Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Rate this book
41 CD complete and unabridged audiobook reading

Audio CD

First published September 21, 2018

82 people are currently reading
677 people want to read

About the author

J.K. Rowling

670 books233k followers
See also: Robert Galbraith
Although she writes under the pen name J.K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling, her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.

Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.

Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.

Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
628 (71%)
4 stars
160 (18%)
3 stars
50 (5%)
2 stars
12 (1%)
1 star
29 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
1 review
March 25, 2022
The book that I read is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I really like this book because it not like the types pf book that you get bored off. I really like this book and I recommend it to people that like book about magic and adventure. A little summary that I can tell you about this book is that Harry get in a competion that it's dangerous while Voldemort is out there but harry gets choose and nobody nows how. I give this book a 5 out of five because I really like this type of books that make me keep reading. Also I like it because it is a book that there are some words that are different but they give me more vocabulary.
Profile Image for Dani.
141 reviews
May 7, 2021
Re reading with my son and enjoying his facial expressions as he enjoys the story for a first time.
24 reviews
October 26, 2021
I loved it! This one is my favorite one yet! Really everyone should read the Harry Potter series.
Profile Image for readwithricha2.
93 reviews4 followers
April 24, 2024
As always, I preface my opinion by acknowledging its subjectivity. However, I’ll outline both the merits and drawbacks I discovered within this book.

This installment of the series immediately captivates. From the very first chapter, readers are immersed in a thrilling experience, devoid of any dull moments. Each detail is meticulously elaborated upon, ensuring a consistently engaging narrative.

One particular aspect I found endearing was the inclusion of letters in every chapter. There’s a certain charm to encountering correspondence within a novel that resonates with me.

Despite its considerable length and small font, the book maintained its allure and held my attention throughout. While there were chapters that felt unnecessarily drawn out, seemingly added to inflate the page count, the overall quality of the writing compensated for this.

I harbored high expectations for the chapter detailing Sirius’ return, especially upon seeing the title “Padfoot Returns.” However, it failed to capture the intrigue I had anticipated.

The narrative takes numerous unexpected turns following the third task, with one standout moment being Harry’s poignant encounter with his parents emerging from Voldemort’s wand. While such a revelation could have been devastating, it instead evoked feelings of pride and resilience in Harry.

Mad-Eye Moody’s revelation was another highlight, so enthralling that I found myself reading the entire paragraph without pause.

For those daunted by the book’s length, I’ve listed below the standout chapters that can be enjoyed individually:

1. The Riddle House
2. The Quidditch World Cup
3. The Unforgivable Curses
4. The First Task
5. The Second Task
6. The Madness of Mr. Crouch
7. The Pensieve
8. The Third Task
9. Flesh, Blood, and Bone
10. Veritaserum
10 reviews2 followers
May 22, 2025
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a perfect book full of action and mystery and confusion mixed with feelings. The detail and description of each character are nothing below perfect, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire being and exceptionally perfected book. The awe mixed with confusion on Harry's face when the Goblet of Fire chose him as a champion was unbelievable. The deafening choice to have Cedric Diggory killed to show that Voldemort came back was invaluable. A truly perfect book mixed with mystery, action, and raw emotion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
2 reviews
June 17, 2021
Amazing. I am speechless as JK Rowling uses a fantastic use of literature as it is a classic, full of imagination and creativity. The author uses vivid description to emphasis what she wants the reader to create an image in the audience/reader's head. Its unique as the story is full magic and wonder leading on to special events that are interesting making the reader feel full of curiosity as its a quite a book that will be remembered for ages.
Profile Image for Yehia Abosamra.
1 review
January 1, 2025
This book was the most inspiring book I've read. It wasn't just a book about fantasy,it was about a little boy who found himself in a fantasy school and experienced love,sadness,
and angriness.I cried when I read this book.This will always be the best book based on fantasy
Profile Image for Melissa Bishop.
75 reviews1 follower
July 18, 2020
I loved the detail of the book. It is hard to believe that there is a movie out there that shares the same title as it is so very different from the book.
Profile Image for Bec C.
20 reviews7 followers
November 14, 2020
Whilst I enjoyed this book, I found number the previous books to be slightly better. I still love the way Fry narrates this book and the plot is exciting. Looking forward to number #5!
Profile Image for Elspeth.
96 reviews3 followers
January 31, 2022
Listened to this as its perfect Christmas fodder for me. Always a treat to have Stephen Fry read me a story as well.
Profile Image for Claire.
236 reviews
February 16, 2022
Love these books so much; number four is one of my favorites, and number five carries so many emotions.
Profile Image for Courtney.
4,297 reviews
April 12, 2022
I truly, honestly, completely wish I could give this book more than 5 stars!!! I absolutely, I mean ABSOLUTELY, loved it!!! 😍
Profile Image for Cheska2014.
43 reviews
October 6, 2022
Cedric Diggory, Chu Chang and butter beer... a coming of age book for our young heroes
Profile Image for Henrik Heien.
56 reviews1 follower
June 1, 2023
Ganske heftig historie om en rødhåret gutt og hans kjente venn Harry Potter
Profile Image for kate cabo.
9 reviews
September 20, 2023
i did like the movie its my favorite harry potter movie so i also ofcourse liked the book but still i think they are hard to read and get through but still a great book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.