Rating: 
Summary: The 5th book, while more dark, is still just as dazzling.
Review: I have found this 5th installment of the Harry Potter series to be both emotionally draining and satisfying at the same time. Harry enters raging adolescence, which will bring moments of high emotion to ANY young boy, while also having to deal with the trials of being a famous wizard who is coming of age. There is also a marked turn in the wizarding world. J.K. Rowling illustrates a much darker, more sinister place. She shows that one must be cruel to their characters when trying to weave an interesting plot. This change is excellently exhibited in the punishments Harry must endure with his highly dislikable Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge.All in all, this book is fast-paced despite it's thick spine. It is also some-what inappropriate for younger children, as it deals with much darker imagery. As a whole, I deeply enjoyed this book and I cannot wait until she comes out with the sixth in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A Little disappointing
Review: At the risk of bursting anyone's bubbled or angering those who are already in love with #5, I found the book to be rather disappointing. 1/3 of the way into the book I found myself having to push myself to read on. Some of the more endearing traits of the characters are missing and while I recognize Harry is growng up, maybe I'm not ready to deal with "Holden" Potter. Also, the plot just seemed less compelling. I think if #5 was the first book in the series, there wouldn't have been lines waiting for books 2-5.
Rating: 
Summary: I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next book!
Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was really good. I got the book on Saturday and finished reading early this morning. I was introduced to the Harry Potter series by the son of a co-worker and at the time I was so amazed he (11 years old) was reading this long book. I had never read books of this length when I was his age. I did not become intrigued to read the books myself until after I saw the first two films. I was hooked. I read the first four books in a week. When I completed Book 4, I was left hungry for more of the story. I really liked this book because I love the development of Harry. He is still a growing teen and he's not perfect. I love that about how J. K. Rowling writes this story. It reveals enough to you and keeps you wanting to know more. I was sad about the character who died but, I'm sure it will be revealed later as to why it had to happen. I would recommend this book to all ages (I'm 25) because of the compelling story and characters.
Rating:
Summary: Ahhh at last.
Review: J. K Rowling has certainly not disappointed fans with her latest addition to the Potter saga. As with the earlier works we experience the full horror that is Harry's only remaining family, the Dursleys. From here Rowling takes the reader on a much more emotionally complex ride through the magical parallel world, and with Harry now an adolescent it seems fitting that the tale itself has also "grown-up". Rowling permits the readers to see more fully the true natures of her characters and experience the complexities that come with their changing lives. Some, like the malevolent Draco Malfoy change little, as the nature of their character is more reflective of the extremes of good and evil that are to be found in this fantastic world. It is interesting that of all those that are portrayed in a negative sense, it is only Professor Snape that we are permitted to see in another light. Snape as a nascent "good-guy" has his character much more developed by Rowling in this episode and we are given a glimpse of his past in relation to Harry's mother and father that goes some way to explaining his antagonism towards Harry. Those characters opposed to the Dark Lord Voldemort are explored more carefully, flaws are revealed which will dismay the reader, but these flaws render those characters much more fully and permit their motives and actions to be better understood. Rowling is indeed setting the scene for a fabulous sixth and the final seventh to the series.
Rating:
Summary: Harry's Growing Up and Rowling Keeps Pace...
Review: This is a much darker installment of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Persoanlly, I think it brings some much needed depth to the characters. I admire Rowling's decision to do this as she knows that her core group of fans are also maturing along with Harry. For adult readers, she is able to balance that line of fiction for both young and old. It is an excellent, excellent book - and I won't give any plot spoilers here! This series has encouraged the reluctant reader into becoming the eager reader - for that alone, Rowling deserves high praise. There is nothing finer than a good book, except a kid that discovers the love of reading!
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Book
Review: Being a full third longer than the previous 'Harry', the Order of the Phoenix is really an amazing book. Rowling once again has been able to transform our world into the realm of magic, creating a book that cannot be put down. It is just as - if not more - interesting than all of previous books, and I never felt bored, as she makes a book similar but not identical to the previous four. This book really meant a lot for me in terms of charecters, especially Harry. In the beginning it is made very clear that Harry is not the perfect boy who is always polite and in control. No, it is shown that he has anger and problems as well, a point that I missed in the previous four. I would recommend this book to any and everyone. It is one of the finest I have ever seen. 5/5
Rating:
Summary: Another top book by JK Rowling.
