The third and fourth books were my favourite of the series so far, but Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix isn't bad, although it baffles me how these books can still be looked upon as books for very young children. With Harry and the gang at the ages of fifteen and sixteen, hormones etc. are kicking in and there are also some patches which very little kids might get a bit freaked out at. Brains in the Department of Mysteries and all that.
I'm not sure some of the hormones are entirely a good thing, though. Harry has turned into an insane, fire-breathing screeching little imbecile, who only likes Cho Chang for her looks and is way, WAY too big for his boots.
Several new characters are thrown into the mix, and, as usual, are characterised brilliantly - one of Rowling's greatest talents. Professor Umbridge had me practically ripping up the book, she was so evil. I'm assuming everyone knows who died, but if not DON'T READ ON.
Well, I have to say that I didn't find...uh...Snuffles' death at all upsetting, because I thought he was one of the far weaker characters - Cedric's death had far more impact on me, and he was a relatively minor character.
All right, I'm done.
The Cho/Harry romance was a bit of a page-waster in my eyes, although the slowly developing Ron/Hermione thing was cute as ever.
However, I did like the book. I hope Harry calms down for the next book, though. Most people in the Lower Sixth (Sixth Year at Hogwarts) have totally got over their angry teenager phase, so I hope he's not a really late developer.
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50 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
Slightly disappointing!, 7 Jul 2003
By A Customer
Although I am a huge fan of Harry Potter, I must admit that I was slightly disappointed with the 5th book! I was eager to get to the end to discover what Dumbledore had to tell Harry, but it turned out to be a huge anti-climax. It wasn't shocking at all!
Harry was also very angry in this book. This is understandable given everything he has gone through in the past few years coupled with teenage angst and hormones flying everywhere, but he is frustrating and annoying to read sometimes.
I didn't warm to any of the new characters or creatures either. I loved the boggarts, dementors, Lupin, Lockhart etc when they were first introduced in the previous books, but I wasn't particularly fond of the new creations/characters in 'The Order of the Phoenix', such as Luna Lovegood.
It was still a good book overall, however, and Rowling is an excellent writer (the coming together of all the characters and plot lines were brilliantly done), but I couldn't help but feel a little flat after I finished it.
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I usually try to stay away from utterly enormous hypes (ie harry potter, lord of the rings), and I successfully did that until a little earlier this year, after this fifth book came out. So perhaps my opinion may differ from other reviewers here, since I didn't have to wait that long period of time in between book 4 and 5, where many people's anticipation was wearing thin.
The Order of the Phoenix had an incredible plot. It was original and interesting, and it was not a disappointment. I am glad that we are now looking through the eyes of an older harry, and that we are dealing with more "adult" situations, such as politics, or media hype.
However, with Harry's growth also comes the change in his attitude. Though I am very happy to see that Ms Rowling is making an attempt at realism with the hormones and all, it seemed like it all happened over night. Harry was suddenly this sullen boy, who angered at every little event. This certainly was a change from the earlier 4 books! And he seems to be the only character to have so suddenly morphed into this angry 15 year old. Though it IS harry that has to deal with Voldemort, etc, Ron and Hermione seem to be as understanding as ever. What a contrast! That really struck me as strange. Do 15 year olds really understand the psychology of inner rage? I find for the most part, teenagers of that age usually judge a person by their actions, not their true disposition. (well, i was 15 three years ago, and i'm just making a general assumption.) Anyway, in conclusion, I found book 5 harry potter to be out of character in comparison to not only the other characters, but to the Harry potter in all the previous books as well.
However, aside from the character flaws, i found the Order of the Phoenix to be a most satisfying book, though I must say I am very shocked by the death of whom I will keep anonymous, for spoilers' sake. I suppose it was a good twist, but it certainly did upset me to tears, if that makes any sense! This will probably affect Harry Potter's character in the future even more, and sometimes I fear that he will be even more sullen in the future books!!
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I wouldn't describe myself as Harry Potter fanatic, but I have enjoyed the books to date. The newest is something of a dissapointment. Leaving out the sheer physical mass of the thing (hands up, I cut it in two down the spine, a terrible thing I know, but airlines are so tight these days) the actual content itself is a little weighty.
We learn an aweful lot about day to day life as a teenager at Hogwarts, but given that the new Inquisitor is sqeezing the life out of the school, so the life is a sqeezed out of the writing a little until rebellion strikes toward the end.The magic and peculiarities of a wizarding school are what makes life at Hogwarts so interesting, but they take a backseat to a very angry Harry & an interfering Ministry.
