Rating:  Summary: It was great! Review: I read the Harry Potter book in less than 2 days. I could not put this book down. I think that this is the best book J.K. Rowling has ever made of the harry Potter series. The begining was even good! The book is about Harry who has had an awful but interesting summer and has to move into this dank old house concealed from muggles and live with a very weird house elf and his godfather who must not leave the house for protection. And there Harry finds out that the daily prophet has been talking rubbish about him. When he returns to Hogwarts, there is a new teacher who looks very much like a toad and is very horrible. But I must warn you that the end is not very good. A very important character dies. Someone very close to Harry. But I am not going to tell you so read the book and I am sure that you will agree that this is the best of the Harry Potter series.
Rating:  Summary: WHY?!! Review: The reason I took away a star is, even though I loved the book, the ending had me so depressed! I mean how DARE J.K. Rowling kill off... well how dare she kill off my fav. supporting charactor. There was no reason for it! I was crying so hard during the last few chapters that I couldn't even read it anymore. All I have to say is that somehow, he better still be alive. But even if he is we probably won't find out for like five years. So all in all, it started great but ended horribly. ...sigh anyway I'm 13. (and I'm VERY depressed)
Rating:  Summary: The best thus far =) Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had me hooked from the very moment I opened the book. This book exceeded my expectation and was also able to stir my emotions a bit as well. For those of you who really enjoy this series and the characters, then this book is a must have. If I could give it more than 5 stars, then I would =)
Rating:  Summary: Not the same - Not at all Review: I think the book should have been longer. With the long windup to the action-filled ending that we are coming to expect in each novel, I felt cheated in a way, possibly stunned as well, by the death and relatively short way that the book dealt with it. Sure, there's the whole Dumbledore story. But that too is given too short a shrift as Harry, at that point in the book, obviously can't deal with it. Yet, I think the book should begin to deal with "what happens after" more, because Harry is growing up now and one of the central reasons to read these books is that you care about him. Just like Dumbledore. He's been a hero since he was 11 (even a baby) because he's good and brave and decent. His character, his heart, his pain - they all matter to me more than the plot at times. I know Harry's going to "win" in the end, but it's the getting there and how Harry and his friends deal with it that really matter. The books are changing. The earlier ones were full of wonders, wildly imaginative, freshly realized and balanced all of that with more development of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Hagrid, all the Weasleys and even Snape and Malfoy. You do care about them; you want to know what happens next. And as the books get darker, the consequences more tragic, the stakes higher, we care about Harry and the others even more. 5 stars because it's still amazing.
Rating:  Summary: Rowling...weakening? Review: I'm going to ignore that my original review was deleted by administration. I'll just say that Harry was whiny and unlikeable. The character that dies was obvious. He/She was the one who could die with the most emotional impact and the least effect on the plot. I hope that's not a "spoiler." ;) I detested the book, but my little brother loved it.
Rating:  Summary: HARRY POTTER ROCKS! Review: I felt this book was terrific. The entire book kept you in suspense, and when you knew something was going to happen, everything gets flipped upside down! And also one of Harry's darkest secrets will be revealed to him in a way you could never imagine. I give this book a all thumbs up, and encourage you to buy it so you can experience it for yourselves, and you dont have to take my word for it, go read it yourself.
Rating:  Summary: She really outdid herself this time! Review: I'll keep this short. If you have read the earlier books, you'll *love* this one. There are absolutely *no* dull or dead spots in the book. The action moves quickly from the very first pages of the book, and never relents. A bevy of new characters appear in this book, and each of them is a worthy addition to the world of Harry Potter. And now for my one complaint... I found the ending to be a bit lacking. It seemed as if Ms. Rowling simply wanted to wrap things up quickly. Things are "revealed" that anyone who has read the books has either known, or strongly suspected, from the very start. I just can't imagine that *anyone*, including Harry, would be surprised by the prophecy revealed at the end of the book. Don't let that negative bit about the ending keep you from reading this book though. This series has gotten better and better with every new volume, and this one is no exception.
