How did you feel about the 5th book overall?

[Violet]

wel i havent really decided yet, but i think that it is a close call between this one and prisoner of azkaban!
i mean PoA i thought up until now was the best book, but i dont know anymore. i dont know if its just because OoTP has just come out that i'm thinking it is better than PoA.
i shall make better judgement after re-reading the others!

[Charis]

I really liked OotP, but, unlike most people, i think GoF is still my favorite. i absolutley adored PoA, but theres something about GoF that made me like it more...it could have been the ending....or any number of things. i haven't read PoA in quite a while, though, so maybe after i read it once more my opinion will change.

but, now onto OotP. i thought it was an incredible book, but, as some already mentioned, the change in Harry might have been a little too abrupt. i suppose it is realistic, though, you know, when you're fifteen hormones can change your emotions quite a bit in a short period of time. still, too sudden for me. i think thats what troubled me most when i first started the book: the change in harry. i liked how she made him angrier and more human, but, it surprised me very much. i defintiely got over it as i went through the book, but i was initially too surprised to enjoy the beginning as much as i could have. wow, that took me a longer time to say than i thought...but thats ok, you'll just have to deal with a long post!
my favorite scenes, like some others have already said, are the ones with snape. especially the pensieve one, i LOVED how JK showed harry and us that James was not a perfect man. im glad Harry woke up and realized that. i also loved the scenes between Harry and Umbridge. we saw his temper, but we saw how he could stand up to her too. especially the first detention scenes, it was great how harry would not let her see her get to him. it showed his determination, even though he was suffering. I also liked the DA scenes, it was very cool to see Harry instructing others and being good at it!
another aspect of the book i liked was McGonangall. we always knew she was a good and sympathizing person underneath, just too strict to show it. with Umbridge there, she showed her human side more, which made me love her for it. also, Neville was developed more, and i like that, too.
i did not think that there was too much Cho. c'mon, Harry is 15, does anyone expect him to not have a love interset at all? Cho added, not detracted, from the plot. I am very glad, though, that Harry finally realized that she was not worth his time... she just needed someone after Cedric. im glad Ginny came out more, too, though she was not Harry's love interest, her character being more active and us getting to know her more was very intteresting. i could have done with a little less Loony, though.

[Broken Machine]

I was so dissapointed with this book. It really seemed as if JK wrote it without putting in to much effort. I know her point was that Harry was now an angsty teenage boy but the fact consumed the book so much that I couldn't stand it. Another thing that bothered me was that Umbridge was such a dirtbag and she took a rather large chunk of the book. So what dissapointed me overall? The fact that I've been reading the HP series since because it's filled with magic and creativity. This book lacked both. I expected the reason for James and Sirius to have hated Snape so much to be something real great. I expected the prophecy to be something really spectacular. The number one thing though was the death. JK killed off my favorite character in such a lame way that I felt it was such an undeserving death. I was expecting something worthy but had to settle for a mere accidental death. There was no Quidditch, hardly any new magic, hardly any Dumbledore or hagrid. This was mainly a book about a teenage boy who felt the weight of the world on his back and acted rebelliously and angsty. If I wanted to read some boring book about an everyday cry baby teen I could have selected any other book. This is suppossed to be a series filled with magic duels and things you could never have imagined were possible. Hopefully JK doesn't ruin the memory of her latest victim by trying to bring him back somehow (I know he can't come back from the dead) like I know will most likly happen. She basically massacred that character in this book by making him so very boring.

[Violet]

Like i've mentioned in another post i think that this book is supposed to be transitional. JK had to establish the change in harry's character, and while it is still a fictional story she wanted to keep in realistic elements regarding peoples emotions and responses to given situations. And well although we all love the other characters at the end of the day it is harry potter and the OoTP, and not anyone else. so in many ways we have to accept the fact that we will see more detail about him than the others.
i feel JK was trying to provide us with a better understanding of both him, and the world around him. this book, in my opinion has put everything in context.
and while i expected it to be slightly more action packed, i think that it was a great book, as we found out a lot more.

[zledm007]

I am sad to say that I was rather dissapointed in the book. I was expecting so much more. I found that this book was, well, rather easy to put down. The one thing that really kept me going was knowing that DD was going to tell harry something important, and that even turned out to be a little bit of a dissapointment. It's neat that there's a prophecy and all, but come on, we all knew that one of the two were going to kill the other in the end anyway, now it's just in writing. DOn't get me wrong, I liked the book, but it just wasn't as good as I expected.

[Charis]

i think that's our problem. all of us were expecting so much more. the hype that this book has caused is incredible, there's almost no way any book could have lived up to it. also, everyone's expectations are different. some people were pleased by it, others, like i've seen alot of here, were disappointed. JK cannot please everyone.

i don't agree with what you said though, broken machine, about it seeming like JK didn't put alot of effort into the book. i think it seemed like she put more effort into it than most of the others, except perhaps GoF. this, maybe, is why it didn't seem as good. in the others, all of her surprises and things came across as effortless. (to me, at least). it seemed like, she had a good idea and ran with it! OotP felt a little more formulated.

[Dog_Star]

This is going to sound terrible, but I thought that the book was a little too long. After awhile, I just got sick of hearing about all the awful things that Umbridge was doing to Hogwarts, and it was a little depressing! But, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't read it all in one night, lol! Also, it's a little hard to like a book where one of your favorite characters is killed, but I think that after I read it again, I'll like it more.

[kotfk]

it seems to me that Rowling got a little lazy at the end by not having Dumbledore tell Harry anymore cause I still see a few unanswered questions, even though Dumbledore said he was going to tell him "everything". And she made Harry not attend the Leaving Feast, which was disappointing cause I wanted to know what Dumbledore said there, and it would've been a nice closure to the book.

