Book details of 'Harry Potter (Book 5): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'

Title	Harry Potter (Book 5): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author(s)	J K Rowling
ISBN	0747551006
Language	English

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Related pages for Harry Potter (Book 5): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix : Harry Potter book series, US edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Harry Potter (Book 5): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix':

There are in total 206 reviews for 'Harry Potter (Book 5): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', viewing numbers 801 through 206.

Other selections: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 101-110 111-120 121-130 131-140 141-150 151-160 161-170 171-180 181-190 191-200 201-206
Reviewer robyn bishop wrote:
I would have to say that book 5 was great. Out of all of the books it was not my favorite, but it was still fantastic. The story was very detailed and I like some of the new characters added in the story. I also enjoyed to see that Albus Dumbledore does make mistakes and is not as perfect as the other books make him seem. I enjoyed seeing Harry actually being able to be a teenage boy. It really made you feel that Harry was a person not just a thing always in trouble. The only thing I can really critique about the book was it drug on for a brief period and at points was slow. But Rowling always seemed to pull out of a rut in the story with excitement. I was really disappointed that she killed off a very important character though. But for those who hadn't read the 5th book, it is a must read.

Reviewer Debbie wrote:
Well, following the huge hype surrounding this book before release, I was disappointed when I actually read the book. I found it hard to get into, and found myself skimming ahead because nothing exciting was happening. Nevertheless, I read the book in 2 days and was upset that Sirius was the character s killed off, though before hand I had suspected it might be Sirius or Neville. However, there are a lot of holes in the plot. If Snape is definitely on the "good" side and is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, then why does he favour Malfoy whose dad is a Death Eater and who will probably follow in his footsteps? How come Voldemort has been trying soooo hard to get his hands on the prophecy and cant get into the Ministry to get it, yet apparates in their in the end? How did the likes of Bellatrix get into the Ministry? My theory for the 7th book is that Voldemort kills Dumbledore and Harry seeks to avenge his death. He comes face to face again with Voldemort and kills him at the end of the 7th book and Harry becomes Headmaster of Hogworts and lives forever in the utmost of infamy. Also its obvious that in book 6 , harry and ginny and hermione and ron will get together.

Reviewer polargirl wrote:
Like so many others I was very very very excited about this fifth book, especially as the novels seemed to get better as the story developed. My particular favorite is book three. i find it extremely annoying when people bash this book due to the way Harry behaves. I think J.K Rowling has made the right choice in making him a REALISTIC teenager.If you consider everything harry's been through and add teenage angst.: the novel shows well what that can do to a person. I particularly like the dark mood which this gives the book, plus the nightmare sequences also work well in cretaing a suitable tone throughout the story. I do agree with people that in parts the novel seems a bit dull. I found myself asking what the relevance of some of the things in the plotline were. And some questions about Luna, and Grawp were left unanswered. This was disappointing, however, I am sure this was done for a reason and will be explained later in books 6 and 7. The prophecy yes was a bit of a letdown as well: I don't think anyone was suprised that it woukd be either Harry or Voldemort who could survive!!! Even though I've just gone on about he shortcomings of Harry potter and the order of the phoenix, I still thouroughly enjoyed the book. I think the series has a special magic to it which makes it appealing for everyone.The world which has been created is in itself enough to keep the reader enthralled. Some of the scenes were great such as : the weasly brothers leaving Hogwarts, the dementor attack in the beginning, all scenes with Umbridge in them. Which brings me to my next point. Rowling has created a couple of really interesting and funny new characters which helps to keep the reader fascinated. I especially liked Luna and Tonks. The funniest characters are definitively the weasly brothers and I Hope they will play a larger part in the coming books. All in all this fifth book is not the best Harry Potter booki, however, it shows an important phase in Harry's developed into maturity.Even though he does act stupydly from time to time. I think his flaws make him more human, likable and most importantly I could identify my post-teenage self with him. Good job Rowling! I respect the attepmt the author has made to make Harry as believable as possible. She could have just continued int he same way representing him as a wunderkind but instead opted for a more challenging route.

