Rating: 
Summary: The Best So Far
Review: I think the the 4th Harry Potter Book is the best in the series yet. It's a really exciting book and I loved it. I liked all of the mystery surronding the new characters, and mystery surronding the old. The book was well written. The only bad part of it was that it was a bit long (734 pages long to be exact). All in all, I really recomend the book, and readers of all ages will like it.
Rating: 
Summary: A magical read!
Review: J. K. Rowling shows that she hasn't burned out yet in this magical sequel to "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." A whopping 734 pages, Harry Potter's fourth year begins with a bang at the Quidditch World Cup. Hints of an exciting year at Hogwarts puzzle Harry and co. as the summer finishes up, Mrs. Weasley shops for their dress robes, and Fred and George manufacture their own Zonko's merchandise. At Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore informs them of a magical competition that will take place that year between 3 schools -- a competition that has not occurred in well over a century. Each school has a champion... but imagine Harry's surprise when he is chosen as the FOURTH competitor. Just when you think the book is coming to a close, an unexpected turn of events shows the path to a dark and exciting fifth book. Well worth a read; I think J. K. could have chopped off 100 pages without harming the book, though.
Rating:
Summary: Great storytelling sets up the rest of the series
Review: I have avoided spoilers in this review. This book is to the Harry Potter series what "The Empire Strikes Back" was to the Star Wars trilogy. We learn more about our favorite characters; we watch them as they continue to mature; the stage is set for the ultimate conflict in the future; and the story takes a darker turn. Young readers who gobbled up the adventures and perils of the first three books will find things are getting tougher. Good people die, while others who should be fighting don't step up. We also find out that some people we didn't like are really on the right side. We've gotten to know our main characters in the first three books, and we continue to learn and care about them. Everybody has an opinion who Harry, Ron, and Hermione should get romantically involved with, which I think is a sign of well drawn characters.This book is not perfect. It drags in one or two places; the transitions are not entirely smooth. It's not serious. I believe the Potter books are as popular as they are because what people really want to read and hear is a Story, the kind where you can't wait to know what happens next to the people you care about, the kind of thing that could be read aloud around a fireplace. This book delivers that and sets up what is to come. When I finished this book, I had the exact same feeling I get at the top of a roller-coaster hill just before the car tips over. It's going to seem like a very long wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent Fiction for Young Adults
Review: Hopefully, the Harry Potter craze is the beginning of a new trend of YA entertainment that doesn't condescend to young adults or assume they are less sophisticated than they actually are, which is what American entertainment aimed at that demographic all too often does and/or assumes. At any rate, it's thrilling to see young people so excited about a book, rather than the new N'Sync or Britney Spears album. Cheers to Harry Potter!
Rating:
Summary: Drink from the Goblet of Fire!
Review: Year Four at Hogwarts has some big changes in store for Harry Potter. He is becoming attracted to girls and so is Ron Weasley. But a lot more changes too. We start out with the thrilling and wild Quidditch World Cup, followed by some rather nasty crowd violence that leads straight into the beginning of this year's adventure. Foreign students show up at Hogwarts and lead many people's hearts and minds astray. But over everything lies the gloomy prediction of the Divination Professor at the end of book 3. "Lord Voldemort will rise again - stronger than before..." The full cast of characters returns in this book with repeat performances from the standard cast of characters: the Dursleys, Malfoy Crabbea nd Goyle, Snape, McGonagal, Dumbledore, the Weasleys, Hermione (and it IS pronounced Her-My-Oh-nee) and Hagrid. But we also get return visits from Sirius Black, Cornelius Fudge, House Elf Dobby and others. The year at Hogwarts flies by even faster than before and Harry's fortunes and moods swing back and forth like a pendulum as the dramatic action unfolds. One warning. Do NOT start with this book and then go back to the others. You'll miss too much. Start at one and go from there.
Rating:
Summary: COMPELLING!
Review: Since Amazon delivered Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to my door, it has kept me reading at all hours of the day. There is something about the way J.K. Rowling writes the Harry Potter books that makes every reader wish that she could go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am and remain, since the very first book, intrigued by Harry's sense of humor and all the complicating twists. In this book I particularly liked how the author made so many interesting things happening at once that you will be kept on the edge of your seat. The characters from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang added more complexity to the twists and, even though she was rude, I liked how Rita Skeeter couldn't take her nose out of people's business. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I can't wait for the next one. This is definitely a good book because I have never before read a 734 page book in three days!
