Book Review

Okay, so the only review I ever wrote of the Harry Potter books was a review for the entire set. I've never reviewed them one by one and since I'm re-reading the series for the first time in a few years, I thought I'd give a go at reviewing them one by one. If you're one of the few people in the world who haven't read it, beware of some spoilers.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
This book wasn't received as well with the audience. There were complaints about it being too dark and too much of a downer. I'd also seen a review of a disgruntled reader saying that the ending wasn't anything we couldn't have guessed anyway. When I did my overall review I even called this one the "Empire Strikes Back" of the series because although it was necessary to the story, not a lot got accomplished. But this is actually an important book in the series. The character development is critical, plus the rest of the characters for the bad guys' side are introduced with a few new good guys to round out the playing field and the final goal is made crystal clear. To the complaint of it being too much of a downer, I give a twofold argument.  First, it's easy to forget the general anxiety involved in being fifteen years old to begin with. The desire to be treated as an adult when the adults would rather not do that yet is part of the stifling growing pains we all had to go through. And, in this case, that frustration is coupled with the fact that Harry had already had to grow up faster than the other characters due to the situations he'd faced since discovering his place in the magical world. The anger at suffering a severe traumatic episode and then having to deal with the resulting emotions alone in a place where he's not wanted for two months and the confusion of being summarily ignored by his unshakeable mentor, Dumbledore puts the protagonist under considerable pressure.  Is it embarrassing and unseemly that the hero is so self-absorbed, moody, and reckless throughout this piece? Probably, but it's true to life. Maybe that's why it makes people uncomfortable.  But, it was also necessary to swing the momentum in favor of the antagonist. Good, protracted story telling is not all happy endings with super heroes that are only dealt minor setbacks. Voldemort can't be seen as a great threat until he's seen being truly threatening and claiming some victory, beginning at the climax of Goblet of Fire and continuing through the end of Order of the Phoenix. This isn't the first book in which a character dies, but it's the first in which a character dies that the reader has an emotional investment in. And the blame lies as much with the heroes as the villains. It compounds the complexity of the story. And the prophecy itself was no less complex.  Was it obvious that Harry is discovered to be the chosen one - something that we all could've guessed anyway?  Perhaps, but the unique difference made clear in this ending is that he wasn't chosen by the gods, the good guys or the guesswork of a prophet, but by Voldemort himself.  It ties in with the first book, giving a more thorough explanation of his scar and also elevates the importance of Neville Longbottom, who some may have always wondered what the point of that character was except to be the token bullied wimp. No, this book is not so much dark as deep. More gets accomplished than one can see this early in the series and all of it necessary for Harry to defeat Voldemort in the end.
Of course, I can't deny it's one of the most stressful books.  Definitely Harry's worst year since the second. In the cross-hairs of the magical government that is trying to deny Voldemort's return for PR sake, he is on the wrong side of everything again, but this time but the emotional toll it takes is magnified almost beyond endurance and causes him to become obsessive, paranoid, and to make a lot of bad decisions that make his life harder. Professor Umbridge is one of the very best antagonists ever created.  She's more believable than Voldemort, because people like her really exist and her presence gives the story nail biting intensity. It has one of the most exciting openings (along with the seventh book) of the whole series with the dementor attack and the crumbling of the wall between Harry's magic world and muggle world. All of the lines concerning the Dursleys, Snape, Harry's father, and even Harry's purpose in the world that seemed to be so clearly defined are suddenly blurred. All except for the unwavering presence of Dumbledore and his omniscient ability to be the architect of delaying Voldemort's plans, the protector of  Harry, and the wizened guide who makes sense of everything that happens in the end of the books. But there are hints in this book that he is not entirely infallible. Although he still protects Harry once again in the end, he must credit his own selfishness for serious mistakes that were made and his explanations come too late to prevent the death and damages done  which begins to shake this foundation as well, leaving the reader the feeling that nothing is certain anymore.
But it's not without it's comical moments.  Introducing more new and fascinating places and elements of the magical world is always comfort food for the story.  After seeing how a normal good wizarding family lives at the Burrow, we see the house that once belonged to dark wizards in the run down Grimmauld Place with a shrieking painting that is hysterical every time I read through those passages. The Room of Requirement within Hogwarts castle is one of the greatest ideas ever set in writing, enabling a secret hiding place that would be used to great effect not only in this book but in the two that follow.  The magical world also has tabloids which is a nice twist and makes the magical world not so different from our own. Instead of Weekly World News reporting on a half man-half alligator, the Quibbler reports on equally far fetched notions.  Just because they live in a magical world doesn't mean that every magical phenomenon or notion is credible - you just can't help but marvel at these levels of depth. St. Mungo's the hospital that had been mentioned before is finally experienced and is used for the most part to inject some comedy into otherwise serious circumstances, but the creativity of how it's hidden and it's many uses is brilliant as well, along with the Ministry of Magic. Even though it's filled to the brim with jackass politicians and bureaucrats, seeing the layout and the different aspects is still so delightfully unique and interesting, from Arthur Weasly's little office, to the dungeon courtrooms glimpsed in the last book, to the Department of Mysteries, even to the interoffice memos. Top it all off with Grawp, the O.W.L examinations, Ron's first foray into Quidditch, and way the Weasly twins depart from the school to pursue their dream of owning a joke shop and there's just as much to love and cheer in this book as there is to lament and grieve.
So, the very short conclusion of this is that Order of the Phoenix definitely turns this world up on its end and is the beginning drop of a whirlwind roller coaster speeding to the finale.