Review and Discussion: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Summary: In his fifth year at Hogwart’s, Harry faces challenges at every turn, from the dark threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the unreliability of the government of the magical world to the rise of Ron Weasley as the keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Along the way he learns about the strength of his friends, the fierceness of his enemies, and the meaning of sacrifice.

Rating: 4.5/5
Before I even start, I want to show you this picture:

This is Order of the Phoenix compared to City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. City of Glass is a pretty big book. Order of the Phoenix dwarfs it. If I ever have to go into a bad part of town, I will carry this book. If someone attacks me I could knock them out with it or if someone tries to shoot me I could block the bullet. My point is, this book is huge. And it is worth every page.

The only thing I didn’t like in this book was the fact that Harry was a little annoying at times. I’ll go into this bellow the spoiler warning, but in short, Harry was a moody fifteen year old boy at times. While this is realistic, it wasn’t enjoyable to read. Other than that, I loved everything about this book.

This book definitely takes a turn for the dark side. Like the summary said, it deals with the uncertainty of the government, which is a real issue when it comes to war (not criticizing the government! Don’t take it the wrong way!). This book also deals with issues of bullying and authority going to far. While still remaining as enchanting as always, this book deals with real issues. It’s entertaining for younger children, teens, and adults. The first two or three books were not as interesting to me.

To those of you who have been living under a rock like me, go read this series now. You won’t regret it!

***SPOILERS BELOW***

I have to say it one time.

SIRIUSLY???????????

Sirius was my favorite character! I knew he was going to die, but it still hurts! Even though he was only there for three books (and was a villain in 90% of one) but he was a really cool character. He was always there for Harry when he needed him, whether it was as a father, a brother, or a friend. The only thing I didn’t like about him was how he treated Snape when he was young. I’m not going to say ‘oh well, he was just a kid’ because he was old enough to know better and could’ve stopped James. I will say that he was a much better person as an adult. And then he died.

Siriusly?

I know everyone says this, but I feel really bad for Harry. He lost the only person remotely close to a father figure in his life. He’s lost a lot in his life and has remained strong through it all. However, I will say that Harry was very moody in this book. I can understand why he would be. If I were in his place, I would’ve lost it a long time ago. Harry is understandably angry at many people. However, he seemed to get fed up with Ron and Hermione quite a few times. It got to be a little annoying to read. It was realistic, though. Anyone probably would’ve felt the same way in his place.

I’m not sure how I feel about Luna yet. I’m sure I’ll come to love her at some point, but now she’s, to put it nicely, a little weird. I think she lightened things up a bit, which was nice being that this was a dark book. I’m not sure why, but I think she and Neville would make a cute couple (no one dare tell me if that happens!).

Speaking of Neville, I never realized how much I’ve come to love him until Bellatrix (I think it was her) put him under the cruiatus curse. I was laying in my room and saying ‘no! Do NOT hurt Neville!’ to the book. Neville really grew as a character in this book. He’s got a heavy burden to carry with his parents being permanently disabled because of Voldemort. I was so glad to see him improve in defense against the dark arts. And the part with him being the other “chosen one” caught me off guard. I did not see that one coming! I’m sure most first time readers didn’t either. I wonder how Neville will react if/when he finds all this out? Will he be glad it was Harry and not him? Or will he be bitter that Harry became famous while he was just the kid who was terrible at everything? My bet would be the first one. However, I have a feeling it will be the latter. J.K. Rowling never ceases to surprise me!

Bellatrix scares the poo out of me. I know she was only there in person for a little while, but she was INSANE. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of her, and I can’t wait until she comes back. Even though she’s a creepy, scary character, I like her as a villain. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

I never thought I’d say this, but I felt really bad for Snape! Even mean, grumpy, rude, etc. etc. Snape doesn’t deserve the treatment James gave him. Does this mean I like Snape? No (Especially since I just started Half-Blood Prince!). Will I ever like Snape? Doubtful. But I feel really bad for him. I’m glad that the subject of bullying was brought up, though. Most of the readers are younger, elementary school, early middle school age kids and it’s important that they learn bullying is not okay. This series has a lot of really positive messages, which is one of the things I like most about it.

Moving on to the person who may well be my least favorite person in all literature. Who is it? I bet you can’t guess….

Umbridge.

