Jordan's Books

In my opinion, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire's story was not very predictable. I anticipated that at some point, Harry would have an encounter with Voldemort (or one of his supporters) and emerge alive, but I could never have seen some things coming, including Harry's name being put into the Goblet of Fire (or the Triwizard Tournament coming to Hogwarts in the first place), other schools bringing students to Hogwarts, and so on. One thing that particularly threw me was when Voldemort came back, killed Cedric Diggory, and almost killed Harry. I didn't think Voldemort was coming back until at least the fifth book(although I knew he was coming back eventually)--it was too soon! It seemed like, by the end, there were huge storm clouds looming over Harry and all of his friends, because Voldemort was back, and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, refused to believe it, which meant that nobody would know about it. 

In conclusion, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has a darker story than the other books in the series, it seems, and I did not see many things coming. So, therefore, I must say that it was not predictable at all.

INCLUDED IN THIS BLOG POST IS THE INTRODUCTION TO THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STORY THE CIRCUIT, WHAT I THINK THE AUTHOR WANTS US TO LEARN FROM THE STORY, HOW THE CHARACTER REMINDS ME OF MYSELF, AND WHEN I DECIDED IF I LIKED THE BOOK OR NOT.

The Circuit is an autobiographical story by Francisco Jimenez about his early years, when his family came to California from Mexico. They moved around a lot, working at different farms, struggling with money problems, living a difficult life.

I feel that the author wants us to learn how hard it is to be a migrant child, and that there are some people who have very difficult lives. I also feel the author wants us to learn that everyone deserves to live wherever they want, and we are all equal. I assume this because he deliberately placed in the story that he had to recite a part of the Declaration of Independence that says that everyone can pursue happiness, can pursue a better life, and everyone is equal. Most of all, though, I believe the author wanted us to learn that even if you were a migrant child, even if you have had a hard life, you can still make something of yourself. You can still do what you want.

The character, Panchito, reminds me of myself in the way that I want to be useful to my family, like he does (he wants to help them working in the fields, I... don't know how I would actually help them...), but he would prefer to go to school, and not have to work (I would also definitely prefer not to work, like him. All I actually do for my family is chores, but I like to assume I'm helping them.). 

I decided around the fifth time Panchito’s family moved that I did not like this book very much. It made me feel sad that he could not have what he wanted all the time--and what he wanted was to go to school, and stay in one place.  I just genuinely felt bad for Panchito’s entire family through the whole story.

Final analysis: The Circuit is a book that kept me entertained for the first hour or reading, but then I got tired of Panchito and his family moving all the time and not having enough money. It's just not the kind of book that appeals to me--I think fiction is much better. That's just my opinion, but I do recommend keeping an open mind when reading. Just because I didn't like The Circuit doesn't mean someone else wouldn't.

THERE ARE SMALL SPOILERS CONTAINED IN THIS REVIEW. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS BOOK, (WELL READ IT NOW BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING)  BE WARNED. I WON'T COVER HUGE PLOT TWISTS, THIS IS JUST A SMALL INTRODUCTION TO THE PLOT. JUST SAYING

Harry Potter is a boy who lives with his horrible, regular-human family (his aunt, uncle, and cousin, due to an accident where his wizard parents died) and goes to a wizarding school called Hogwarts when he's not with them. I think that when he gets to Hogwarts (and not just in this book) he feels like he is invincible. To be honest, sometimes he can be kind of nasty to people who he doesn't like, but mostly he is a nice teenage wizard. His friend Ron is kind of afraid of everything, which makes me like him because I can relate, and his friend Hermione is extremely intelligent and makes sure they don't get in too much trouble. 

Now that you know what I think of the characters, on to the review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban starts in a way different from the other Harry Potter books. In the beginning of this edition to the series, Harry accidentally inflates his aunt, who floats away, and gets thrown out of his aunt and uncle's house. He then takes a magical bus to a place where he can buy all his school supplies. From there, he goes to Hogwarts, but not before realizing that he may be targeted by a serial killer who has escaped from Azkaban, a wizard prison. There have been guards from Azkaban stationed at Hogwarts, but that doesn't make Harry feel any more safe--in fact they are pretty scary as well. Harry also starts seeing strange things, like a huge black dog that keeps appearing, which brings "omens of death."

What I learned from this book is that things start to get worse when you get older. Seriously, I used to love the lightheartedness of the Harry Potter books, and I think that it's about to end. He's a teenager now, and he is worried about things he shouldn't have to be. I also learned that Harry Potter's life isn't really perfect. I used to be super jealous of him, but I might not want a life where I would be hunted by dark wizards all the time.

I would definitely recommend this book! I mean, there's a reason I rated it five stars. The Harry Potter books are filled with action, laughter, and exciting magic, all the way through the book. J.K. Rowling did it again with this book, and I was hooked the whole time. This book really is hard to put down. I guarantee that anyone who enjoys fiction books will enjoy this.