But I really liked how the Ministry was portrayed, the parts with Fred and George were awesome, and the end feeling that friendship and unification would always prevail no matter what. The ending was bittersweet cause although Sirius died, the Ministry found out about Voldemort at least. And the only really bad thing about Sirius dying is the fact that Harry will miss him--Sirius isn't important to the Order.

So overall, this book was dark and gloomy, but it taught us (or made us remember) about life's important lessons, whether we realized it or not. I think my favorite book would have to be the 3rd one though.

[Blaise Zabini]

I definitely disagree with what's been said about Umbridge. I hated her, she made me angry, she was frustrating, she was horrid, but she was a brilliant character. Her presence, and that of the MoM, made the book operate on a compltely different level. It added so many socio-political undertones to the book and I thought it was done magnificently.

Furthermore, I've decided that I loved the book. Any doubts I may have had after I first read it have since disappeared. Well, except the prophecy, that's still rubbish. But overall, it was wonderful. I've written out a more detailed review but it's probably too long to post. It's in my journal, if you so desire to read it. Link is in profile.

[Stargazer]

Book 5 is my favorite right now but no doubt it's beacuse of the novelty of it. I think book 3 will resume it's place as no 1 before long.

What I loved about the book was Professor Umbridge (I just love loathing her!) and the fact that Ginny got more time. It's about time we get some character development there. I'm beginning to really like her, and it's hilarious the way Ron gets all upset when he hears that Ginny's dating! I also liked the introduction of new characters, truth be told I was getting a bit tired with reading about the same old ones! I also liked the way how our opinion of Neville is being shaped when we learn more about him. It started in GoF where we learned about hos parents and continued in the OotP when his magical skills seem to be improving. Plus, we find out that the wand he's using isn't his. Remember what Mr Ollivnder said: "You can never achieve as much with another person's wand." I'm really looking forward to what becomes of Neville! Plus, the twins are now officially my absolutely favorite characters! Go Gred and Feorge!

What I didn't like about the books was the lack of Quidditch (obviously.) But what I think is going on here is that JKR is giving us 'shock treatment' so to speak. Maybe Quidditch will play a lesser and lesser part in the followin books when 'real problems' take more and more ground. In the first books one of Harry's greatest worries was how he would do at Quidditch but now the weight is shifting to serious issues concerning human lives, Quidditch just isn't that important. Of course, with the changes in the Gryffindor team next year (all the Chasers leaving school) I think we will be hearing a fair amount about Quidditch. Who will become the new captain? Will Ginny make it as a Chaser? Who else will come to the team? With all the blanks JKR can't just ignore Quidditch in the following books.

Another thing I didn't like about book 5 was the absolute lack of answers! I mean c'mon! We were expecting the answers to all our questions about Lily and James's life and work, someone who would do magic later in life, what was that triumph in Dumbldore's eyes, we were supposed to hear something shocking about the Dursleys and so on. Well at least we got th answers to Mrs Figg, why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry and Trelawney's first prediction. So I'm not complaining (that much ).

* Stargazer *

[Mistress Siana]

No 5's my favourite so far...and though some people will certainly feel the urge to kill me, I have to say I really thank JKR for reducing Quidditch...I've always failed to see the point in using 5 sides for a lengthy description of a match that Harry's going to win anyway...

and for Sirius, I think that the senselessness od his death and the lack of last words ets is exactly what makes it that sad...

One thing I really like about the book is that most of the characters gain more depth in the course of the story.Ginny, the twins and above all McGonnagal were so cool!

[Gwared]

I've re-read every HP book apart from CoS at least three times and as book 5 was the first one I bought I re-read it more (5). Sadly I enjoyed it the first time I read it but it gets more disapointing every read to the point where now on my fifth read through I am extremely dissappointed with it as nothing really happens except Sirius dies and Harry learns his fate. That could've been done in a much shorter book in my opinion.

I think the most frustrating thing for me is how many unanswered questions it leaves. I was able to read 1-5 pretty much without any breaks (As I only started on PS/SS in March) and I've been left with a cliffhanger with no release. Prehaps my mood will change when I have read all 7 and have no questions and am free to enjoy book 5 for the 6+th time.

[lucill]

I really loves that book, although the first 100 pages or so are a bit ....well, not boring, (there isn't a single word in any HP book that is boring *lol* but not very exciting to read. But I really love the plot when Haary arrives at Hogwarts. Phoenix is a lot "darker" than the other books were with Umbridge and all that and I LOVE it! I mean, I exspected the book be more like "Voldie's on the loose, but who cares, at Hogwarts things are still gorgeous, come on, let's have fun!" It is a lot more realistic this way, I think.

[HuffleDuck]

Book 5 rocks, but i might change my mind when 6 and 7 is out

[Albus]

Well, I think book 5 was really great, though my favourite remains The Prisoner of Azkaban for sure: you know, it was the book in which everything really started, I mean Lupin and Sirius and the Dementors and the Animagi and Pettigrew and The Malaunder's Map and Hogsmeade and... Have I to add some more ???

Anyway, I have to say that maybe The Order of the Phoenix is the best-written, I'm talikng moreover about descriptions, introspection of a characters's mood,...

And even in this book JK has introduced some absolutely brilliant inventions, just like the portraits which can walk through their pictures (wonderful !), the Occlumancy lessons, the descriptions of the OWLs, the Department of Mistery (another great point !).

I think OoP for me is at the same level of GoF (so a very high one !)