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197 Reviews

by Top favorable review

A Timeless Story

My thirty year old son wanted this book for Christmas to complete his collection. My children grew up listening to me read these tales out loud to them. Rowling has captured the never ending battle between good and evil externally and within ourselves and every character has stood the test of time. Read them all every ten years or so and you will see them in a different perspective each time!!Read full review...

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by Top critical review

A bit disappointing

Item was listed as very good condition... pages are discolored by crayon and dirt & corners of the cover are pretty damaged. Not that upset by it but it is a little disappointing..

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Great Hardcover Edition

I love the Harry Potter books, and I wanted a great hardcover edition for myself (I first read my sister's copy, so never had my own), and was able to find one in great shape to put in my library.

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Great story!!

Harry Potter is the BEST set of stories for young people. ANY reading is important, to gain knowledge, to have fun....and this fits the bill. ALL of the Harry Potter stories are engaging, good vs. evil, and the stories help children (of ALL ages) get into the FUN of reading! VERY well written!Read full review...

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I found "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" to be just as exciting and entertaining as the previous books, if not more so. Rowlings is a great storyteller, and all her familiar trademarks are here: the colorful and eccentric characters, the humor, the playful use of words, the masterful cultivation of suspense. The book is over seven hundred pages long, but at the end you'll be wishing it were longer. There isn't a slow spot in it.
The story is, however, different in some ways from the previous ones. It's a lot darker and scarier, for one thing. Voldemort and his supporters play a prominent role in it, and their malice forms a palpable undercurrent in the plot from chapter one on. By the end of the story, you get to see just HOW evil Voldemort and his minions actually are. And let me tell you, they're pretty evil.

The other big difference is that Harry, Ron, Hermione and their friends are starting to grow up. The boys and girls have begun to notice each other now, and all the familiar problems of adolescence--jealousy, insecurity, fear of rejection, desire to fit in--or stand out--are starting to descend on them. I enjoy seeing the characters evolve in this way, but those who would rather they stay eternal 11-year-olds may be disappointed.

The story is not as self-contained as those in the previous books. Many plot lines are left open at the end, presumably to be resolved in books #5, 6, and 7. If you think you had a hard time waiting for "Goblet of Fire" to come out, wait till you finish it and are left thinking about the next one!

All in all, I highly recommend this book. If you're already a Harry Potter fan you won't be disappointed, and if you're not, reading it might very well make you one.Read full review...

by

Harry and Series Comes of Age

The main plot centers around the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where the three most prestigious schools of witchcraft and wizardry select a champion to compete. The tournaments are extremely dangerous and this year's is no exception. The events include stealing an egg from a dragon, rescuing a loved one from the bottom of the lake and the guardian mer-folk and finding the winner's cup in a maze made up of carnivorous hedges.

Harry wants no part of it, but the Goblet of Fire, which chooses a champion from each school, spat his name out. The tournament is supposed to be only for sixth and seventh years, but Harry is forced to participate anyway.

I said in my review of Prisoner of Azkaban that Harry comes of age at the end, when he decides to bring his parent's betrayer to justice rather than kill him out of revenge. In Goblet of Fire, Rowling has the world treat him like an adult as well, despite his age.

The new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts shows the class the three most horrible curses known to the wizarding world, which is pretty mature stuff. It is also the last real lesson a teacher gives Harry for the rest of the series. Never again does Harry learn a new spell in school, at least not one that is specifically mentioned in the books. He either uses spells he already knows, learns on his own or gets from his peers. There is only one more effort for a professor to teach him something (Snape teaching Occlumancy in Order of the Phoenix) and it fails.

The theme of adults no longer being able to help Harry does not end in the classroom. In the earlier books, tough questions could usually be answered by adults, or at least enough information as to form a helpful clue. Although Harry does continue to receive advice from adults in this book and the rest of the series, it is no longer very helpful. Much advice turns out to be wrong and often the adult admits to not knowing. When anything useful is received, it is of very marginal value.

The final demonstration of manhood comes when Harry must face off with Voldermort one on one. When it is over, he has completed his rite of manhood, regardless of what the Ministry says about his age.

