How did you feel about the 5th book overall?

Which one is your favorite so far. Are they getting even better as the characters develop over time?

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How did you feel about book 5 after reading it?

Best book ever written!
13
9%
Great! My favourite book in the series!
48
32%
Good, but not my favourite book in the HP series.
75
50%
Disappointed. Did not meet my expectations.
13
9%
 
Total votes : 149

Postby LaceyCrane » Monday 4 August 2003 12:33:07am

For me this was the most frustrating book in the series. And that's what made it so great. JK did a great job making us hate Umbridge and then gave us a huge payoff (for her part of the book anyway) by having her downfall be the cause of her own prejudices.

And it was good seeing the characters (Harry, Snape, Sirus, DD)from different perspectives. Harry had an atittude, Snape was the victim of ridicule, Sirus was a bully, and DD was (and for me this was huge) weaker then he seemed. All these new things and how the characters delt with them was great, though I wish Harry and Snape had talked about them.
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Postby Devinci » Monday 4 August 2003 1:10:39am

I totally Agree with lacey Crane, it was frustrating beyond belief. I was left with 6 bald spots after the book was over *need to...get that fixed* But the character growth was amazing. And, the last 200 pages were read in about an hour...*zoom*

I was happy with it, though...the length is kinda getting ridiculous *starts reading bible* I hate really long books...

8) 8) 8)

ps. does anyone else find this, only having avatar's from forum gallery thing a little confusing? I think everyone is someone else then i find out they're really this person...I'm losing my mind.
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Postby June » Monday 4 August 2003 9:17:34am

Devinci wrote:ps. does anyone else find this, only having avatar's from forum gallery thing a little confusing? I think everyone is someone else then i find out they're really this person...I'm losing my mind.


Yes! Very very confusing... -.-;; I just wish we can have individualised avatars...
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Postby bludy mery » Monday 4 August 2003 9:44:55am

LaceyCrane wrote:For me this was the most frustrating book in the series. And that's what made it so great. JK did a great job making us hate Umbridge and then gave us a huge payoff (for her part of the book anyway) by having her downfall be the cause of her own prejudices.

And it was good seeing the characters (Harry, Snape, Sirus, DD)from different perspectives. Harry had an atittude, Snape was the victim of ridicule, Sirus was a bully, and DD was (and for me this was huge) weaker then he seemed. All these new things and how the characters delt with them was great, though I wish Harry and Snape had talked about them.
I find most of the things you said a bit awful.... DD's, weekness made me feel wierd... and Harrie's additude was sort of annoying... but the good part of it. is that we get to see atlast that the characters are not that perfect!!!! That DD isn't god for an example ( althow I realy love him)
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Postby highsorcerer » Thursday 7 August 2003 5:40:31am

The book shows that, to many people, the truth has to be learned the hard way, often at a terrible price.

Harry paid the price for not learning occlumency. Dumbledore paid the price for not telling Harry the truth. Umbridge paid the price for her disdainment of half-breeds. Draco learned that family power and position can be taken away - there are some things money can't fix. Harry learned the hard way that his father and Sirius were bullies. The MoM had to learn the hard way that Harry and Dumbledore was right all along. Sirius learned the hard way about the care of Kreacher.

It will probably be shown later the personal price Percy will pay for siding with the ministry over his family. Percy has learned the hard way that the ministry was not always right. He's so far the only major character who hasn't admitted his mistakes yet. The fact he didn't join the family at Platform 9 3/4 at the end shows he still hasn't worked things out with his family. His problem has always been pride, and he's just not willing to swallow it yet.
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Postby Meg Boyd » Tuesday 12 August 2003 1:41:56am

Exactly, High Sorcerer!!!!

JKR has stated that books will now start showing a theme among the choices of the characters...the choices of what is right and what is easy. In all of those cases characters paid the price for doing what was easy instead of what was right, and perhaps in later books they will make the correct choice.
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Postby Just Mom » Saturday 16 August 2003 1:47:17am

Oh Meg, you're always such a nice one to follow.

I don't know why, PoA seems to be such a magical book for so many. It remains my favorite and I'm reading it to my children, 7 and 5 right now and they love it too.

The fifth book is hard to rate exactly. I wasn't reading it from a critical examination standpoint, I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. I can say though, that this book brought out lots of emotions in me. I actually shed a tear or two when DD cried at the end of the book during his conversation with Harry. Snape's memories were very emotional moments and illuminating as to his own character and past history. And Fred and George and their hilarious exit from Hogwarts had me shaking all over. They are just too funny.

