Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (5 stars of 5)

I just finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling.  This is my second time through this series of books and Goblet of Fire is still good on its second reading.  I rate this 5 stars out of 5.

In Goblet of Fire, Harry is mysteriously chosen to be a school champion, representing Hogwarts, in a Tri-wizard tournament.  Each trial in the tournament is dangerous, even life-threatening.  Harry must uncover the mystery of who and why his name was submitted for the tournament as well as successfully complete each of the trials without losing his life.

Out of the seven books in this series, all of which are good, I think this one may be my favorite.

I think the writing is good (except I think that she uses too many adverbs).  I liked how she tried to break out of her plot formula that she developed and used and reused in her previous three installments.  I also liked that she expanded the Wizarding world internationally.  I enjoyed the german and french wizarding students in this school.

I thought the pace of the book was very good, which is significant because this is the largest of the first four books; usually longer books are vulnerable to pacing issues.  But this book definitely kept my interest; I did not find myself wondering, "hey, I wonder what is on tv." as I was reading.

I thought this book was pivotal in the series; she seems to be writing for an older audience at this point.  I would not consider this a children's book; there are elements of action/suspence and violence that I would have have reservations about for young kids.  But because of the more-adult nature of this book, she is able to delve deeper into Harry's character (which is a good thing).

I really like Victor Crumb's character, a superstar but vulnerable (as seen when talking to Harry about a particular young lady).

I think J K Rowling hates the press as shown by her depiction of Rita Skeeter.  She was a character that I loved to dislike.

Overall, I thought this was a great book.  I really enjoyed reading it.  I rate it 5 stars out of 5 stars.