Rating:  Summary: Long wait for a Long Book about a Confused Teenager Review: Having finished the book as quickly as my reading pace would allow, I have two big comments: I bet I would have liked this more if it were 200 pages shorter; and I really wish Harry would step back and "think" a bit more. But, after the long wait for this text, I guess the length is a reward -- there is a lot of information for reading and rereading as we wait for number six. And, of course, I realize that Harry is just 15 and that at times 15-year olds are confused and rebellious. It's just that Harry is "special," and I expect him to come through everying (even puberty) with intelligence and courage.
Rating:  Summary: Amazing! Review: This book was well worth the wait! I read it as quickly as I could, and never got bored with it once. The character development in Rowlings' fifth installment is flawless. We see a side to Harry that wasn't really touched on in any of the previous books. There are new characters introduced in this book, in addition to appearances from old favorites, and the story flows beautifully. Despite the fact that there are spoilers abound on the Internet, there are still a fair amount of surprises and plot twists in this book to keep it suspenseful. The main characters are growing up, and the books are maturing along with them. Though a fantasy, Harry Potter doesn't read like a fairy tale. I can't wait for the next one to come out!
Rating:  Summary: An unbelievable disappointment Review: Like many of you, I was in a bookstore on Friday, June 20, highly anticipating buying my copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." I'd been waiting nearly three years for this night when I could finally continue my literary journey through Hogwarts. I was excited as the book began. The intro grabbed me immediately and held me for a few hundred pages. Then my attention began to wander as Rowling drifted off on seemingly unrelated tangents. The plot slowed rapidly, and I found myself plunging through the multitude of pages, not because I was anxious about what would happen, but because I wanted to find out whose death Rowling cried so miserably over (which, incidentally, I read about in an MSNBC article where Rowling was quoted as saying if "you are writing children's books, you need to be a ruthless killer"). Determinedly, as I read my way towards the end, the action started to pick up again. And then I encountered the much-talked-of death. It was absolutely awful (I'll openly admit that I cried quite freely) and utterly unnecessary. The story was no more enhanced or made darker by the death than "Goblet of Fire" was. The fact that Rowling mentioned it in interviews beforehand made it even worse because I knew that something dreadful was coming. Horribly painful as it was, it felt like Rowling just stuck it in there to cause more trouble for Harry. I didn't feel like the circumstances of it made a whole lot of sense, which made me even angrier and quite hesitant to read the next two books. I can only hope that the death will serve some greater purpose in the following books. My major complaint about this book is the plot, or lack thereof. The sense of mystery and wonder that surrounds the events in the first four novels is glaringly missing. There was no moment of startling revelation and shock. The customary Dumbledore chat in the denouement left me cold and didn't reveal all that much. Perhaps I'm too familiar with the wizarding world now, but I really wonder if Rowling has maybe (hopefully temporarily) lost her touch. I left the book feeling quite hollow with disappointment and rage. There was no satisfaction to be had, no sense of accomplishment when I finished. Another important aspect that I feel I need to discuss (and this is not just a problem in this book but in all five) is the interactions between the four houses. It is automatically Slytherin versus Gryffindor, and the other houses are of little importance except to back Gryffindor in key situations. The stereotypes propagated about the kinds of students in each house is also strange in this time of excessive political correctness. It is aggravating that everyone in Slytherin is filled with exclusively evil people while the other houses are home to decent people. I've also always wondered why Slytherin, when everyone knows that it produces a plethora of dark witches and wizards, is allowed to continue breeding its dark members. It is also interesting to note the changes that adolescence is causing in Harry. He is a completely different person from the calm and collected mature young man depicted in books one through four. He is now almost disturbingly manic, and his fits of anger were brief yet volatile. Harry's choices and selective memory were a constant source of irritation. Harry is also completely dominating the story now. Sadly, Ron and Hermione are playing increasingly smaller roles, and Hagrid is practically nonexistent. I'm not saying this is a bad thing or a good thing. It's Rowling's choice, and I'm hoping that her reason for it will become clear later on. There are a few upsides, however, which I will mention. The dialogue is kept in its British form and enhances the interactions and true personalities of the characters (even though I was slightly confused by some phrases). As always, Fred and George provided some much needed comic relief. I also enjoyed a few individual chapters for their own merits. I loved the background given on Sirius' family in "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" and Harry's experiences in "Snape's Worst Memory." Bottom Line: I guess it's worth reading if you're a Harry Potter fan, but it falls far short of the hype surrounding it. Easily the weakest book in the series
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