Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

A good installment in the series, but overly long. At 900 pages, it was the longest so far. She could have cut a third of the book out and told the same story. There were hundreds of pages in the middle where not much of anything was happening.

I enjoyed the characterization of Umbridge. Also, I like how Snape is developing – I suspect is he’s actually something of a hidden hero, and will redeem himself mightily by the time this is over.

The denouement at the end in Dumbledore’s office seemed a little contrived, like she’s trying retroactively cast a larger plot onto the series. I feel like she’s at the point where she’s seeing the end of the series and having to wrap up some loose ends, so she’s inventing plot points that she can bring full circle.