The High Sorcerer's comments about the lessons learned, many of them painful, are profoundly true.

In the end, the fifth book has left me, like all the other books, just wanting to know what's going to happen next! :)
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Postby Pheonix_Reader22 » Sunday 17 August 2003 10:37:30pm

Hi everyone!

I really don't like the fact that Sirirus died. (Sorry, I couldn't find a forum for discussing this)

It really suprised me. It seemed like I was reading an entirely different book during that part. It wasn't so much of magic as it was about relationships. Especially when Dumbledore was talking to Harry about how Sirius felt about him and that Harry was Sirius's weakness. I like the fact that these feelings are tossed into the book, it helps us to get to know the characters a bit better... at least it is for me!

Thanks for reading my post! :-)
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Postby Gower » Tuesday 9 September 2003 4:47:39pm

i personally think the fifth book is the best, but then again, the most recent one is always my favourite! I think JK did a good job of further developing snape, ginny and sirius and james. I wasn't too keen on harry flying off the handle all the time, it annoyed me after a while, because i thought it was unreasonable.
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Postby fathead » Sunday 28 September 2003 11:50:18am

The fifth book is the best, it answered a lot of questions but also gave us a lot more to think about!
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Postby Female_alien » Thursday 13 November 2003 3:51:59pm

I love the book. I think it's the best one from the series. But I have forgotten some details so I have to read it again. I loved all new characters (even Umbridge) and think the end was not bad. I just wish J.K. would write a little faster. I know she has kids and husband and that she's tired and not full of ideas as she was, but I don't want to wait 2 years to read 6th book
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Postby pinky p » Thursday 13 November 2003 11:33:20pm

yeah, me too. too too too! :razz:

i've only read book five once... i think its sirius' death that is keeping me from reading it again. i mean, i don't want to go through the sadness of him being dead... again! :(

i also don't want to feel like yelling at harry anymore. i mean, he was such a block head in this book!

i really liked it, though.
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Re: How did you feel about the 5th book overall?

Postby Selenia » Monday 1 December 2003 4:05:51pm

Lizzy Bennet wrote:
Forgot to give my position! :oops: tee-hee-hee Though I did enjoy book 5 a good deal, book 3 is still my favorite. :D


~ Lizzy :grin:

me too! ...exactly the same!
also, book 5 was very, what's the word,...questionous...? (I know that word maybe doesn't even exist but you catch mt meaning) :grin:
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Postby Phinea Rogue » Saturday 6 December 2003 8:33:42pm

I like the book very much. What I liked most were scenes with Snape and Harry's anger. In the previous books Harry was no favourite of mine, but after this book, I've begun to like him. Such an angry teenager, that was great.
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Re: How did you feel about the 5th book overall?

Postby Augusta Longbottom » Sunday 7 December 2003 8:13:38pm

The first time I read book 5, I flew through it so fast and felt disappointed. I hadn't liked the Angry-Teen- Harry, I was disappointed in how Dumbledore handled things, but LOVED the parts from the beginning with the Dementors in Little Whinging and Petunia receiving the howler, etc.

I just finished rereading it and I don't feel disappointed at all really. I wanted to scream at Harry for behaving as he did...I wanted to scream, "stop acting so childish"...then I reminded myself that he grew up in the Dursley's household where it was acceptable for Dudley to throw a temper tantrum...and I felt Harry's outburst were often that: temper-tantrums. Like the outburst in DD's office towards the end when he's throwing DD's things and breaking them. If a child -- I don't care what the age was -- was behaving that way in my office or home, I certainly would not allow it to continue happening.

As much as I hated HP's childish behavior, I liked that we got to see a teen who is feeling the weight of everything crushing his world, just like most teens do feel at that age. I liked getting a glimpse at the real James and how he treated others. Many kids do dumb things they either regret or just actions they outgrow, but many others do not do the types of things James did, and Harry saw that. ...But then I liked how after Ron did so well at Quiddich, sitting under that same tree, Harry smirked upon seeing Ron rustle his hair and look to see if others could hear his story just as Harry's father had done so many years before.

Unlike many of you, I really liked the Luna character. I'm not sure she will play a greater role in the future, but her role in this one was nice: she was that odd person (we all know we thought/think the same of someone in our own school) and in the last chapter she and Harry spoke in the hall and he felt differently towards her...he'd become an outcast earlier in the year much like her and I think he sort of realizes she is just a bit misunderstood not unlike himself.

I'm new here so I could go on and on, but I will save that to respond to other posts! :oops:

Overall, I liked this book but CoS still is my favorite by far. I wasn't crazy about the movie but loved the book.
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