Can someone post a non-spoiler Harry Potter review?

Cafe Society
1

Hi all, I’m deciding whether or not to buy the new Potter book or just wait for it from the library system (which has about 500 copies, but i’m about 2200th in the holds line, which means i’ll get it in about 2-3 months). I’d really only like to buy it if the book is of high quality and something which I’ll enjoy reading multiple times. Just for reference, my favorite book in the series is Prisoner of Azkaban, and in hindsight, would be the only book I’d really want to buy in the series so far. So if any of y’all feel like posting a non-spoilish review of Order of Phoenix, please do so :slight_smile:

grazie.

2

Having read the first 200 pages (and looking forward to the next 664):

If your question is whether I like the book: Yes.

If you’re interested to find out what I think about the book:

This is darker and more political than the previous four novels. It treats mature themes about making the transition to adulthood - the way relationships change, and finding out things about yourself that aren’t all good news.

It is also, I think, very much the author’s describing the darker side of fame, and how sad it can be. Voldemort failed to kill Harry, but here it seems that Voldemort left Harry with a curse to go with the lightning-bolt scar: fame.

Harry is in a position of having to be very careful about what people think of him. Since he can’t be dismissed as a mere foolish student, powerful people will want to discredit him as a liar. It’s the gryffindor way not to care and speak your mind anyway, but the question is how well Harry can handle a backlash. The book is well enough written that I can empathize with Harry’s pain, even though I like him much less.

YMMV. It’s a more mature book, I think than the others. If I were a parent, I would want to read this first so I could talk to my kids about it as they read it. But I would definitely want my kids to read it. And grownups should also get something from this story of impending adulthood.

BTW: I got it at Barnes and Noble for 40% off.

3

Having read the first 200 pages (and looking forward to the next 664):

If your question is whether I like the book: Yes.

If you’re interested to find out what I think about the book:

This is darker and more political than the previous four novels. It treats mature themes about making the transition to adulthood - the way relationships change, and finding out things about yourself that aren’t all good news.

It is also, I think, very much the author’s describing the darker side of fame, and how sad it can be. Voldemort failed to kill Harry, but here it seems that Voldemort left Harry with a curse to go with the lightning-bolt scar: fame.

Harry is in a position of having to be very careful about what people think of him. Since he can’t be dismissed as a mere foolish student, powerful people will want to discredit him as a liar. It’s the gryffindor way not to care and speak your mind anyway, but the question is how well Harry can handle a backlash. The book is well enough written that I can empathize with Harry’s pain, even though I like him much less.

YMMV. It’s a more mature book, I think than the others. If I were a parent, I would want to read this first so I could talk to my kids about it as they read it. But I would definitely want my kids to read it. And grownups should also get something from this story of impending adulthood.

BTW: I got it at Barnes and Noble for 40% off.

4

I have finished the book, less than 24 hours after its release. And yes, I know there are people out there who hate people like me for it. :slight_smile:

I agree very much with the previous review. The book, along with the previous ones, speaks very much to the maturing reader. It is as if Rowling has deliberately written each book in the series for the temperament, and for the problems, of the readers Harry’s age, as Harry progresses through school.

The other aspect of this book that I found most intriguing was the recurrence of numerous lovable details from previous books, and generally assumes the reader is familiar with them. If you liked the creative elements and characters from the previous books, many of them resurface here.

It also answers a lot of questions not entirely covered in previous books. Gaps are filled in. Principal characters are fleshed out and given a better history. A couple of new characters in particular are enjoyable. (Enjoyably nice, or enjoyably bad: but enjoyable.)

It is much grimmer. (Grimoire?) It is much more grim. (Better.) For re-readability, I can’t say yet. It hasn’t sunk in.

If I were to rate it, it’s probably closest to Goblet of Fire in that it deals with adult issues, including the pressure of notoriety and the difficulty of being misunderstood, and Harry’s attempts to deal with the opposite sex at Hogwarts. It’s probably most like Chamber of Secrets in the tantalizing clues of the main plot, something just below the surface that Harry doesn’t understand. And it’s got flavors of Prisoner of Azkaban in it, mostly in the backstories of Harry’s father (and James’ friends and enemies).

Tough to say, though. I laughed out loud several times toward the end of the book, and I have to admit I read the thing solidly from five until midnight, turning page after page.

I got my copy at the supermarket. No lines.

FISH

5

I’ve only read seven chapters, but so far, I’m pleased with it.