Review: This Book begins following off from the lowest point in Harry's life and gradually throughout the book things get worse for him. Whilst I could not put the book down and had finished it in only a few sittings, I found it on the whole the darkest (by a long way) of the books so far and even in points quite depressing. This however is a result of Rowling excellent story telling and ability to convey the anger, hurt and confusion that Harry is feeling throughout. In the previous books, and even book 4 where there was no 'happy ending', Harry and his friends do have victories and there are happy moments for them. Book 5 is without these and the reader is taken to new unimaginable lows in Harry's already difficult life. Harry feels left out of a problem that he is essentially the centre of and wishes to find people to blame for the lack of information, with his friends and even Dumbledore becoming the victims of his frustrations. In this book Harry suffers his worst year ever at Hogwarts; he has to take exams, extra classes, fight the 'ministries' authority and begin to understand the fairer sex. The book ends with the loss of someone very close to Harry, but for the reader a fuller explanation of the history behind Harry's life. For those hoping to find the usual touches of brightness in Rowling's book, will be disappointed. However, at least Harry should be able to look forward to a slightly better summer with the Dursleys.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter is the Order of the Phoenix
Review: I recieved this book on june 21 and finished it june 23 in the early morning. I could not put it down. The action is far more intense than in the previous four books. The characters are starting to act their age so to speak, and Rowling's style just keeps getting better and better. I am 27 years old and I dare say this is my favorite book series. We the reader just like Harry are confused with the world that surrounds him and I think that is what draws us in, holds us tight and won't let us go. We are just as lost as he is while everyone else in the story has a better idea of what is going on. I recommend this book to people of all ages.
Rating: 
Summary: a remarkable backward step as an author
Review: Where to start? To point out all of this books flaws would require its own 900 page tome. I agree with most of the criticisms of this book - Rawlings needs an editor. There is simply no need for this book to be 900 pages. Nothing wrong with a long book if it keeps you interest. This book has stretches of a 100 pages where very little occurs. It takes on a "Soap Opera" quality after a while, watching for days and days that non-events take on significance. Rawlings seems intent upon adding a couple hundered pages to each entry. She pushed it to the limit with Goblet. Here she goes way over the edge. The scenes establishing Potter as a moody adolecent are redundant - we get it. Likewise, Umbridge's is a delicious antagonist (I think I worked with this chick in a past life) but there's no need to appear in every scene. Again, we get it already. It also takes too long to get going and too many redundant characters are introduced (Tonks for example...). Harry's "coming of age" here alters his character in a negative way. Due to Rawling's over-doing it, you start to hate his character rather than feel sympathetic. He is constantly bickering with his bud. You either want to bat him or give him
an SSRI. The book's climax is anti-climatic. The "death eaters" - along with Voltemort are beginning to lose credibility. They are becoming those cliched bad guy/screw-ups seen so often in films and TV. So big/bad they are the Nazi's of the wizard world -but are always(curses) foiled again by a gang of cute kids. I'm starting to think these guys couldn't "take over" a PTA meeting, let alone the wizarding world. Hagrid's "mystery" is both uninteresting and implausible and could have been edited completely from the book. It has a "tacked on" feel. Likewise, Grawmp isn't that interesting relative to the unviverse created by the author. The conclusion seemed rushed and formula. Dumbledore neatly ties everything up in a couple pages all too neatly after sifting through 880 pages of this tepid, drawnout mystery. It's not "all" bad though. There are some true to form scenes and it is a Potter book, so you get to spend more time in the fun universe. It's just expectations were set high for this book, and the author so totally missed the mark and takes a remarkable backward step as an author. I hope the next entries return to the level of excellence marked by the first four books in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Jo does it again
Review: Harry's adventures continue in book five with an astounding sensitivity to the rest of the Potter saga. After a three year wait, Potter fans will be delighted that the main character and his compatriots are growing in feeling and sensitivity as we all do at that precarious time in our lives. There is real angst that Harry feels for the way his life is progressing. The book is very easy to read and somewhat a relief after book four and all it's revelations and going back and forth through time. Mrs. Rowlings has a knack for us interested in the mystery of Voldemort's reappearance and the lack of interest by the Ministry without Ms. Marpling us do death with pages of supposition and theories batted around by Hermione and Harry, as has happened in her previous work. It was a great thrill and no disappointment. How long until we have to wait for more!
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