I could not stand her! She got in the way of everything! She was certifiably insane! All hidden under the guise of a toad in a pink coat with a sickeningly sweet voice. Every time her name came up on a page, I’d mentally facedesk. I hope that crazy (some colorful words) is gone for good and never comes back. I don’t care if she comes back as a good guy, I don’t care if she kills Voldemort (which I know she doesn’t) I will never like her. Or have any remote respect or tolerance for her. I hope she’s gone and never poisons these pages again.

On the topic of Harry and Cho… No. Just no. I was dreading the day where that relationship be a possibility. I knew it would go down in flames. Guess what? It did. I do like that J.K Rowling is showing the characters dating. With many books today, the main character’s first love interest ends up being their soul mate. Unfortunately for all us single readers, life doesn’t work that way. Even though I hate Harry dating Cho and Hermione sort of dating Krum, it’s realistic. A lot of times, authors lose reality in fantasy books, and Rowling didn’t. I applaud her for that.

I loved what the Weasley twins did at the end. In fact, I hate they left when they did! I wanted to see more of their pranks. Many people at that school blow Fred and George off as dumb pranksters, but they’re extremely intelligent. To be able to come up with things a trained wizard couldn’t get rid of takes talent. I have to wonder where they learned all that stuff, though. Clearly, they don’t pay attention in class. Who knows?

So… Some other minor things that I don’t feel like putting in paragraph form
-I hate Percy, but he may have a chance for redemption. Maybe.
-I like Tonks. I hope she’ll come up more (side note: who names their kid Nymphadora?)
-Mad-Eye is weird. And kinda creepy.
-I LOVED Professor McGonnagal. The way she treated Umbridge cracked me up.
-I’m interested to see what Malfoy has in store for Harry…

Well, that’s all for now, folks. I leave you with a few questions. Think about them. Feel free to answer them in the comments, use them for a book club or whatever.

1) In the beginning, Harry is attacked by dementors. Knowing he was not supposed to use magic outside of school, he performed the Patronus spell. If you had been in his place, would you have done the same thing and why?

2) If you had been approached about joining the DA, would you have said yes? Why or why not?

3) If you had been in Harry’s place, would you have gone after Sirius? Why or why not?

4) Do you think Dumbledore should’ve told Harry about the prophecy sooner or should he have waited until later? Why?

5) Do you think Harry’s anger at Dumbledore in the end was justified? Why or why not?

Please, someone answer these or else I’m talking to no one.

Movie Review and Discussion: Beautiful Creatures

Since so many movies based on YA novels are coming out this year, I’m going to start reviewing them all!

Rating: 4/5

I had a hard time rating this book. Three was too low, four was a little too high, three and a half was too low too. I decided on four because this was an amazing movie.

From a non-reader perspective.

Today, I watched this movie from a reader perspective. The next time I see it I will watch it for a non-reader perspective. I tried to watch from a non-reader perspective tonight, but let’s be honest, you’re always going to be critical of a movie based on one of your favorite books.

Some people will not even try to ignore the reader in their head screaming about every tiny detail that wasn’t exactly right. I am not one of those people. While they did not follow the book as well as I had hoped, no one can deny that this was an amazing movie. They left out a few things (the kelting, sixteen moons, Marian, etc.) but that’s alright. Think about it: if they had a creepy VoiceOver interrupting half the movie, it would be annoying, cheesy, and people wouldn’t shut up about how they didn’t like it. So in a way, I’m glad they left the kelting out. Marian and Sixteen Moons, however, kind of needed to be there. Marian is not an essential character in Beautiful Creatures or Darkness. However, she is essential to Beautiful Chaos, and it would be difficult to have her combined with Amma for Chaos and Redemption. Sixteen Moons was not super important but I would’ve liked to see it there.

Those are the little things. The bigger issues, the reasons why this only got a 4 instead of a 5, are the changes in the plot. I’ll touch on this more below the spoiler line, but if you’ve seen it, you know they really messed with the plot, and in some cases, not in a good way.

My advice to those of you going to see this movie:
-Bring tissues
-Watch from a non-reader perspective
–Bring Tissues

***Spoilers Below***

In the movie, the curse was that someone who Lena loved would die (is that right? I’m lost). Then the curse would break and everyone would live happily ever after (except Ethan who would be dead).

And Lena made Ethan forget him!

If you didn’t get a little (or a lot) teary at some point during this movie, you’re a liar. Even though this is not how the book goes, I think it was a powerful thing. Lena was willing to sacrifice anything to keep the boy she loved alive. Even though it meant that he wouldn’t remember her. And then the scene where the preacher talked about sacrifice. If you didn’t cry when Ethan forgot Lena, this should’ve done it.

