Each book just keeps getting more exciting! This kept my interest peaked the whole book.
I didn't want to put it down as there kept being surprises & suspense. I recommend this book to anyone liking the idea of magic & supernatural as part of a storyline. The characters definitely hold the reader's interest.And they continue to grow in depth. So now, I'm going to get the4th novel in the series of Harry Potterg novel

Arrived quickly. This has to be my favorite from the entire series. It's a little heavy for children under 10 but not unreasonably. It deals with a lot of loss but that is to be expected in life. But I know some parents like to shield their children from the heavier topics in life so this may be on of those books that you may want to hold off on for a bit.

I try to avoid duplicating comments in prior reviews in general & with this book the number of reviews is fast approaching the number of pages in the book--759! Awesome. As the final work in a series of 7, this book must be understood in context - of the other books. The set is an epic tale in a magical & mysterious world--the author stresses many things--mystery (keeping the readers guessing), fantasy (magic & muggles), adolescent life (snogging & infatuations), etc.--BUT relating them to real life through symbol & allegory (muggle hatred & mudblood discrimination). Per Joseph Campbell's works The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Paladin Books), its outward theme is a hero's quest--with both human & magical helpers--Harry isn't Superman & Hermione isn't Supergirl. See also the wonderful works of Allan Chinen Beyond the Hero: Classic Stories of Men in Search of Soul & Marie-Louise von Franz Individuation in Fairy Tales (C. G. Jung Foundation Books) on the psychological value of fairy tales. Of course, this involves a struggle against evil & dark forces similar to Tolkien's works & many others (e.g. E. R. Eddison The Worm Ouroboros). But our author is multidimensional--aiming apparently at a VERY wide range of readers of varying ages. Thus, it must be many-leveled to reach them. Indeed, it is. Many of the characters seemingly one-dimensionally good or evil, turn out to be deeper than that--like the Taoist yin-yang symbol, there's a dot of white in the black ½ & a dot of black in the white ½--very archetypal. Thus, it is not surprising to have a wedding in the middle of violent upheaval--like the Buddhist story of the person falling over a cliff when pursued by wolves who clings to a plant being chewed by a rat. She reaches over to pluck a strawberry to eat & savor even though death is imminent. Enjoy what you can, when you can. There is considerable death in this book too. Such struggles require it. But death is not the opposite of life. Death is the opposite of birth--as shown in the Epilogue. Life includes both. It's a cycle. Yes, there is a "Greater good" but (as shown in this book) one MUST be entirely selfless to discern what that is. Even Dumbledore had something to learn!

In addition, there are some great lines in this book:
p. 381: Her voice was now so shrill only bats would be able to hear it soon.
p. 388: Harry felt like the only non-mourner at a poorly attended funeral.
p. 718: Those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.

Many will quickly read through this book in a "few" hours. I suggest you do NOT. Read it slowly & savor it. Experience the slow parts with patience--they may be trying to teach you something--& the violence with compassion. The world is the way the world is, not the way we want it to be, and to change yourself is to change the world. Have a great read!

There are four Harry Potter books that were written before the order of the Phoenix, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, but I was skeptical about reading the Order of the Phoenix, due to its length. Usually it's hard for an author to keep a series interesting as it progresses, but J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series actually gets better with each story. The Order of the Phoenix is well written and is definitely a page turner

Overall:
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4 stars - A fairly satisfying ending to the Dark Lord / Harry Potter saga -- the ending is a bit weak, slightly cliched and a lot of dead cool characters.
Harry controls the final confrontation with the Dark Lord yet gives the Dark Lord a way out (why?). The Dark Lord's insanity combined with meglomania is his downfall not Harry Potter. It is a cheapening of what one expected from Harry Potter.

The search for the Horcruxes is only really possible due to Hermiene's knowledge of magic and magical skills. Harry does show much character and pushes for understanding the Deathly Hallows but really it is more a plot device than anything else. The Dark Lord is blinded by power (searching for the Elder Wand) when he should be finishing off the opposition with the ruthlessness of hardened, paranoid war lord.

The great losses by the forces of good seem to be trivialized by the epilogue. I was looking for some type of memorial / recognition of the sacrifices made. The life as usual with the references of respect by naming of the various children is touching but not enough.

Characters:
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The deaths of main characters "off-screen" is disappointing and cheapens their loss. Frankly, I cared much more about the characters that died off-screen than the potential loss of Harry's life. It is strange to think the side-characters were more important; I guess the sacrafice they were willing to make for a friend and the side of good is more compelling than Harry's battle with the Dark Lord.

The assault on Hogswort showed a tremendous amount of the internal qualities of the side characters than Harry. Harry raised the you can not do this as I will not have your death on my conscious non-sense again. Harry is clearly missing the point of friendship, trust, sacrafice and need to fight evil/darkness at all costs. Why does Ron and Hermiene have to be Harry's conscience all the time? The characters understand the risk but they also understand what is at stake -- please give them some credit!

Mrs. Weasley: She rocks! It was great to see her step up as it is hinted that she is a formittable witch in the other books.

Snape: He is one of the best characters in a very long time for me. He is very complex and well developed. I did not like how it was all tied back to silent love of a character that is barely developed. If you are going to tied up so much of your life for a lost love, the lost love should be developed in more detail.

Harry: The sudden rash of logistical ability to get the horcruxes is out of character for him. The sudden wisdom to appreciate what Dumbledore had setup is out of character and seems forced just to get the story to a conclusion. It is good that he finally accepts people for being able to think and work as a team (not guided by him).

The selflessness of Harry that the ability to turn down the Deathly Hallows is not done well as it conflicts with his selfness internal discussions. I appreciate that Harry is supposed to be the bright shining light of all that is good but the suddenness of being selfless does not quite work for me; it needed more development as I have found Harry to be very selfish in a lot of ways through out the series.

Ginny: She is a good character that deserves more development.

Dobbie: A good tie in here and lead up to the final battle. A way to turn an annoying character from early on into a real character.

Plot:
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The plot is pretty straight forward as it needs to resolve the Dark Lord vs. Harry situation...does the evil triumuph over good. The race between the Dark Lord and Harry's small group is reasonably well done. However, the Dark Lord would have realized the problem with the Elder Wand before the final showdown.

The Deathly Hallows is an interesting plot device but should have been mentioned in the prior books. It seems like it was added as a way to wrap up the series while the rest of the books show a clear well-developed back story. Note: this is a minor point given the level of complex back story JKR has developed for the other books.

Action:
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The final assault is well done with good pacing. The "good" guys should really have been wiping out attackers more effectively as they would fight together better than typical one-on-one tactics of the Death Eaters...the concept of surpressing fire, area of effect spells and defensive casting would really have helped the good guys. Also, it is a war and killing the attackers is ok...war is hell!

Prose:
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The prose is on par with the other stories.

Summary:
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Overall: 4 stars
Characters: 3 to 3.5 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Action: 4 to 4.5 stars -- the assault is well done
Prose: 3 stars