Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm just going to go ahead and say it. This book is slightly bloated. It's not a systemic problem were you can see the bloat everywhere. I've read books that just drone on and on without any real point (that still manage to get published) and GoF doesn't come close to any of those. But the issue is noticeable enough to point it out. This is particularly apparent as the villain(s) just stand around and give their dissertation on how they fooled a 14-year-old. Making special note on how they had to continuously help Potter with the puzzles because he wasn't smart enough to solve them himself. Which is fair.
Aside from the notably weaker pacing, this book is more of the same from the series. There's a magical concept introduced, a mystery surrounding it, and no questioning why students are taught defense against the dark arts instead of taking them to a gun range. If they somehow did, don't let Trelawney be the teacher.
Side note, the opening chapter is a prologue not an actual chapter. I know it's super petty, but, when you read as much as I do, shit like that annoys you.
Except for poking some fun at this book, I really don't have much to say about it. It still has much of the same charm as the previous volumes provided you make the same conceits. Even though it takes a dark turn towards the ends, it doesn't seem out of place from the rest of the book. Nothing is worse than a book starting as something and tries to become something else. Thankfully, GoF is able to change tone but still stays on brand. Which, honestly, is harder to do than most readers might realize.
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