Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
MG Fantasy. 734 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that’s supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn’t happened for hundreds of years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he’s not normal – even by wizarding standards.
And in his case, different can be deadly.
My Review:
I definitely liked this one more than the first two, but not as much as the third one.
This one took a bit of a darker turn, but I don’t typically mind a little dark in a story. We started out with the Tri-Wizard Cup, cause ya know we gotta have our daily dose of Quidditch in these books XD It was a neat worldbuilding opportunity and I liked the way Rowling did the big gaming event with the wizard-world twist. And during the whole book we go back and forth between Harry and co. and Wormtail and some sketchy stuff. That first Deatheater attack was very KKK. Harry also had some scar hurting issues and visions connected to what Wormtail and co were doing, but that didn’t really seem to go anywhere plotwise.
The school had its own big competition with the Tri-Wizard Tournament (not at all confusing with the similar terms). The different challenges that the students had to face were probably my favorite parts of the book. The first had dragons, and we all know how much I adore dragons. I actually really liked how Harry approached this challenge. It was clever and cool. Also, I really, really liked seeing the older Weasly boys. That was a treat. The second challenge had mermaids, and if there’s anything I’m more obsessed with than dragons, it’s mermaids XD Though we didn’t dig into really cool mermaid culture, it was still a neat challenge and it showed Harry’s heroic heart–which was good cause I have a hard time liking him most of the time. And the final challenge felt a little anticlimactic but the challenge was really the backdrop for the something bigger that the whole book built up to.
I will say I really liked Cedric. He was a really nice dude. I liked how he and Harry began as competitors but got over that and started working together. The twist with him–which everyone probably already knows at this point, but I won’t spoil cause principles XD–was really sudden. I didn’t expect it at all and it threw me off. And, honestly, I’m not really sure why Rowling did it. Of course, it could come into play later, but as it is, it seemed a little…meaningless.
I liked seeing the other schools and students that came to Hogwarts. The instructors were distinct and dynamic, as Rowling does so well. The Hagrid romance thing was a little…odd. I’m not sure how I felt about that. He fell so quickly, and at first, it seemed he was infatuated because of her appearance and not much deeper. Similarly, the romance line with Hermione was a little strange. It felt kind of stiff or jagged.
I did not love Hermione’s political activism plot line. It got really annoying really quickly, and again, appeared to have no point. Hermione is smart and loyal. She’s endearing. She helps the others–and much like her, I was annoyed by the way the boys dismissed her warnings and procrastinated, particularly Harry. But the political push just felt so forced and made me feel like there was some secret agenda the author was pushing, which is one of the fastest ways to annoy me as a reader. The house elves were fine–they said as much–and really she disrespected their culture and beliefs by pushing so hard. I admire what she wanted to do, but she needs to realize that not everyone shares the same beliefs as she does and she can’t make anyone do anything they don’t want to. The whole house elf movement and activism didn’t feel cohesive or natural to the plot.
Furthermore, I got kind of annoyed at Ron and Harry. Their whole fight was pretty stupid and went on way too long. I like Ron. A lot. He’s one of my favorite characters. And his jealousy of Harry is an interesting character facet. It deepened his character and made him more realistic. I sympathized with him. But when he flat out refused to believe his best friend, I got annoyed. Maybe for like a night or maybe even a week. But dude. Best friend’s believe each other. And their whole feud just irked me. It should have resolved sooner and it should never has got as bad as it did. It almost felt unrealistic. That said, I did like the way Harry ended up in the competition in the first place. It was a neat plot element, if not totally predictable that he would compete.
The plotline with Voldemort’s followers was kind of creepy, honestly, and that climax dragged on for me. I got kind of bored and it was a little cliche for the villain to duel the hero (though Harry is still like a 15 year old kid, so also it’s kind of cruel if you think about it that these guys want to off a kid so badly). But I did really find the battle itself intriguing, once we finally got there. The wands in this world intrigue me and I hope we dig in more to the mechanics of how they work and the repercussions of that in later books.
What I really liked about this book was how it felt like a mystery. There were pieces put into place and the plot unfolded piece by piece. Bertha going missing, the caretaker and Wormtail, the pensive bowl and what Harry learned there, all these little pieces were like breadcrumbs. And I enjoyed puzzling them out. The twist at the end was pretty awesome too. Not quite as epic as the twist in book 3, but close. I was intrigued by the story in this one.
Oh! And Mad-eye Moody! I liked him a lot. I definitely want to see more of him in future books. He was a really fun character and made losing Lupin in book 3 a little more bearable. I’m curious if we’ll end up with yet another defense of the dark arts teacher in the next book or if we’ll actually get to keep Moody.
Content: there’s no swearing and very little romance, but there’s a bit of violence in this one and some dark themes. The book obviously has wizardry in it, and that’s more prominent in this book than in previous ones. There’s darker magic in this one than in previous ones, too. And the book deals with topics like prejudice and mistreatment of others, etc. I’d recommend parents read this one first and then probably say I’d be comfortable giving it to 15/16+.
More:
Book 1 in the Harry Potter series is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (3 Stars)
Book 2 is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (3 Stars)
Book 3 is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (4 Stars)
Book 5 is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (4 Stars)
Book 6 is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Book 7 is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I’m currently reading the series, so they haven’t all been rated or reviewed on Goodreads yet. But I am updating as I read through the series, so stay tuned!
The series should be read in order.
On GraceBought
If you missed it, you can find my thoughts on the previous books in the series here! And stay tuned for my review of the next book!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban