Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Probably my least favourite of the harry potter books (at least so far) taking me almost 3 months to finish. The middle is super slow, the start disconnected from everything else, and it doesn't finish with much payoff. Umbridge, who is supposed to be a shitty person, is also just a shitty character who ultimately bogs the story down significantly. For me the beauty of Harry Potter is in the way it captures the magic of childhood/teenage-hood and all that spirit is stripped here with her character. I'm aware the latter books are darker than the first few, but this wasn't so much “dark” as it was boring and dull. Still, the foundation set earlier in the series manages to carry it through.