Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I blew through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling these last few days. I've really come to like this book after I read it a couple of times. The first time I read it, this book drove me nuts. So much angst in this book, plus a new character is introduced named Delores Umbridge. She is on the list of the top three villains in this whole story. She is right up there with Voldemort and Bellatrix. And we had a major character die! It was a horrible part to read.

However, after reading this a few times, I have a new perceptive on this book then when I first read it. As I said, the angst in this book is still one that grates on my nerves a bit. Harry constantly yells through out the whole book, so his dialogue is all CAPS!! Thankfully about half way through the book J.K. Rowling has him settle down a bit and we can then enjoy the wonderful antics of the Weasly twins, Fred and George. They are the funniest trouble makers to have ever been written in my opinion. And their ability to egg Peeves on was priceless. I'm still upset that the movies never had Peeves. He is hilarious.

Moving on to Umbridge, I never wanted a character in a book to die more then her. If you want to see a character who is a socialist, control freak, Umbridge is it. She did her best to try to rule the school as a dictator. She tried to punish with means that were illegal and used even more questionable means for the actual punishments. In trying to thwart her, Harry and his friends start up Dumbledore's Army and the teachers in their own way show their resistance to her tyranny.

Finally, in my opinion, the first real death of the war between good and evil happens. Sirius Black is killed by his insane cousin Bellatrix. It has to be one of the saddest deaths out of the many in this series. I will applaud J.K. Rowling though, she has no problem killing off our beloved characters if it will help the story or give it more. She also wrote Harry's reaction very believably. A boy, who lost his family as a baby, but now the closest thing to a family is murdered in front of him. He is angry, sad, hurt. He shows it, speaks it, lives it basically. Rowling writes it so well, that it did affect me.

This is a to read!