This makes for interesting plot development, but, because the book is so firmly written from Harry's perspective, we find ourselves in his position of being excluded form the Order & the secret resurgence of, for want of a better term, the dark side. This is a clever use of perspective & narrative, but I would have liked a little more first person insight into these intriguing areas.
I found myself reading faster & faster to reach the tantalising last few chapters in which we finaly see a surge in the pace of the book.
JKR has spoken about guilty feelings over her huge earnings and costly merchandise, was she determined to give people a lot of book for their money?
The previous books have been about a build up to a climactic revelation or event. This one is no exception, but I couldn't help feeling a little dissapointed turning the last page; the end started building so well but, inevitably, was a bit of a flash in the cauldron. In some ways, this book seems to pick up from the last about 700 pages in.
That said, the book is well written & well worth a read. There are moments of insight and wit & it sets up what should be cracking future installments.
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Like all Harry Potter fans I eagerly awaited The Order of the Phoenix and started to devour my copy on the release day. I was looking forward to finding out if Harry and Cho finally got together, if Ron and Hermione realised they are meant for each other and of course more chaos and mayhem from Dobby and the house elves. Once I had read about 100 pages though I discovered that this book was slow and flat compared to the previous four.
Due to the much talked about death in the book, I found myself just waiting for something to happen and was a bit disappointed that everything seemed to happen in the last 100 pages or so.
In my opinion the book lacked in some of the detail and life that makes Harry Potter so morish. I will reread the book and see if this changes my reflecton of it but at the present time I honestly believe this was the weakest book JK has written to date.
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Harry is no longer the sweet little boy of 11 years old, he's 15 and facing the torture of growing up; which means that he maybe hard to realte to for readers of a younger age that possibly find the new harry a bit of a grumpy git. But in saying that, older readers may be able to realte to the regular out bursts but may find it rather annoying at times. Amost wanting to climb into the book and give harry a good slap around the face yelling "GET OVER YOUR SELF!". However isn't that what JKR wanted to convay, a angrey rebellius teenageer?
Yes the book of 700 pages is full of complants, but isn't that just what a teenager is supposed to be like? Harry, giving him a little creadit has done bloody well with what hes had to face, no? I must admitt thought that once I started the book I couldn't put it down, but in saying that it didn't have the potter magic, and I feel could have got the point across as well in maybe half the pages?
Let me explain what i mean of the Potter magic. There was none of the little details that younger readers may have been looking for, or the wickled little side stories that merge so well with the main stream of the story. However we must remember that the wizard world is no longer new anymore, hes known it for 5yrs, and in all truth if JKR kept on coming up with new little things , I think we would all get sick of it, because it wouldn't be realistic. But that last comment doesn't inculde the wicked side stories, I could never get sick of thoses. I do feel that the 5th book hinted at side stories that are to be seen in the last two books, something to do with Snape and Sirus back grounds....maybe even the big baddy himself Tom Riddle? was there something that happened in Toms Muggle life that only he and one other person knew that fules his hate, everyone has a motive...is it something to do with harrys mother?
After reading the 5th book, in total I felt a little empty a bit flat; but hopefull. I believe that because Harry is 15 now and will be 16/17 in the 6th and 7th book that JKR will need to maybe aim it for the 12-16 age group and not the 8-12yr olds. Maybe this is were the negative feelings comes in. Younger readers of 8-12 may not be able to realite to the new angery harry and the ups and downs of lust of the opposite sex. I personly loved those bits, perfection in the confusion of men over ladies and ladies hopeless fustration over men with the 'emiontal range of a teaspoon'!
My final gip on this is the fact that all the characters didn't develop for me, Sirius seemed so very childish and not the mysterous sourse of dark strenght that I thought he would turn out to be. Umbrige was a good idea but will she be back with more of a bitchy bite, more complexed maybe and not so simple.
However the hope, is this: And Im afraid i can only get my point across in an a analogy. Harry Potter is a type of car that JKR drives, and the first 3 books have been going on a certain route taking a slight devation in the 4th book. Book 5 comes along and here she stops to refuel, ready for the hard road to hell, books 6 and 7 to be something that will grip us like a dark, sinisert crime novel..that could possibly shake us all up..if he who must not be named is so very evil..and harry does have a little of him in him too....
the darkness Im talking of is that of films like the devils advocate, or the book the devil rides out..ok maybe not to the same extent, but certainly a good hint of thoses haunting good concers all....or does it harry?
