How did you feel about the 5th book overall?

[Reverie Revenge]

As always I'm in opposition: book 5 was my least fav so far - actually far below the others .
My scale:
1# CoS (bodiless voice of a snake - wow )
2# GoF (so many unusual things happen - from Worldcup to Triwizard, not to mention Voldie coming back And the Pensieve scenes with Bella's trial are awesome )
3# PS (the introduction into magic world just couldn't be better )
4# PoA (far fetched plot - though I was very happy to meet Marauders;)
5# OotP - too little content for so many pages, to many repeating - Umbridge scenes for example. And bloody Cho - ''she's got dung for brains'', Ron'd say
I loved Luna - it's true, her character just comes out of nowhere but I like weirdos like Luna and Tonks! Misunderstood weirdos have to stick together

I can't believe it myself but book 5 is my least fav though Phineas is introduced in here, my most beloved character! I can't get enough of his remarks

Harry's temper - in the same time I was angry with him - so annoying little brat and I also enjoyed his sarcasm. I quite understand him - hello, in his position everyone'd be mad at the whole world!

I could go on and criticize book 5 for ages but I'd rather defend JKR from Groo :

it is obvious to the reader that JK Rowling has matured as a writer with every book. now nobody can claim that these are "children's books"

I agree about that theese books are no longer for children.
But I strongly disagree - JKR didn't get mature (she was already), but her characters did. She was a divorced and unemployed mummy when she got the idea for HP, I bet she wasn't immature at that time

Still, if you want to write anything for children you have to be a formed personality that you can go back to childhood again and look at it from critical distance at the same time.
I'm very immature and that's why I don't write for kids (but for eternal teens )
To write for kids you have to have the conventional scale of values - like fairy tale with heros kids can identify with. I much prefere negative characters, they're more interesting for me but in general it's not safe for kids to identify with Bella for example
Even JKR said she didn't like that some boys came for autographs dressed up like Draco --> I don't approve of this, let anyone dress up like they want but ppl still raise their kids in kinda ''incubator'' of fairy tales. There are lots of ambigual feelings, persons and situation in real life. I personally think kids have the right to know the world as it is ... but on other hand they have the right to enjoy the problemfree childhood ...

This post is very ambivalent, so is the life ... it doesn't suck! I much prefere to accept & enjoy the reality than to sugarcoat things.

[Ron Weasley]

when i read the book i like to behead umbridge but then there was the forbiden forset and then i felt happy

[D.A. Member]

I liked book 5 but Umbridge was let off way too easy.....She really bugged me throughout the whole book I found myself taking breaks from reading because she annoyed me so much!! Great fight scene at the end!

[fairy_princess]

Order of pheonix is a great book...esp the DA n Weasley twins (rebellious teenagers )
But Prisoner of Azkaban still remain the top list so far...it has the best unexpected twist

Too right! The Weasley Twins Rock!!!


Prisoner of Azkaban is sooooooo the best Harry Potter book ever!!!

[Ron Weasley]

I liked book 5 but Umbridge was let off way too easy.....She really bugged me throughout the whole book I found myself taking breaks from reading because she annoyed me so much!! Great fight scene at the end!

I also think so

[Q8Hermione]

My fave is number 3 but this one is my second fave!! although the ending p***d me off

[thestral]

i am aware as i write this i may be tracked down and killed but... (deep breath).... IT WAS cr*p!!!!. yes i am on a harry potter forum lol but it was so disappointed by it. i thought harry would be a better or stronger person to deal with his life better than to have little baby tantrums whenever something didn't go his way. paticularly at the start he annoyed me so much i didn't like harry at all in OotP. annoying, whiny brat. he constantly took out his anger on his friends who were trying to help. i could excuse it once ( i've taken my anger out on my frinds before too but you do it ONCE then get some perspesctive) but harry was so damn self-involved in 5 than he wouldn't listen to anyone else and that's what got sirius killed. he thought he could do everything on his own so wouldn't try with occlumency so instead he was weak, excusable yes because he is human. but he should have risen above above it not declared himself right everyone else wrong, drag neville, ginny and half of a younger inexperienced crowd of the DA to the ministry to nearly get killed. HE WAS SO STUPID!!! and everyone made excuses for him, DD blaming himself. blame harry!! he should accept resonsibility not be shielded from it. harry was so whiny, selfish and self-involved that it found it hard to find any sympathy for him. yes i felt really bad about sirius cos he was my favourite character in the books, sympathy for the loss of sirius not sympathy for stupid harry. in book 5 he was starting to seem a bit stuck up himself. WHY ME??? I DID THIS, I DID THAT...?!? maybe he will redeem himself in half-blood prince. i hope so cos if you don't like the main character in a book how can you actually care?

