Rating: 5 stars
Cover synopsis: There is a door at the end of a silent corridor. And it's haunting Harry Potter's dreams. Plus, Harry is faced with the unreliability of the very government of the magical world and the impotence of the authorities at Hogwarts.
This is probably one of the most angst-ridden Harry Potter installments. In almost every scene, Harry is frustrated, angry, or yelling at someone. Which is understandable considering the pressure he's under, the ever-present threat of death and the fact that no one believes him about Lord Voldemort returning -- not to mention a girlfriend who is an emotional basketcase.
Still, I admire Rowling's gift for weaving humor into a book whose themes are growing ever darker, and still igniting the flames of imagination in the reader.
The author seems to try to flesh out some of the action sequences in this novel, and I'm not sure I'm wild about it esffect in the climax here -- there were too many odd chambers with too many odd goings-on to keep track of in my opinion. But this is a minor nit-pick in an otherwise oustanding read.
This has always been one of my favorites in the series because the struggle of good vs. evil doesn't come down to just one major event at the end, but it has infiltrated every aspect of Harry's life, right down to his dreams, his family, and his physical well-being. (I'm also wild about Neville, and we get to see more of him in this book.)