Who know, I guess we will just have to see.
p.s JKR, has got me reading books which I belived would never be possible. So thankyou,
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14 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
a disappointed fan hopes for better next time, 29 Jul 2003
By A Customer
I love the Harry Potter books. So far they have been witty, charming, great fun to read, full of brilliant characters, sometimes topical, surprising, and incredibly inventive. But I have to say that that the latest book does not live up to the others; on my first reading I found myself struggling to get to the end, and I read the final pages with disappointment.
Of course there is a lot to admire - it's good to see an angry teenage Harry; the characters have matured interestingly (Ginny is great!); Dolores Umbridge is the stuff nightmare teachers are made of; I enjoyed finding out more about the Black family and Sirius; and I was delighted to learn that Dumbledore's full name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian...Brian!!! Fantastic!!
But, for me, the parts did not make a whole this time round. There are too many little sub-plots and they are resolved too quickly, so I found myself reading simply to find out what happens next, instead of reading because I cared about what is happening now - and all the previous books have made me care very much.
I hate to be negative about the great Harry Potter, but I really think that there is a much better book hidden inside this one and some brave editor should have said so. Take pity on a disappointed fan who is hoping the rest of the series will prove her wrong!
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The Potter series in my opinion got better from book to book. It's hard to decide whether to prefer the third or fourth book. But it certainly is not the fifth. After reading the first hundred pages, I thought that they would have no problems shortening this book to movie length, since the first hundred pages can be shortened to a minimum. The basic failings of this book are that first, Rowlings seems to be stalling, since the book has a lot more pages than the actual content warrants, second, Harry shouts, Cho Chang sobs and Sirius pouts, they get so annoying that you want to knock their heads together. The book is also very negative and thus depressing without the usual doses of charm and humour to pick the tone up again. Everybody, even Dumbledore seemed quite helpless in the whole book and unable to stop the events unfolding. If this continues Voldemort won't have any problems winning this war. Attention minor spoiler ahead. The last hair in the soup in my opinion was the already much rumored death of a main character. This, in my opinion, was incredibly badly done. For one, I do not agree with Rowlings, when she said that it was inevitable. Secondly, the character dies, completely unnecessary, the death actually seems a result of clumsiness, and it takes a while for the reader to realise that someone just died. For this reason, and the fact that so many characters lost a lot of sympathy in this book, the average reaction to the death won't be buhuu someone died, rather more like, what that was it? The book is readable and in some parts still quite enjoyable, but I have to say by far the worst in the series.
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Like everyone else I eagerly awaited the new tome. And what a size it was! Sorry to say it didn`t grip or amuse me in the way the other had, which isn`t to say that it is not a good read, it is- but it is too long. I feel that Rowling has lost sight of her audience and is trying too hard to satisfy everyone. Yes Harry is growing up, there is his first kiss, the inevitable teenagers angst and I really didn`t like him very much. He is far too angry and embittered has lost the charm and nievity that for me was his appeal. In short, a little too grown up.
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In common with many of the fans of Harry Potter, the publication of the fifth novel after such a long wait was a wonderful moment. The suspense created by the raising of Lord Voldemort at the end of "The Goblet of Fire" helped to only heighten the excitement. The resultant book was therefore a distinct let down.
This is the worst Harry Potter of the series, and if the first books were of similar quality, I would not have bothered to invest to much time into the magical goings-on at Hogwarts.
The main problem with the book is that it was continued a couple of worrying trends that could be detected in "Goblet of Fire" - increasing length and a decline in charm. The expanding size of these novels after the excellent "Prisoner of Azkaban" is obvious and regrettable. This has allows J.K. Rowling to bulk-out the story, seriously diluting its drama. This book plods slowly on between the occassional exciting scene. Much seems to have no immediate relevance to the plot and could be safely pruned - the first third for instance. I have the suspicion that given the global success of Ms Rowling, her editors are now too circumspect.
Secondly, the series seems to be losing some of its charm. I think this is in part due to the admirable decision by the author to allow Harry to grow up and confront teenage issues - girls, career choices, exams, disillusionment with his parents. Also, a darker, more suspenseful is attempted. Unfortunately, it hasn't been pulled off, so we have lost the boys-own adventures and humour, without adequate compensation.
Finally, the scenes in the Ministry of Magic were a bit of a messy. There seemed to be much running around and wizardry zapping, which may look good when the novel is finally released on the big screen. But on the page, it was just confusing and slightly dull. Actually, at a number of points, I felt that the author was writing for the film audience and not her readers.
Overall, I can only give the book three stars, possibly a generous number based more on my affection to the character after the previous four novels. Of course, I will wait for HP6, but not with as much impatience as before.
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