I almost screamed when I realized what was going to happen with Link and Ethan. If you didn’t cry when Ethan forgot Lena or when the preacher gave a sermon on sacrifice, I KNOW YOU CRIED WHEN LENA THOUGHT ETHAN DIED. That part, as I described it to my mother, took my heart, crushed it into a million pieces, stomped on the pieces, sat on the pieces, and then threw the pieces in a fire. Okay, maybe I’m slightly dramatic, but that’s how I felt. It was kind of like the end of Breaking Dawn Part 2, where you think something really, really, bad has happened that wasn’t in the book and you fear the directors took the plot of the book and did with it what the scene where Lena cried over Ethan did to my heart and you can do nothing but sit there in shock until you realize that it wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought. Not saying that Macon’s death wasn’t really bad, but at least the plot of the book wasn’t burning in a fire like my heart.

The six month later part, where Ethan and Lena start talking again and Lena repeats the “define good,” line, I almost cried again. I’m such a sap when it comes to movies if you can’t tell. Wait for The Mortal Instruments.

Then at the very end, Ethan yells, “LEEENNNNAAAA,”

And.
Then.
It.
Ends.

I will spare you my full reaction, as it would be another sappy story of tears and burning hearts, but I will say this: The have to make Beautiful Darkness. You can’t just end a movie like that and not continue the series. You just don’t do that. In fact, I read something posted by Cassandra Clare on her tumblr page about closure in movies. She said that ending a movie, especially a first in a series, with a cliffhanger is not a good idea. I’m just going to take the fact that they ended it with a cliffhanger of sorts as a sign of more movies to come.

I didn’t like the timing of the movie. I was very confused as to what day was what, how long had passed between scenes, that kind of thing. This was one of my biggest concerns with the movie. In fact, when I first found out they were making a movie of this, my first reaction was “How will they do the timing?” The book was spaced out over many months, which is hard to portray in a movie. I understand they had to rush it, but I feel like the transitions could’ve been better.

I loved all the characters. I liked how they added a few little things here and there to the characters, like Ethan drawing Lena. That was kind of cute. I hate that we didn’t get to see more of Link, especially his relationship with Ridley. Although that one scene… I don’t even want to get in to that one. I also liked Ridley better in the book. Overall, I think the casting (no pun intended) was done well. Even though they didn’t stick to exact descriptions, I don’t care. The acting was great, and that’s what really matters, right?

The movie was very funny. Even though it was very sad in some parts, there were tons of funny parts. A few of my favorites were:

Ethan: “I won’t go straight to hell, Emily. I want to stop at New York first.”

Link: “Some girls are like mad dogs; you either shoot or run.”

Lena: “No way! Ethan Wate drove me home?”
Ethan: “You’ve heard of me?”
Lena: “No.”

Lena: “I made these last night… From a cookie mix”

Those are the only ones I can remember for now!

I’m glad they kept the “Stay away from my boyfriend” part in. I loved that part it the book! Also, the table spinning in that part was so cool! It didn’t look like cheesy CGI. If you didn’t know, the table was actually spinning when they filmed that part. It would’ve been fun to be in that scene! Larkin cracked me up sitting there eating during the whole ordeal.

I liked the way they did the locket flashback parts. The second one where Genevieve went dark was really creepy. I think I was most excited to see Genevieve out of all the characters. I was not disappointed! She was much creepier in the movie than in the book.

Now, I might be wrong, but I heard somewhere that the director and screenwriter only wanted to read the first book so he could just focus in getting the one book right or something like that. If that’s true, they did a pretty good job of hinting at certain things *cough*Lila and Macon*cough* They actually brought up that relationship, which makes me wonder if what I heard was wrong. Of course, it could be a coincidence.

Well, I think that covers everything! What did you all think of the movie?

Review and Discussion: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Summary: Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup. He wants to find out about the mysterious event that’s supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn’t happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he’s not normal – even by wizarding standards. And in his case, different can be deadly.

Rating: 5/5

I’ll admit, I put off reading this for a long time. It was really long, the beginning didn’t quite catch my interest, I had a ton of other books to read, and when I finally decided I wanted to read it, I lost it! Obviously, I found it (I wouldn’t be writing a review otherwise!). Anyway, I’m so glad that I finally read it. This one seemed a lot more mature than the past three and much darker. It was paced wonderfully so that you had to keep reading and you were never bored. There’s a whole lot of mystery as well. However, many of the main questions are answered. There are enough questions left unanswered that you want to keep coming back for more.

