Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Book Review

After the hype, is it all it's cracked up to be?

Before I start let me say this, any book that can get the kids of today reading doesn't have to be a literary classic to earn my respect, doubly so if it is over 700 pages long, as in this case.

Did I enjoy the book? Yes I did! It certainly has that "unputdownable" quality that keeps you reading, as the fact that I more than once missed my stop on the Tube on the way into work proves; and in fact, one day I actually got the book out to read while I was at work as I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

As usual JK Rowling manages to get the right amount of descriptive content, without overwhelming the narrative, to paint wonderful images in the mind. Some of the major characters are developed further and Harry himself gets a bit hormonal (as a 15/16 year old would). Like the earlier books there is a major confrontation with you-know-who towards the end. It is in confrontation that the death, which was widely hinted at, occurs. All in all it is a bit more sinister (some say darker) than the previous books, but that does not detract from it at all.

And the downside? My only problem was that JK Rowling assumes that the reader has read the previous books. As it is a while since I read the last book, I was struggling to remember what some of her 'magical' terms meant as she uses them without any explanation.

All in all I rate it a good 9½ out of 10 provided you have recently re-read the earlier books.