Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4)
Summary:
Harry Potter is midway through both 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 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. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Review:
This book is so heartbreaking in some ways because Harry wants so badly to be a normal student and it’s dashed away right away. I’d also day that this is when the “angst of being Harry” begins, to stay until the end of Deathly Hallows. There were multiple moments where I just wanted to poke the characters, particularly Ron. Harry is forced to grow up very quickly in general, but the events from this book challenge him in entirely new ways. Rather than showing himself to know everything, he is forced to reach out all the more to his friends and adopted family to help him determine how to get through the trials.
All that being said, while Harry is the main focus, Hermione just continues to grow into a fantastic character. I loved her coming into herself in “Prisoner of Azkaban” and I think this book really helps her step forward even more as a main character. Obviously she’s been a main character in the full series, so I guess a better way to put it might be to say she becomes a more relatable character.
Warning: Contains violence.
Rating: 5 stars!
Who should read it? Fans of the series – at this point while you might be able to pick up the series here, going forward you’ll need the background from the previous books.
Want to read the whole series?