But more than just Harry is developing. Although a mega-plot has been hinted at in previous books, this is the first time we see more than just shadows or vague references. Voldermort is alive, he has a plan and he is able to get his minions to execute his wishes. The attack on Harry wasn't a target of opportunity like the three times before, it was pre-meditated.

And Voldermore has an unwitting ally in The Ministry. The Ministry unwittingly joins the side of Voldermort when they force Harry to compete. One law says that the goblet chooses the champions, but another law says the underage should be protected. Any judge with a sense of fairness and decency would choose to protect the young over a rule to a game, no matter how important the game was. This should especially be true when it was clear that the goblet was tampered with.

Yet the Ministry didn't. It made a conscious decision to pervert the intent of a tradition for the sake of preserving the past and, in doing so, ignore the perils of the future. Like many decisions made in life, this choice has far reaching and disastrous consequences for wizards and muggles alike, but we don't see them right away. You have to read the final three books for that.

John Holland-author of The Necklace of TerrersylvanousRead full review...

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Very great book, easy to get sucked in

Harry Potter 4 is very good, very good content

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Poor Harry - never a dull moment in his life!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth installment in the popular book series. And what a surprise to see how large it is, compared to the first 3 books! They averaged 300 pages and this one tops in at over 600!

Harry and his friends are beginning their 4th year of magical instruction at Hogwarts school. Although the school year starts with an ominous sign (a terrorist attack by Death Eaters at a huge international sporting event), Harry is sure that this year will be a good one for him. He is starting this year on a "high note"...after discovering who ther real snitch was who "ratted" on his parents to Lord Voldemort (which led to their deaths), and saving his godfather from being wrongfully re-imprisoned. Even school seems really neat this year, as they have a new Professor who is teaching them some amazing stuff in Harry's favorite class (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

But alas for poor Harry, a happy and carefree school year is not in the cards. Under very unusual circumstances, his name is drawn to compete in a magical tournament...one that he is underage, underskilled and underprepared to compete in. Everyone is mad at Harry for "cheating" to get his name in the competition...even his best friend Ron. Like in his second year, (when many Hogwarts students feared harry was the Heir of Slytherin) Harry faces months of being shunned, rejected, friendless and alone. Luckily things pick up for Harry when he starts winning in the competitions and at least most people are not mad at him anymore...but he has other problems...such as the very awkward position of having to ask the girl he has a crush on, to the school dance.

Even though Harry is in the middle of a literally life-and-death competition, the book still takes time-out from the action to include humor, and bits of teenage experiences to be thrown in for greater realism and empathy. We may not be able to relate to the experience of dragon-battling, but we all know the sting of rejection from a teenage crush, or worries about not being able to dance.

I found this book to be easy reading, and generally, not "scary" until the end...when Voldemort returns. The end of this book marks the 'end of innocence' in Harry's world...the war that was brewing has begun and the series takes a darker turn from here as the main characters find themselves growing up in a ever more dangerous world.

Please do yourselves a favor and read this series from the beginning, and also be sure to READ the book, not just see the movie. The movies are fine, but the books are spectacular.Read full review...

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

This is maybe the 10th copy of this book I have purchased. We are a family of Harry Potter fans, so I buy for the kids, the grandkids and friends of us all. There just is not enough you can say about the Harry Potter series or J.K. Rowling's ability to put you in the scene and know these characters as friends and family. My 10 year old grandson asked me to read them, but I balked as I thought "kid's books", then my 15 year old grandson challenged me to read the first book and I was hooked for life. We have collections of Harry Potter in nearly every household. All are collecting the books, even my husband has gotten hooked on them and is finally finishing the 6th. This particular copy is to replace the paperbound in my son's collection, which I stold for my husband to read. Now I am collecting the paperbound and sending the hardbound to friends overseas. There is absolutley NOTHING to dislike about this series, about Harry or his friends and I cannot wait to see what J.K. Rowling will come up with next. We all know it will get us hooked on the first page and we will be fans for a lifetime.Read full review...

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Good book

Great read

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