Reviewer cc wrote:
I got my hpatootp the night it came out (friday night) and i finished it mid sunday... i didnt think it was the best book, my fav book was GoF... but it wasnt bad, i am confused on what the big potter secret was?? was it that james was alot like draco and lily stood up for snape? i thought that dumbledores long speech had so much information in it, and i liked his speech but i thought that it seemed kind of rushed and only took up like 3 pages--he could have explained it more clearly.. i want to re read the book, i think ill understand everything alot better. i was REALLY upset about sirius dieing, the book was dark enough for harry, and hes been through soooooo much!! its no fair.. sirius was the only real parent figure. mrsweasley was no match for sirius.. and i think harrys life sucks now. jk really could have done with someone else.. as for harrys mood.. i totally understnad, like everyone said, hes experienced so many faces with death and people dieing in front of him what do u expect? i really thought it was cool how harry knew voldemorts feelings... like when he was happy or sad and the whole goign into his mind.. ad the occlumpaijdfo w/e its called lessons with snape--very nice.. but i have a question!!! someone please answer.................. WHAT DID DUMBLEDORE DO TO VOLDEMORT?? u konw when voldemort speaks through harry when its harry,dumbledore,voldemort and bella.. u know and voldemorts like "kill me" dumbledore didnt kill him. but what did he do? is voldemort now like almost dead????????

Reviewer Lawrence H wrote:
J.K.Rowling has hit on a remarkably successful repetitive formula for writing a very enjoyable if not entirely original serial; the simple structure of a school year and requirement for an attack by Voldemort, along with some padding by deliberately predictable characters such as the Dursleys and Hagrid, must ensure that to a certain extent the plot writes itself - and indeed the first four books have a very similar rhythm. Development of main characters as they age and curiosity about Harry's background provide the necessary scope for variation and suspense, and the secret of the best books in the series is in striking the correct balance between these two elements. This is where TOoTP unfortunately falls down. Too much emphasis on plot advancement and red herrings, in the manner of a soap opera's attempts to hook a viewer with a cliffhanger, leads to disjointed structure and erratic character behaviour. The suspense is there in bucketloads because of these devices but they cause the resolutions when they come to be disappointing, the book as a whole to become incoherent and the characters to become unengaging. In many places, especially further into the book, events are left frustratingly unexplored or simply ignored later, hinting ominously that Rowling lost interest as the book grew. Overall it almost has the feel of something written by committee to satisfy criteria identified by a focus group. While it could be argued that many questions will be explored further in six and seven this doesn't prevent book five itself from dragging and indeed requiring later books to mend holes to restore belief in characters. In particular adding complexity to the Dursleys' characters improves nothing, merely making their otherwise flat, stereotypical behaviour unbelievable. Harry's teenage temper is not a problem but the his required stupidity for maintainance of the storyline is. Meanwhile tying up the loose ends after the Ministry battle is handled clumsily and hastily, particularly the one-sentence description of Dumbledore's dealings with the centaurs. While gripping during reading, TOoTP is essentially a throwaway novel and a powerful lesson that careful character development should not be sacrificed at the expense of plot. It can only be hoped that Rowling was merely racing through because books six and seven are going to be just too exciting.

Reviewer Nicole wrote:
I liked the book and I was so happy I finally got to read it! I am not dissapointed in the book but I am dissapointed about who dies because he was my favorite character, but him dying is all part of Rowling's plot. I think too that this book was more serious than the previous 4. It was making me mad that everyone was practically ignoring Harry and Professor Umbridge was driving me nuts but it all made sense in the end and it was worth the strife. I really like the Harry Potter series very much and I was pleased with the 5th book I just wish the 6th one would hurry up and get out! I kind of wish the books were still the happy, mischievious stories they were in the past but Harry's maturing and the book has to mature along with him. I think that was explained in a way in chapter 37 when Dumbledore was telling Harry about how he didn't think in previous years he was ready to hear about the prophecy! I'm glad the book turned out the way it did because it readies the readers for the final two books!

