[HPforGrownups] Re: Newbie, difficulty getting into OoP

[Karen]

No: HPFGUIDX 146654

Marilyn Peake writes:
Beginning with The Goblet of Fire, the later Harry Potter books are 
quite different than the first three.  Both The Order of the Phoenix 
and The Half-Blood Prince are definitely darker, and I think much 
more reflective of politics in the real world.  I found that, if I 
stopped comparing the later Harry Potter books to the earlier ones, 
they were very rich and rewarding in their own right.  I loved that 
Umbridge was introduced into the series because I think we've all 
known our share of Umbridges; it was so great to see that type of 
character in such an extreme form, kind of like a character I loved 
to hate. :)

kchuplis:

I read the first three at the request of a friend so she could talk about them. I thought they were good, entertaining, but book 4, specifically the moment LV said "Kill the Spare" and Cedric was dead with no mamby pamby dying speeches or chases or anything else, I sat up and went "whoa" this chick is not messing around. It repeaked my interest entirely. OoTP was satisfying for me in that Harry is The Angry Young Man. He acted like a real teen with a past. I really liked it. I can't say as I had trouble getting into it, but it wasn't until my second read that I really began to grasp its implications. This book on is a lot more layered and may take a bit to chomp into. I like that. 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]