“My geekness is a-quivering.”
Blurb (Goodreads)- It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
**Spoiler Free Review!**
Thoughts- I’m going to warn you right now. I did not like this book. I am also a completely crazy Harry Potter fan, so I was just as surprised as you are.
Yes, it has wonderful and happy moments full of nostalgia, but it was also a complete mess (in my opinion).
Before this, I have never read a play script, but I didn’t mind it one bit! Of course I would’ve preferred a full fledged book, but once I got used to the script format (which took me only around 10 pages), I found myself full immersed in the Harry Potter universe once again.
Or so I thought.
The most amazing part about the main series is that the books truly are magical. No, not because they’re full of magic, but they just have this wonder and amazement that captures the reader so well. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was not magical, it didn’t blow me away and I definitely didn’t get that warm fuzzy feeling that you get while reading the original series. In fact, it barely felt like the actual magic was magic at all (this may be from the script format, but I don’t think so).
There were two things that frustrated me the most, the first of that being the characters. They simply didn’t feel like the original characters at all! Of course, Albus, James, Lily, Rose, and Scorpius all get an excuse since we originally know very little about their personalities. But the returning cast of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Draco were so weird. At times, their personalities were off on purpose (the plot accounts for this, which we’ll get to), but when they weren’t meant to be off, I didn’t know who they were. The main original cast were transformed into their movie counterparts (especially poor Ron), which was very sad to see.
The most surprising part about the characters was that Draco and Scorpius Malfoy were the saving grace of the entire book. Scorpius is such a cute little nerd.
Then there’s the plot, which is a complete mess. It’s like the screenwriter tried to fit what they thought were the best parts about Harry Potter and condense it down into one small play/book, and it didn’t work one bit for me. I wanted the day to day events of the second generation’s experiences in Hogwarts but there was little to none of that! In fact a lot of the second generation was missing (Hugo, Hermione/Ron’s younger son, Bill/Fleur’s kids, George/Angelina’s kids, Teddy Remus (!!), and even James and Lily only had little cameos).
To me, this felt like a messy Harry Potter fanfiction that someone who read the Sparknotes of the main series wrote. I’m sorry if you loved this and I’m totally ruining your view, but this is honestly how I feel.
How I wanted to love this book. It just wasn’t lovable one bit.
Overall, I do think this is worth the super quick read just for the experience, but don’t hope for too much, especially if you want it to be the actual ‘sequel’ to Harry Potter. The only reason this is getting two stars from me is because of the beauty that is Scorpius Malfoy.
Our reactions were pretty much identical – I was so disappointed that the Cursed Child was missing the magic that characterized each of its predecessors. This compounded with unrecognizable characters and a hole-riddled plot definitely contributed to the fanfiction persona.
Sorry you didn’t like this one more. At least it’s good to know that I’m not alone 😀
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No kidding, I’m glad to know I’m not alone with this reaction! Honestly, if you read this before the main series I think it would ruin the initial magic of the series!
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I never thought about it from that perspective, but I completely agree! The Cursed Child is so distant from the remaining books in the series – even the writing styles don’t match up.
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I’ve been waiting to see what a real Harry Potter fan thought of the book! I never reeeeally got into the Harry Potter books. I read six and seven and they were great, and I liked most of the movies. But, you know, I’m black and I have a short attention span when it comes to white people. Anyway, they were generally good books. I was kind of surprised that this one was so ridiculous.
I have experience disappointed with book series I love, so my condolences. You are definitely not alone here. =]
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It’s always disappointing when a series gets a bit ruined, isn’t it? 😦
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It is indeed. I mean, on the bright side, the next Harry Potter movie looks pretty good. I mean, it’s a prequel, but you know. Maybe it can help! =D
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Ohhh it looks so good! Maybe it’ll be good that Harry & Gang isn’t in it, so their image can’t be ruined.
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I’m on the opposite end the of the spectrum – I loved this book, but that’s really only because of Scorpius. There were definitely some major plot-holes, and I can definitely see where you’re coming from. There were many, many characters that were missing, and I just wish Rowling would start a new series with the next generation of wizards (Albus, Scorpius, Teddy, Rose, Hugo, James, Lily, and everyone else’s children) so we could really find out where they ended up. xx
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I would love love to see this as a book form with a better plot. I just really think it suffered from a poor plot, especially because it broke literally every single one of the rules that was already set in place about time turners. Although J.K. Rowling has said that Harry’s story is done… So pre-harry story, like Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus yes please! Also Scorpius is a precious little cinnamon bun. I totally can see where you’re coming from though!
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Yes, it definitely could have been written better, and the Time Turner discrepancies were what bothered me the most, too. Aha I’m down for a pre-Harry and a post-Harry story! xx
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Ouch…yeah. I was leery of this and that confirms it.
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Yeah, unfortunately this book was not my cup of tea. I know many others enjoyed it, and they have perfectly good reasons to do so, but I just don’t see it.
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