Reviewer Bill Lundun wrote:
Is this my favorite of the series? No Is it a good book? Yes Could there have been some editing? Yes Was Harry to "dark?" Are you kidding? Think about it, his parents have been murdered by the same guy who keeps trying to kill him. Combine that with the usual teenage angst and this is the book you get. Realize that Harry doesn't have a real family to strike out against as most teenagers do, he strikes out at his surrogate family members: Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione etc. His motivation and feelings are reasonable under the circumstances. Plus, he wants answers from people and none of those in the know are willing to give him answers. Who wouldn't be frustrated? Best moments of the book: Dumbledore vs. Voldemort, and Dumbledores admission of failure to Harry. Worst moments of the book: Most of the scenes with Hagrid. This is sad because Hagrid is one of my favorite characters, but for the most part most of the scenes with Hargrid almost seemed tacked on just to keep him in the story. At least the whole Grawpy subplot could have been utilized as a way to off Umbridge when Hermione leads them into the forbidden forest. Is it JKR's best? No Will I re-read it? Already have.

Unknown reviewer wrote:
i must say that all you people who say this book is a disappointment..you all are not truly Harry Potter fans. Maybe you were just recently introduced to the books who knows....but this is the best book so far i love it. I've read most of the other reviews and i am disappointed that soo may people are disappointed...its as if they spent the 3 years going through the rumors and the spoilers and they just went beserk with what THEIR idea of the book should be like and not about the creative aspect of Harry Potter..the imagination that went into the books....the creativity...the novelty...it is truly amazing. I must say no true Harry Potter fan should be dissapointed. there are alot of things JK could use to carry on the saga, for example, what is Dumbledore next move, what's going to be Voldemorts next move. who is going to be the next evil surprise Peter Pettigrew or Percy? so i urge the true Harry potter fans out there don't fill you head with the things you want to happen for the remaining Harry Potter books...but instead keep an open mind. it was said that JK outlined the plots of all the seven books since the early part when she was creating Harry Potter.. so i disagree it had notting to do with writters block or anything else. this is a transition book, there must be some price to pay to defeat Voldemort...i see Harry becoming very bitter...to the point he will defy people like Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Mrs. Weasley. in all i believe this is the best book it lived up to my expectations. And I challenge anyone who was disappointed in this book to write a novel like this. I can tell you all most don't have the imagination. So any one who took the liberty to criticise you obviously are not an openminded lot and clearly not imaginative. i say CONGRATS TO J.K. Rowling!!!!! very much looking forward for book 6 and 7.

