of a selfish, pouty teenager...I can turn on the news for plenty of that. Third: Plot. Unfortunately, weak. Nothing revealed we couldn't already have guessed. Which is what I missed the most. All the other books managed to twist your brain around the plot in a VERY fun and almost mischievous way....this book has none of that. Nothing unexpected and nothing new. Even the death scene was so under-played that I had to re-read it to realized someone had actually DIED, and had not simply slipped off into another realm or something. All of the characters we've come to love were totally downplayed and seemed to spend the majority of the book hiding out behind the scenes. I think Dobby had a half a dozen lines, and Hagrid's dialogue wasn't much better. I tore through this book in 2 reading sessions only to feel like I had been ripped off in the end....I think it's worth a read just to appease the need for the Potter fix we've all been waiting for, but don't expect the Holy Grail of Potter-dom...in my opinion that was book number 3.....hopefully the wait for book 7 will prove more worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Kudos to Rowling!
Review: A bit bleary eyed, and completely satisfied with the book. This is by far the best of the Harry Potter series so far. Memorable moments: professor Umbridge, she's right up there with Shakespeare's Richard III as one of my favorite literary villans. I've yet to see more banally evil character on book. The vignettes involving Harry Potter's discovery that his late father was not above petty cruelty also made a strong impression. That Rowling choosed to flesh her characters out, flaws, warts and all have made this book just that much more compelling.
Rating:
Summary: When is number six coming out?
Review: I liked it- I loved it. It was pacy and taut- every detail moved the story on- a real page-turner.
Harry and those around him have developed and moved on. It is darker than previous books as it involves older children fighting dark forces. Parallels between Voldemort and Hitler, fascism and the brown shirts are obvious. The ministry of magic takes on Stalinist overtones as the story develops. Harry and the Scooby gang are basically good, but flawed with human traits. A wonderful read- I criticised the lack of brevity in book four- this book is bigger but more succinct. Obviously JK Rowling is a woman who can work under pressure.
Rating:
Summary: Hip, hip, HOORAY! Good literature is worth the wait!
Review: BRAVO, J.K. Rowling! Book 5 was definitely worth the wait ' Ms. Rowling took the time to write a well-crafted, suspenseful and entertaining piece of fiction that I can honestly say that was one of her best! While I felt that HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE was too long (Dickensian, in many parts) and contained too much extraneous information, I felt that all 800+ pages of Book 5 were fascinating and essential. Ms. Rowling continues to express her genius through the remarkable fantasy world of wizards and witches, while making her characters both human and believable. Harry and his friends experience all the growing pains of adolescence ' from the growing interaction between the sexes to bouts of insecurity and the questioning of authority'the adults deal with painful memories from their pasts while coping with the pressures and responsibilities of the present, and so forth. She is also careful to avoid the black/white stereotyping of characters ' those who we love are not always 100% loveable and those who we find despicable are not always evil. The story is suspenseful,scary and sad in some parts yet still exciting and magical...simply wonderful (and all this from an adult reader who reads constantly)! A MUST READ FOR HARRY POTTER FANS OF ALL AGES!
Rating:
Summary: JK Should be Proud of Year 5 - The best yet!
Review: Simply put, this book is Fantastic! The best of the series, so far! You can not go wrong by reading this book! It makes all of your emotions come out. I have been hooked on this series since day one of the first book, which only took me 1 and a 1/2 days to read, and it has been Extraordinary to be part of this world. JK Rowling should be proud of all her accomplishments and this book!
Rating:
Summary: Can we say desperate?
Review: I am a humungous fan of Harry Potter.... and all the other books get 5 stars, but this book just didn't cut it. First of all, Harry is way too angry and hostile. Although JK was probrably trying to add some realistic emotion to her book, I must say that even as a serious Harry Potter reader, I don't want to read about an angry, hot-headed guy! I mean, part of Harry's charm was the fact that he could duel with Voldemort and ALWAYS be modest and himself. In this book, he was hostile, arrogant, and wanted credit for everything- not the Harry I knew. Secondly, although there was every type of twist and turn imaginable in that book, but the 840th page, I was sighing in relief. I think JK might have been a little desperate to stuff as much into the book as possible, which is not the Harry Potter style that everyone usually loves. My last complaint against the 5th book was the revelation of a profecy being the reason Harry was attacked as a baby. The thing that JK can usually be commended with is originality, but this time, she couldn't even pull that off. How many times has a profecy been used? I must commend the book on one thing beside my critisisms. It has a great plot, a bit long, but full of shocking surprises. I'm dissappointed in The Order of the Pheonix, but maybe the sixth will be like the fourth, and improve the series for the better. Maybe she's under pressure to write, maybe she's stressed over her law suits, but whatever it is JK, I hope your writer's block won't be a permanant fixture. Sorry.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: This fifth installment is much, much more serious than the other books in the series. In my opinion, it was beautiful and sad. You get a much better insight into the complexities of Rowling's characters. Read this, and be prepared to need to lay down and think for awhile after you finish. Positively brilliant.
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