Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book #4) Audiobook Review

The Goblet of Fire has always been one of my favourite books in the series, simply because Rowling starts to explore darker, more complex themes than in her previous books. Rowling foreshadows so many things in this novel that you will only pick up on after listening to the book and its successors multiple times. The twists in the plot are surprising and exciting, some scenes left me breathless with anticipation and wanting more. The story explores issues of love, jealousy, death and rejection. The morbid undertones only add to the story though. The Goblet of Fire is arguably the most important book of the series, it is evident how much effort Rowling put into the book. She poured her heart into the details, not a brick was out of place in the wizarding world. I wasn't bored for a second, this story will tug at your heart strings, make you laugh and make you cringe. It is brilliant.

We get to meet some new characters and see our old characters grow up a bit. Mad Eye Moody is a quality character, he's pretty original, i've never really come across a character of his description before. Students from schools abroad and some more members of the Weasley family also come into the picture. Our trio all grappled with the issues that usually accompany that delightful time called puberty: jealousy, love, rejection. Suffice to say that Harry, Ron and Hermione handled these issues as well as can be expected from 14 year olds- badly. Ron can't seem to deal with rejection of any kind/ not being Harry Potter. Hermione realises that 14 year old boys are absolute idiots when it comes to women and Harry realises that asking a girl to the school ball is far harder than fighting dragons, basilisks and Voldemort combined. My favourite character of this book is also the one that I hated the most. Reeta Skeeter. She was just so manipulative and self centred. Skeeter basically embodies shady journalism. It was interesting to see this idea portrayed in the wizarding world, it's good to have a character whose only purpose is basically to stir the pot and throw everyone under the bus. Skeeter was amusing, callous and overall a great addition to the storyline.

There are two versions of the Goblet of Fire, one is narrated by Stephen Fry, the other Jim Dale. Below is our outline, and a video for comparison.

Stephen Fry  again creates wonderful voices for all the characters and makes them larger than life. I love his smooth tone and deep voice. He's so articulate and precise with his timing. He really is a professional and the story is better for it.

Jim Dale is another fantastic narrator. Born in England, Dale also has an English accent. Dale is a voice artist, and definitely weighted towards to the dramatized end of the scale. Dale invites a sense of urgency in his voice, and has you on your toes. This increased dramatization, although predominantly great, I feel it is sometimes a little over the top.