Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling (Review)

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4)
Author: J.K. Rowling 
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc, 2000 (July 8)
Genre: YA Fantasy, MG Fantasy

This review can be found on my Blog, TeacherofYA’s Tumblr, or my Goodreads page

My Review:

Hello, lovely bloggerinos! I’m working in a sweatshop right now until school starts (no, I’m not talking about my very part-time job at my bookstore) so I haven’t had time to post! I hate that! Blogging is my life force! When I’m resting from the unbelievably painful job I took while I wait to teach (gotta make that money), I read or catch up on my email. So I have not had time to write up my review for Harry Potter #4!! And I love writing my HP reviews for my HPBlogateers group! 

Which, btw, this read was done with Tiff from Tiffthebooknerd and Jodie @ forthenovellovers (we lose people all the time…some people just can’t hang with Harry Potter apparently! Want to read book five with us? Comment below! We haven’t started yet, and we take as long as you need! 

Anyway, onto the review! 

I was anticipating this one…it’s my fave HP book of all of them! And so I picked this one to be my spotlight book right away. 

Now I’m sure you’re thinking, Stephanie (or Teach), how are you going to review this without giving spoilers away from the other books? It’s simple really! I am! 😂

Seriously, how can I review this book without giving away something from the previous books, whether it be accidental or not?!? So I am going to try my best, but I’m sure something that references a previous book will be in here…I’ll try to keep it at a minimum. But honestly, if you haven’t read it or seen the movies by now, are you really making it that much of a priority that a reference to an older book in the series is going to make a difference? I didn’t think so.

Ok. Let’s get on with it! 

We start our journey with Harry having a nightmare…but it seems like a prophecy. Voldemort is somewhere and Harry can feel him, but he wakes from the dream, his scar hurting as if in warning. By now Harry knows that nothing is simple…but he tries to have fun by attending the Quidditch World Cup with Ron’s family. We are introduced to Cedric Diggory, a popular student and played by a young Edward Cullen from Twilight (oh, Robert Pattinson, I love thee!). 

Now, the World Cup is a big party, and everything is going great until Voldemort’s Mark is made in the sky, a warning that he will return. That, coupled with Harry’s dream and scar hurting, has Harry convinced that the bad guy is coming back. Unfortunately, the boss wizards chalk it up to pranks and don’t take it seriously. They are more focused on the announcement coming at Hogwart’s when the school opens.

And what an announcement it is! There will be a Triwizard Tournament! Wizards (of age of course) can put their name in the cup, and if they are chosen, they will compete for prize money and acclaim. Harry is tempted but age restrictions are placed, so he doesn’t even attempt to put his name in the cup.

But somebody does. 

After three participants are chosen, Harry is also picked. 

He MUST compete according to the rules. And no one is happy about it. Well, Harry is a little…but Ron is NOT. EVERYONE thinks that Harry is responsible for putting his name in the cup somehow, since no one can enter for you. 

So Harry is in danger once again….is this the work of Voldemort? A lackey? Someone trying to off Harry? 

Can he survive the trials that only most advanced wizards can pass? 

Will he beat Cedric, our handsome Hogwart’s school entrant? 

Oh, Cedric. I love you. 😍❤️

Is It Classroom-Appropriate?

Yes, but once again this is a sequel, and sequels do not usually work in classroom settings. The book is defintely, to me, the best one out of all of them, as this is where Harry really comes into his own. We see the trials of a novice wizard against advanced ones, we meet other students from other Wizarding schools (there are other Wizarding schools than Hogwart’s??), and we see Ron and Harry deal with flirtations and first loves. It is a great book for a current Harry Potter reader, but as for the classroom, there’s no need to include this one in the curriculum unless you’re doing a heavy Harry Potter unit. 

So for class use, I give Goblet of Fire ★★★☆☆. This in no way reflects the quality of the book. That rating is coming up, as my regular readers know.

Age Range

This book in the series has a Lexile score of 880L, which is similar to all the other Harry Potter books. This one in particular is huge: the book is 752 pages! When this was released, it was a big deal because that is considered extremely long for a MG book. However, since Rowling has kept her books pretty clean, I would suggest an age range of 11 and up. The first book suggests 9, but unless you have a patient reader, a younger person might struggle because of the book’s length. I encourage all young readers to try Harry Potter as it reflects his age as he gets older…Harry is 11 when the series starts but is 14 by the time Goblet of Fire starts. 

There is some violence…but it’s not enough to shy me away from recommending it…there’s more violence in cartoons than in Harry Potter. (Well. Maybe not. But it’s not grotesque violence…just battles and such. And a couple of sacrifices by Voldemort’s minions.)

***Now, once again, before the End Result, I would like to introduce you to the Spotlight Reader: ME!! Stephanie from TeacherofYA’s Book Blog!!!***

Boo! I see you! 😂🤣

I was asked a question by each member – so let’s get into my questions and answers! 

• TIFF: Which dragon would you choose to battle from the book?

What?? I don’t want to battle a DRAGON 🐉 ! Ummmmmm. I guess the Common Welsh? He’s kinda cute in a dangerously scary deadly way…

I mean, the pocket-sized version is cute…

Him? Not so much.

Are you trying to kill me, Tiff??

• JODIE: Which task would you like to participate in and why? 

Ummm, none of them? Why am I getting all the dangerous questions?!? If I HAD to pick, I guess I would pick the Maze task…it seems like the safest one? 😭😭😭 But I don’t wanna go through any tasks! ::rocks back and forth on the floor::

Sammi from Onebookishgirl has rejoined for book five, so we let her ask me a question! 

Maybe she won’t want to kill me….

• SAMMI: Which spells out of the four performed would you use in an underwater task? 

Never mind, everyone wants to kill me apparently.

I think I would use the bubble charm spell. It’s the spell that essentially wraps your head in a bubble of air and allows you to breathe underwater. Other things mentioned in the book are timed, and I’m not exactly thrilled with running out of air at the bottom of a lake…actually, I’m not exactly thrilled with being at the bottom of a lake….
End Result:

Could you ever think I could give a Harry Potter book less than ★★★★★? If you do, then you obviously haven’t read it! Duh! 

Now, I promised a giveaway and I’m not going to disappoint…I have a special ARC that will go to one lucky winner…but I’m just waiting for my paycheck, so I can pay for shipping. So watch for the next post, as I’m hoping that will be when I can announce it. But it’s picked out and ready, and it’s a release from this month…so get ready my wonderful blogger bunnies 🐰 because my blogoversary party hasn’t stopped! 😁 (I like to party too much to stop!)

Won’t you join me and my #HPBlogateers? Or are you just waiting for the giveaway? 😏