Released: in 2000
Series: Harry Potter #1
Page Count: 734 pages
Find it on Goodreads
See my past reviews in this series
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there are spells to be learnt, potions to be brewed and Divination lessons (sigh) to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march ...
REVIEW:
Am I going to keep saying this about every book in the series after I read it?: "This one is my favorite books in the series". I feel like I'm choosing favorites out of my children/siblings at this point and you start to have to come up with random things to say like "You're my favorite 9-year old brother," or "You're my favorite sister named so-and-so". So um, this is my favorite fourth book in a series ever... does that count? Well anyways, I can't believe how much more I loved this book this fourth time around as compared to the second and third time around. The second time I enjoyed it and the last time I read it, I stopped half way through. Why was I so bored with it? This time, I couldn't put it down. I got so far ahead with the "schedule" I'd set for myself that I could've stopped reading Harry Potter books for an entire four weeks before another discussion post was due.
I loved being back in the world again, getting to experience Harry before he becomes severely broody in book 5. Harry deals with a whole load a crap after he finds his name popping out of the Goblet of Fire. I wonder, has Harry ever had a year when the whole school didn't hate him at some point? After reading these last four, the answer is NO. I thought my sympathy and tears for Harry were over with when he finally didn't have to live in that cupboard under the stairs anymore. But he never gets a break. Harry has suffered some seriously traumatic events, especially at the end of book 4, and now he is a very damaged kid (as if he wasn't already). How can we expect Harry to go on and not be put in the loony bin? But... somehow he does, even thought he Daily Prophet spends most of its time telling people Harry should be in the loony bin.
It's going to start to get old if I point out that the plot, characters, world building, etc. is amazing in this book just as it was in the last book, and the one before that... and the one before that. I feel as though that I can't truly review these books anymore or at least not much longer. I think I'm biased. Forgive me if this was short or if you didn't get much out of it, but I don't have much else to say. Harry Potter has always been my first love in books, and I'm sure many of you can say the same.
I enjoyed the fourth book more than I ever have and I realize that maybe book 3 is a stopping point for the innocence and book 4 is a starting point for the darkness. I think Cedric's death is what really cements it for this series. I watched the movie shortly after finishing this book and cried like a baby, as always, when Harry showed up back at Hogwarts draped over Cedric's body. I will be starting book 5's discussions this week and I think we can all agree that while it might not be a favorite for most of us, it definitely sets up exactly what needs to be set up for the next few books. Every single thing that happens from this point on matters and has some meaning in the eventual resolution in book 7. Every little detail means something and it's a wonderful feeling to read over each book (for the fourth time) and pick out those little details that I missed the first few times around.
RATING: ★★★★★
I enjoyed the fourth book more than I ever have and I realize that maybe book 3 is a stopping point for the innocence and book 4 is a starting point for the darkness. I think Cedric's death is what really cements it for this series. I watched the movie shortly after finishing this book and cried like a baby, as always, when Harry showed up back at Hogwarts draped over Cedric's body. I will be starting book 5's discussions this week and I think we can all agree that while it might not be a favorite for most of us, it definitely sets up exactly what needs to be set up for the next few books. Every single thing that happens from this point on matters and has some meaning in the eventual resolution in book 7. Every little detail means something and it's a wonderful feeling to read over each book (for the fourth time) and pick out those little details that I missed the first few times around.
RATING: ★★★★★
Even though I don't feel like I have to ask this questions: have you read this book yet? For the large majority of you that have, was this one of your favorites? I'm always looking for some more insight to this series because which one of us doesn't want to know more or learn more things? In the past couple of months that I've been having discussions about Harry Potter, you would be surprised to hear that as much as I have learned from re-reading the books, I feel as though I've learned just as much from the opinions of my fellow bloggers. I've been able to see things in different perspectives that I never would have thought of if some of you have mentioned them. Well anyway, thanks for stopping by and I'm sure I'll talk to some of you soon on Wednesday when I start book 5.
Mischief managed!
A.
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