Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling

This is one of two Harry Potter books I've never read any part of. (Until recently I had only read small parts of the fourth book and I have no yet read the sixth book at all). You can look at some of my previous Potter posts to learn more of my story with these books, but today I am just going to remind you that I am reading the whole series for my husband who is a Harry Potter fanatic.

It took me a long time to begin this book. I finished the fourth novel back in May and did not start this one until the beginning of July. Then it took me the entire month to finish. I read it in pieces as I finished other books and only just sat to work through the remaining two-hundred pages. I think it took me some time to really dive into this book because it is the beginning of truly dark times in the wizarding world. What with my recent life experiences and struggles with anxiety, dark books can only be read at certain times. Once I was able to sit and dive into this story, I was not impressed. the first two or three hundred pages seemed to drag on and on and on. And through most of this book Harry is just whining and being angsty about life. Yeah, he has had some shit happen to him, but that doesn't give him the right to be rude to everyone around him. Reading that mindset was not fun nor did it make me want to know what happened next, unless whatever happened next was going to get Harry to STFU. Plus I am forever angry that Sirius died. So, I struggled, but I finally finished.

I will say that I enjoyed the continued progression Rowling makes into the wizarding world as this book focused a lot on the Ministry of Magic and St. Mungo's Hospital. She is a fantastic storyteller. I enjoyed the bits about occlumency the very best, as well as the scenes where I learned more about Snape. I loved Firenze becoming a teacher and the way he set up the classroom. Umbridge is and forever will be one of my favorite characters for the sheer fact that she is so ridiculously evil it is entertaining. The scene where Fred and George leave school is legendary.

Overall, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix was an okay book. Out of the five I have read so far it is tied with The Chamber of Secrets for being my least favorite. (The Chamber of Secrets might even be better just because it is shorter). In context of the series it is an important book, just not the best one. The interesting thing is that many people claim this as their favorite. If you are one of these people, I would love to know why that is so that I can see this book from a new perspective. Until then, it is not one I plan to return to. I am still enjoying the series though! So stay tuned for my reviews on the final two books.