The only thing I did not like about this book was the beginning. There was a lot of introduction stuff. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I prefer the Hogwarts stuff rather than the end of summer vacation stuff. I’m so glad I pushed through that though because the rest was amazing!

Like I said earlier, this book takes a much darker twist. The end especially. I can’t wait to see the whole thing played out in the movie! Yes, I admit, I have not watched a complete Harry Potter movie ever. I’m really behind on the Harry Potter train. Better late than never though!

This has been my favorite book in the series so far. I just started Order of the Phoenix so hopefully it will be even better!

***Spoilers Below!***

There isn’t a whole lot that I want to comment on that I haven’t already except for the end. Thanks to tumblr, I was prepared for the death of Cedric Diggory (as well as many in Deathly Hallows) so that wasn’t much of a surprise. Still, I think it is a defining moment of the series, as it is the first time a good guy (not counting James and Lily) dies. Most children’s books are the same: the bad guy always dies. Cedric’s death is what, to me, bumped up the maturity of this book more than anything. We know after reading that part that this fight with Voldemort won’t be all about good prevailing. It’s real. And in real life, good guys die.

I’ll admit, I’m a little scared to see the end play out in the movie. If they did it right (no one spoil it!), it will scare the poo out of me. Call me weak stomached, or soft-hearted, that was an intense scene. Scary or not, I can’t wait to see the movie!

The whole part with the connecting of Harry and Voldemort’s wands (I can’t remember what it’s called and I’m too lazy to get off my butt and find my book) was very weird. Probably because I was anxious to see what happened and I rushed through it.

I’m going to go back a bit and say that I highly enjoyed the Triwizard Tournament. However, I think I would have liked it better if Harry hadn’t been clued in on everything. Yes, I understand it was critical to the plot for Moody to help him, so don’t think I’m criticizing J.K. Rowling’s choices in writing it the way she did, but I think it would’ve been interesting to see Harry figure out everything (or even just the Dragons) on his own. Also, I really like Fleur Delacour. I hope we’ll get to see her more in upcoming books.

That’s all I have to say for now. Off to read Order of the Phoenix!

Review and Discussion: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Summary
Mara Dyer doesn’t believe life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.

Rating: 3/5
*Note: I was not going to publish this review due the fact that it isn’t nearly up to standard. However, I changed my mind. Enjoy!

This book was very confusing. It started off wonderfully. It was well written, very detailed, and then… it started to get really weird. Mar Dyer, our main character, has post traumatic stress disorder and, let me just say it, is kind of crazy. She frequently has hallucinations so you never really know what’s real. Most of that is cleared up at the end, but not everything.

Aside from the confusion, the plot and concept itself was very intriguing. It was very dark. However, there was something… Normal about it. While the concept and plot were far from normal, most of the book is about a normal girl in a normal setting, trying to be normal. That’s not the greatest description, but it will do for now.

I like the characters, but Mara was a little crazy (understandably), and Noah went from jerk to caring boyfriend a little too fast. I do like Noah though. Even though he was arrogant, he wasn’t your typical stuck up rich kid.

Overall, I think I read this book too fast. Also, I read 80% of this book between the hours of 11 pm and 2 am, possible accounting for how confused I am. I’m seriously thinking that I might’ve fallen asleep and missed something. I may take a break, reread this book, and redo this review.

***Spoilers Below***

There isn’t much I have to say about this book that I haven’t already. I didn’t see the end coming. I probably should’ve. ‘They never found Jude’s body’ (not exact quote, obviously) should’ve set off the figurative warning sirens in my head. That just screams foreshadowing. I guess reading at 2 am dulls the warning sirens.

The scene after the whole ‘look into past’ or whatever thing… I have no words. That made absolutely no sense whatsoever. First of all, who pays a guy they think is a quack 5000 dollars to give their girlfriend chicken blood? That was just plain stupid on Noah’s part. Second of all, the scene that follows… What was that? I’m completely lost.

Also, my German vocab has expanded slightly…

Lastly, I’m slightly confused with the timing of everything. One page they were saying, “oh, you need to do this, that, and the other,” and the next page they were doing this, that, and the other. Again, I’m sure I missed something, but I’m lost.

That’s all I really have to say… I think I’ll wait a while before reading The Evolution of Mara Dyer… And I’ll probably reread this book and rewrite this whole review. I’m sorry if I confused you.