by the way going to a desert island now to hide from the death threats i will probably get.

[thestral]

sorry little edit, just reconsidered and i think i was a bit strong in use of the word 'cr*p' . but i was feeling a bit emotional ! but was very disappointed in it. it seemed way inferior to the other books. the way it was written seemed too self-aware, had a very forced quality or something. i think the best book was PoA by far. i hope book 6 is better and harry gets a bit of sense knocked into him (i think the death of sirius did that) and stops walking about with his head stuck where the sun don't shine, teehee .

[Mistress Siana]

Hm...I also liked OotP the least of all books, but it was nevertheless important. The Order had to be introduced, the question why LV tried to kill Harry was answered, somehow the war had to begin. As far as Harry is concerned...I hated him and I loved that I hated him. Strange as it sounds. It wouldn't fit if he was still a warm hearted, light headed boy. After all, he's no longer just the boy who lived, but the boy who's survival caused his loved one's deaths. His parents, Sirius and Cedric died, not because it was his fault, yet because of him. Harry's difficult, arrogant and moody, but now, he's no longer a child but a person, and I like that.

[thestral]

i have affection for book 5 cos obviously it continues the story, had the characters etc etc. but i really did not like harry at all. i love a flawed hero, in fact heathcliff is my all time favourite character in literature and he wasn't exactly a smiley happy person. but i too wanted to see a human harry, depressed, angry with actual human emotions. he would obviously be a bit messed up after everything that he's gone through. but i love all of JK's writing but (it's like criticising the bible ) i didn't like the way she wrote and dealt with harry's angsty stage, it didn't feel realistic,human or relatable to a reader. it had quite a contrived quality or something. his anger seemed arsey and i didn't feel sympathy. i loved her characterisation of everything else in the books but i think this is the weak spot or the bit where it fell down, guess she's human too! .

i don't think OotP flowed as well as the other books for some reason either. i think it was cos it was quite long and there was quite alot of repitition of scenes and stuff but i think that there was alot of new stuff to be introduced and questions to be answered, more questions asked and to try and combine all those elements i think this gave the book a bit of a disjointed feel. i definitly still enjoyed it cos i wanted to find out what was happening next and everything. but for me it didn't read as well as the other books.

however it's not all a damning criticism i thought the humour was really funny like all the umbridge scenes and i have to say that umbridge was the most delectfully hateful character and i loved reading her scenes to hate her! there JK's characterisation was sooo good . and i liked seeing harry come into his own and starting to take charge and become the leader he has in him like with the DA, and facing up to his past by telling others what's happened etc. it was the idea of harry doing this that i liked i just didn't really relate to the way it was written cos i thought it seemed contrived. but thumbs up to JK i think it would have been the hardest book to write. it's a very thin line between angst and annoying and i just think that harry went into annoying a bit too much.

[DragonFiend17]

Did not meet my expectations, but it was good....harry was very depressed in it, very angry it bothered me how he kept losing his temper and how he was so short with everyone...

[Un'Anima Persa]

i HATED the part where sirius died!!!

[DragonFiend17]

I cried...honestly i did!!!
and youre right--the weasley twins OWNED in that last scene at Hogwarts!!!!!! LOVED it!!!!

[Un'Anima Persa]

i didnt, but my friend put her book in the freezer!

[DragonFiend17]

really??? that's actually funny... but im still angry...