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Reviewer Avery Catherine Fisher wrote:
I don't see why people keep writing bad things about this book. Thank you to EVERYONE who has credited it and the wonderful book that J.K. Rowling has, once again. Managed to write. First of all, everyone is complaining about how much darker it is, and how Harry is so high and mighty over himself, how he is angry so much in the books, and how he is mistrustful and hateful towards adults and friends. But of course, the books need to be darker. As time goes on, they need to be A LOT darker, because it all needs to lead up to the BIG thing at the end of book 7. Also, of course Harry would think highly of himself, even if it's a sin. How would you feel about yourself if you had faced down Voldemort, the most feared wizard of all time, not only as a baby, but five times in five consecutive years, starting at age 11? Of course you may think of yourself better than others. Think how many of the stars of today's REAL world must think of themselves better than the average person. (I know that a lot of them do think that.) And about Harry's transition from the Wonderboy to having a temper and not being our sweet, innocent Harry - I am sixteen years old, and let me tell you, I went through a transition like that. When I was between 13-14, I was perfectly fine with the world around me. My mom favored me out of my sister and brother, as I was the calm one. My teachers, looking at my overachieving straight-A's self, would go into shock at the thought of me doing anything wrong - they just couldn't believe it. But in the 14-15 stage, I started to have a problem with the world around me, like, as Phineus Negillus himself said, "Young people are infernally convinced that they are absolutely right about evertyhing." I was sure, as Phineus said, that I alone could feel and think, I alone could recognize danger, that I alone was clever enough to take in the world around me. If I, a fifteen year old from Nowhereville, USA, could feel like that, then Harry, who has faced down Voldemort SIX TIMES by age 16, has the right, no, the priviledge of feeling that way. Also, people seemed to think that the book was too long - true, Grawp had nothing to do with the story line, unless he's going to be in the 6th book, and nothing substantial would have been taken away from the story if he had been left out. Also Hagrid was different - he, being an adult, should have been the same as in previous books, and less ignorant and childish, as he seemed to become. And Harry totally screwed up the Cho Chang thing. (But who, except those in romance novels, ever make everything perfect with their first crush? I know I screwed it with my first crush - I, like Harry, did everything wrong that could have been possible.)And Sirus's death was kind of sudden - it was a "he's here to save me, oh no, look he died" kind of thing. It may have been written differently, with a longer, more drawn out death. But look at it from Harry's point of view: If Sirius had to be killed, would Harry want it slow and painful or quick and painless? Here, J.K. Rowling writes not the way the media and fans want to see it, but the way that it really would have been. Despite these things, which bothered me little, I drunk in every word of the 870 pages, and would've been happier if it had been 1,000 pages long. True, many things stemmed from the main plot, but the books have to become more complex, and I am sure many things that people have dismissed as irrelevant to the storyline will turn up in the 6th and even 7th books. People complain that it didn't have the Wonderboy Harry appeal, with the HUGE thing at the end that is fought off by Harry alone, without the help of others. But Voldemort is back and at large - in the other books, he wasn't up to full strenth, even in the 4th book when he had been "made human" again. Now he's at FULL strenth and his death eaters are back - did you really expect Harry Potter alone, just one 15 year old boy (although excellent in DADA) to fight off more than a dozen of the most powerful death eaters AND Voldemort? (That's, like, at least 1 against 13. Not fair!!) Just think - the Longbottoms had defied Voldemort 3 times, were, along with the Potters, two of the most powerful witches and wizards of all time, and yet just one woman, Bellatrix Lestange, brought them to their downfall. Think of Harry - young, and there's only one of him. What could Bellatrix do? Lots more than just the Crutacious curse. And Dumbledore, even though he got the death eaters without trouble, had to fight agianst Voldemort to win - it wasn't an easy task. Even with Dumbledore being the best wizard in centuries. Harry NEEDED Ginny, Ron (even if he went a bit crazy near the end and was rendered useless until helped by Madam Pomfrey), Luna, Hermione, and most of all, Neville. We all thougt of him as the poor helpless almost-squib boy. But he hated Bellatrix, all of the death eaters, and Voldemort, for what they did to his parents, and he wanted to get revenge for what they'd done. Without Neville by his side, Harry may have been killed along with Sirius. Which brings me to Sirius. I read that he was dead, and I started to cry. I couldn't believe that it was true until I had closed the book - I had believed that somehow, someway, he would return. My shoulders heaving, tears streaming down my face, I looked up to see at least a dozen people staring at me as though I were insane. (I was at the beach.) All except for one girl, who had re-reading it for what she said was the third time, and that she understood and was sorry about Sirius. I wasn't even mad at JKR for killing him - I was mad at everyone in the books who had helped to bring aroud his downfall. (Even if she controlled and wrote what they did to do it.) Of course Bellatrix, but also Kreacher for being unloyal, perhaps even Sirius for being so relaxed after saying, "You can do better than that" and laughing, therefore becoming an easy target, and so many others. (Perhaps if Harry had opened the 2-way mirror long before then, he could have contacted Sirius with it instead of going to find him - Sirius would be alive and Harry wouldn't have such a guilty conscience.) But still, I believe that the ending, although unique to the other four, was part of what made the book the best in the series so far. I can't wait for the 6th book to come out!!!!!

Unknown reviewer wrote:
There are many criticisms that could be leveled at the 5th Harry Potter book but I'm not inclined to write a novel of my own, as some reviewers have. In short - it's no masterpiece, none of J.K. Rowlings books are, but it's an enjoyable read. This 5th book seems to stand alone even less than the earlier ones - it is definately a book to be read only as part of the entire series. With this in mind I am not particularly fussed by 'loose ends' not being tied up. In a series it is perfectly acceptable to leave these things to be resolved in later books. Grawp, who I see has attracted much abuse, is actually one of my favourite plot ideas - he is not 'irrelevant' as some claim, but part of the 'giant' sublot that is maturing slowly, but which began in book 4 so is certainly not a surprise. So no more Grawpy-bashing!

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There are in total 206 reviews for 'Harry Potter (Book 5): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', viewing numbers 801 through 206.

Other selections: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 101-110 111-120 121-130 131-140 141-150 151-160 161-170 171-180 181-190 191-200 201-206
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