Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixWritten by J. K. Rowling, Narrated by Jim Dale
Reason for Reading: I've been going through the Harry Potter books by audio now. This is my first time reading straight through the entire series, and by "straight" I mean I finish one every one or two months. ;)
Review
(WARNING: Contains unavoidable spoilers from earlier novels!!!)Voldemort has recently returned, and Harry Potter has spent the entire summer listening to the muggle news for some sign of terror. But it turns out that most people don't believe Harry and Dumbledore that Voldemort has risen, and Voldemort is using that ignorance to his advantage. Furthermore, the Ministry of Magic has decided that Dumbledore isn't stable, and they're interfering at Hogwarts with the addition of a new teacher - the throttle-worthy Dolores Umbridge. *Yes. I wanted to throttle her EVERY time she entered the narrative. That shows excellent caricaturization by Rowling.* This year, Harry must battle the disciplinary hand of the Ministry and skepticism from his fellow students, without losing focus on his upcoming OWL exams. Will he pass Potions?!
This is one of the more complex books in the series (which wins it bonus points with me), but it is also the angstiest book. Harry spends the entire book angry at his friends, angry at Dumbledore, angry at the Ministry, angry at Umbridge, and just plain pissed off in general. His confusion is compounded by his interest in Cho, who is still mourning the death of her dead boyfriend Cedric. Overall, it's a good book because it advances the story and develops character, but I got a bit tired of angsty Harry. This is my least favorite (though still highly enjoyable) of the Harry Potter books.
Jim Dale's narration is quite enjoyable now that I've gotten used to it. He has recognizable voices for each of the characters, and his voice is entertaining and engrossing.
Congrats on listening to and now READING all the books. I can tell you are a fan!
ReplyDeleteI DO love a good story. And Harry Potter is a great story! :) Though I'm not one of those die-hard fans who dressed up as a HP character for the opening night of each of the movies. ;)
DeleteThis one is my least favorite HP too. It's still at the top of my list over several other books, but out of all the books, I've read this one *maybe* five times, and I've read and reread all the others to death. I can only stand so many YELLING IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME!
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY!!!
DeleteI read the first 3 HP waaay back when (99/2000 time period) I have been wanting to re read all of them now that I am older and a bit more settled.
ReplyDeleteI wish there were a HP challenge or read a long. Ill find one or just do it myself.
Your doing a lot of challenges too. I decided to do them this year to help keep me on track with my reading. I even created a blog just for the challenges!
I am a new follower of your blog btw :) Also a fellow cat lover & book lover.
Hi! I was actually participating in a read-along, but it went too fast for me. I just don't have the concentration to be able to read them all in a couple of months. Too many other books to read. You should start your own read-along if you want one. :) I'm sure lots of people would join!
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