WARNING: This is a fairly long review with some possible spoilers. If you don't wanna know anything about the fifth book, well... I guess you're reading the wrong thread, huh?


As someone who works in a bookstore on the day 'Order of the Phoenix' was released I unfortunately had to wait till I got home to start reading - and the plan was to only read a chapter a day as an incentive to study for my upcoming uni exams. Featured word : plan. I finished 'Phoenix' at twenty to five this morning after having barricaded myself in my bedroom, ignoring the normal necessities of dinner and bathroom breaks because I couldn't put it down. Absolutely brilliant. I wasn't sure what to expect; I loved the first three but after the brilliance of 'Azkaban' I found 'Goblet' lacking somewhat, and with all the hype I had steeled myself for disappointment - I mean, really, could JK be able to top her already fantastic self? If you haven't read it yet and are still worried, DON'T BE! READ!

As to what it's like (other than brilliant - but I think I've covered the gushing with praise section of this review well enough,) it's darker, it's older, it's full of great one-liners and even better two-liners (Ron and Hermoine being notables, although Ginny pops out with some great stuff too,) and some terriffic (and sometimes horriffic) suprises. I'd avoided spoilers like the plague, although I'd guessed they'd be at least one character death (the victim took me completely from left-field though.) Some of the plot points were fairly predictable (but then, I've read an awful lot of fantasy, and as they say, there's only so many plots in the world,) but there were more than enough suprises to make up for that. And as to character development... well... THEY ACTUALLY DEVELOPED!

About the only faults I can find is that the ending was fairly complicated - I mean, great for your older readers, but there is a huge contingent of kiddies reading/being read this book, and I'm not sure they're gonna get a lot of it. That was always going to be a problem as the series moved on and the character's aged, and after reading it, I think there is going to be quite a few parents deciding that this book is too old for their kids. As a book seller that has me worried (profitprofitprofitprofitprofit) but as a reader... well, personally I like Harry et al growing up emotionally as well as physically, and I hope JK continues this trend in the next two books.

Of course, the worst thing about it was the fact that it ended at all. Now I'm back to the awful predicament I was in before - no new Harry to read for quite a while. *wistful sigh*