Reviews

Unlike the previous three books in this series I actually kind of enjoyed this one. Yes Harry was as annoying as ever and being somewhat whiny and sulky about being entered into the Triwizard Tournament and his spat with Ron over it is immensely childish to say the least. But despite this the story is more intriguing and develops better than previously with a bit more mystery and depth to the characters and some less obvious twists and turns. The opening scenes at the Dursleys are highly amusing and Fred and George's antics are brilliant and really made me chuckle. The Quidditch World Cup is vividly written and although some bits are a little obvious it is still thoroughly enjoyable, partly because Harry takes a bit of a back seat and lets Ron, Hermoine and co take more of a leading role.

As the new school year starts and the Triwizard Tournament and its competitors are announced, the predictability of Harry's entry into the Tournament and his progress through it is a little predictable and tiresome. But on the upside Rowling has managed to create more depth to the story by introducing other schools and characters that are well thought out and fairly well written. We also get to see a stronger side to Ron as he doesn't pander to Harry as much, although their little spat comes across as both childish and immature and at fourteen a little unlikely (in my opinion anyway). The idea of the Yule Ball and the fact that the characters are now coming to an age where they are noticing the opposite sex is predictable but somewhat entertaining, especially as the boys try to work up the courage to ask the girls to the dance. The ending itself is pretty good and surprising in parts, although once again Harry is predictably brave in the face of adversity. However the revelations concerning some of the characters both throughout the book and during the final scenes are a little more shocking and less predictable than many in the previous books and set up the rest of the series nicely. Overall not a bad read and a definite improvement on the previous books.