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter Tests His Magical "Family Values"
Review: As an adult who has always loved children's literature, I have just caught on to the Harry Potter world, which combines some of the elements of Star Wars, the Lord of the Rings, British school stories by Enid Blyton, the Narnia Chronicles, and the sly verbal wizardry of one of my favorite humorists, Roald Dahl. There are elements of Willy Wonka in the more serious Albus Dumbledore and Fred and George, the Weasley twins who love playing pranks. Dudley Dursley surely follows in the footsteps of spoiled brats Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee, while Harry shows a few similarities to Charlie and James of James and the Giant Peach. Of all the books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is probably my favorite, in that it covers a lot of ground and has more emotional range than the others. I wish that I could have read this from a child's perspective, but since that's not possible, I can say that it offers plenty of fun for those adults who need fantasy just as much as children. This is an ideal book for adults to share with youngsters, including sports-minded kids (who will love reading about the Quidditch World Cup) and those who like blood and guts and normally have a hard time sitting down to read. The pace and sense of adventure never lets up, and there is more of a sense of profundity and darkness throughout the novel. Harry's encounters with Lord Voldemort and his tests during the Triwizard contest echo the fact that Harry is beginning to grow up, test himself and figure out what he believes and where he fits into the world. Like her previous books, J.K. Rowling's new one has numerous references that poke fun at pop culture, human vanity and bureaucratic politics within the framework of the wizard's world (One of my favorite references is a book entitled "Men Who Love Dragons Too Much.") Her evocative names and verbal sleight-of-hand are a constant joy. There's good humor throughout, and Harry is shown as a boy whose courage goes hand-in-hand with selflessness in looking out for his friends and schoolmates, who in the book take the place of his family. Children's literature is tremendously important in shaping what children believe, and the main characters of Harry, Hermione and Ron are shown with all their imperfections, funny foibles and jealousies, which merely serve to emphasize their underlying fidelity toward and love for each other throughout the growing pains of early adolescence. In short, I would highly recommend this book (and this series) for anyone who wants to leave reality for a while and become acquainted with a fantastic, magical, yet strangely down-to-earth world where the fundamental battle of good vs. evil is leavened with humor and love.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: The fourth installment of Harry Potter's adventures is well worth its extra length. The plot twists contain a number of surprises, and our heroes go through quite realistic teenage anxieties and problems. The Triwizard Tournament (and the dark deeds behind it) develops nicely, with surprises waiting for the unsuspecting reader. It is darker than the previous books, with some scenes which may be a bit intense for younger readers (though not graphic in their description). However, this is a logical development of the overall plot, and serves to set up the conflict forthcoming in the remaining three volumes of the series. Though one of the longest children's books I've ever seen, it reads quickly and refuses to be set aside--every chapter begs the reader to turn just one more page, and the old friends from previous books and new characters beg you to share just one more scene with them. A good read for older children (10+) and adults.
Rating:
Summary: To Do Away With Tradition
Review: While it is true that with most series, they tend to get worse and worse with each passing volume. I feel that this has been the near opposite case with the Harry Potter books. While I am not as fond of the third book as nearly as much as the 1st two, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire puts the previous three to shame. It is an incredible tome, sure to delight children and adults alike. There is the assortment of colorful and delightful characters that please the imagination, and in this installation, there is darkness and dread that was hinted at in previous volumes, but is explored more fully in this book. Starting with a bang at the Quidditch World Cup, and following the exploits of the 4 Champions at the TriWizards Tournament, which is held at Hogwarts School this year - it gives us a chance to see Harry, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid in a new set of circumstances that help define them more as characters, ones that we have loved and grow to care about as time goes on. It also brings Dumbledore and Snape into lights we never thought before, adding ambiguity and intrigue to their characters. This only makes one more excited for what is to come in book 5, and one can only hope that will be out sometime in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: Share a copy: read aloud
Review: In our town, the appearance of the latest Harry Potter book with its attendant media-hype has revitalized summer reading and reading out loud (so that whole families can share one copy), skills thought to be lost since the advent of television. In my opinion, it does live up to its expectations, both positive and negative. The new book is actually a slightly easier read than the others, generally maintains a compelling plot, and has good development of the existing characters, with the exception of Albus Dumbledore. My major complaint is that the omniscient and ever-kindly Dumbledore is pushed too far in this one, especially in regard to his relationship with Hagrid. I could do with a few fewer "Great man, Dumbledore ...", or at least a flaw or two. I also suspect that some of the weaker characterizations of the new characters might have been improved with a longer gestation time, but it is fundamentally a good book.
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