Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowlings

All in all, this is a different book in the series. Up until page 150 or thereabouts, I wasn't as excited by this book as I had been by the first four. It seemed that nothing was ever going to happen and, just as Harry Potter was getting frustrated that no one was telling him what was going on, so was I. (I guess this only means that I felt exactly what the author wanted me to feel, what is a testament to the quality of the writing.)

I kept plodding along and, sure enough, the suspense escalated and the story started to unfold. To summarize my thoughts before going any further: it all comes together in the end and the book is nothing short of great.

Around page 200, the pace picks up, the plot takes shape, and the book gets as exciting as the previous ones. In the end, I loved it just as much, if not a little more than the others. Harry is growing up: he's in the classical teenager emotional turmoil, his hormones are brewing, and his temper is a bit short. With all this, his relationships are getting more complex and he's deeply questioning people's motivations. By page 700, it's nearly impossible to put it down; it's like when you reach the top of the roller coaster ride and you can't do anything but speed down to the end.

The plot also got very much darker than in previous book. Hopefully by the time young readers get to this installment, they've grown up a bit and are ready to deal with the material and its almost 900 pages. Fear, blood, and death are a stronger presence in the story and I can imagine kids reading this while hiding under their blankets only to have nightmares later. In any case, not only is it great fun, but also it can serve to inspire the readers in the same age group as the Hogwarts 5th-years to deal with their problems in the best possible way. Best of all, I think the final chapters shed a light on mysteries that have been around since Book 1 and only get the reader more and more eager for the future and concluding books. Too bad we'll have to wait at least another couple of years for the next one.