Got to be careful with this one, as I want to spill the beans. I doubt that anyone reading this hasn't read the book yet if they want to (except for hubby-Eric), but that doesn't mean I ought to put spoilers up front. So I'll hide them.
Rowling is a very good storyteller, and that makes up for most of her faults as a writer. The writing is simple and straightforward, but the story is a rippin' yarn that draws you in and carries you along. I thought the length would bother me, but I just kept turning pages, dying to find out what happened next. This book is much darker than the first four, with less humor moments, and the end is a bit of a downer in some ways. There are also some gaping plotholes that might have solutions in future books... Overall, not as good as the others, but better in some ways. Fun non-spoiler quote: "Europa's covered in ice, not mice" - Hermione 
Spoiler Review Below (highlight/select to read):
I think the biggest problem with this book is the completely realistic portrayal of teenagers. Yup. Kids really do act that snippy and prickly with one another at that age. But in a book this length, it was almost too much. We got it. They are going through puberty and they are on edge, enough with the in-fighting already!
There are some interesting things going on with Neville. Basically, he could've been "The Boy Who Lived", yet Voldy picked on Harry instead. What I find really interesting about this is that we've been led to believe that Neville's power is weak. I don't think that's the case at all. Neville is probably one of the strongest wizards of his age, he just has a block to mastering his power. And where was he when his parents were tortured into insanity? Could something have happened to baby Neville that made him unable to use his abilities? And now, Harry seems to be breaking that block with the DA club...
Sirius' mirror is both a plot hole and an intentional guilt trip, and I don't like it. All that needed to be done is one reminder, and the whole sequence at the end wouldn't have happened. NOT good. While it seems to have been set-up as an indication of Harry's stubborness as well as Sirius' larger-than-life actions, it just didn't work for me.
So that's the big weapon that Voldemort is after? An old prophecy that says nothing that hasn't already been figured out? Is that the ultimate in let-downs, or what? The book builds and builds, then falls flat right at the end. If the prophecy itself turns out to not be the weapon, but a gigantic red herring, I'll be much more pleased, but that still drags down this book.
Best part of the book, by far, is when the twins finally decide to stop playing by the rules. Their all-out attack on Umbridge is the thing legends are made of, and was definitely the highlight of the book. We always knew what they were capable of, but we never saw them when all the constraints were off.
The death in the book was anti-climatic. I think, in some ways, this is ok. Cedric's death Gobblet of Fire was also very quick and strange, and I think that's one point that Rowling is trying to make. Death isn't pretty, it isn't glorious, and it hurts.
End Spoilers. If the above stuff shows up on your computer without you highlighting it, please let me know what kind of browser and computer you are using so I can try to fix it. Thanks.
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