I never reread GoF in its entirety, because it was so angsty I could hardly stand it. I said to Mr. Rilch, “If Harry doesn’t man up in this one, I may give up on the series.” It appears that he has, and I am glad.

Two fan speculations seem to have been proven right.

6

Is it better than GoF? Because I found that really badly written, OTT and unsatisfactory compared to the first three?

My favourite was the third one, it was so brilliant and complete as a book/plot etc.

I will read it anyway, but was concerned to see how long it was. On the upside, that’s more reading. On the downside, what GoF needed was an editor with a big sharp pair of scissors cutting out some of the stuff that seemed extraneous to the plot and only included to boost Harry’s ultra-perfect-hero status (like that whole competition thing).

So is OoP more “tightly” written, even if it’s long?

7

Cartman mode onYes, I’ve read the new Harry Potter book. Who wants to touch me? I said, who wants to touch me?*

Seriously now…

I think it’s safe to say that it’s tighter. It’s like the third book in that, well, I’m not sure quite how to say this without possible spoilers, but there’s less action overall. Like the third book, there is not the outside motivating force of the other three. There is a motivating force, sure, but it’s not as easily defined as “Harry goes to retrieve a rock” or “There’s a mystery somewhere in the school” or “Harry competes in a special event.”

It’s as if Rowling has finally decided that the world has been fleshed out plenty with the last four books. That we all know that Harry is a “Very Special Person” and it’s time to really get on with the story arc. The much-ballyhooed character death made me wonder if Rowling really was having trouble writing it, because it doesn’t seem as important as it could be. Of course, that’ll depend on what she does with the last two books.

So, the several hundred pages of action is somewhat replaced by several hundred pages of character buildup, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, etc. This is not automatically a bad thing, as anyone who has ever watched extended amounts of a tv show or read series with other long arcs will know.

As I said, it’s kind of hard to summarize what happens. The whole book appears to be in sort a transistional period; it doesn’t introduce things and set up things like the first and even second book and it doesn’t show a truly major change in the extended universe like the fourth book. I guess it’s fair once again to compare it to the third book. While not a lot happens in the overall universe, a lot happens close in to Harry, although there are ramifications for the overall universe (not too much though, in my opinion.)

However the new woman, what’s-her-name, is the kind of character you want to throttle. Rowling did a good job with her.

Anyway, it’s probably worth reading.

8

I liked it.

9

Haven’t finished it yet, but I have a non-spoiler observation that I don’t think I’ll have revised even when I do finish.

I have some sympathy for Snape. Not as a person, but as a teacher. Potions is a very precise craft, requiring a lot of concentration and strict adherence to instruction. Teenagers balk at that; they’d prefer tending to magical creatures with Hagrid, or fooling around in Divination, where the kookier you are the better. Transfiguration only requires a wand, and DADA is total goth stuff. So it would be frustrating, even for someone with a sweeter temperament than Snape’s, to know that the most worthwhile magic is done in the lab, but have to deal with kids who don’t understand that and are more interested in the bells and whistles.

10

I gained some sympathy for Snape as a person too. He is much more complex than we first thought.

11

that’s exactly what i liked most about harry potter book 5. i finished it yesterday, and i must say it was quite focused on the fact that everyone is turning out to be more complex than we/harry first thought. as harry gets older, he sees that things are less black and white and more confusing. harry’s growing up, as well he should. what i noticed/appreciated most about this book was the changing perspective and how different harry is becoming as his years at hogwarts affect him. one thing is very true about book five: harry will probably never see most people as distinctly GOOD or BAD anymore, but as complicated humans, and for that i applaud the book and its writer. if you dont like teen angst or people in books being stubborn and stupid and very much 15 years old, you’ll hate this book. but if you appreciate stuff like that, i really do recommend it.

12

I hope this isn’t too much of a hijack, but is there anyone out there whose favourite isn’t “Prisoner of Azkaban.” It far outshines the others as far as I’m concerned, and I’ve read similar opinions in this thread and others. Is it fairly universally considered to be the best in the series?

13

There’s a very large non-spoiler thread on the second page of Cafe Society asking this very thing.

I’d link, but my computer is slower than molasses today, sorry.

14

My favorite is GoF. The first one comes close. Both Prisioner and Chamber are subpar in my opinion. I actually liked Chamber’s film more than I did the book.

15

non-spoiler Order of the Phoenix thread

16

You know what I love the best about this one? Well, I’ll give you a hint: all through the other books, I’ve been thinking “well, this is pretty good, I guess, but there isn’t anywhere near enough vomiting.” Rowling must have gotten all my letters.