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This review is also SPOILER FREE
"Nominated for the Holden-Crowther Book Award 2016."
"The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later.Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.
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."
My Harry Potter History
I thought I would start this review by giving a bit of my history when it comes to Harry Potter.
The 1st Harry Potter book came out the summer before my freshman year in high school. To 13 year old La'Shawn these were books for little kids. Not for a mature teenager like myself. My sister, who is two years younger than me, read the first book. She loved it! She kept telling my Mom and I that we had to read it. Again, I was much too mature for that!
Then my Mom read the book and loved it. She told me that I had to read it as well. Doing a little bit of math, when I was 13, my mom was a bit younger than I am now...wow...Anyway. So, I read it; and I was hooked! From then on out I was at every midnight release. Ready to get my hands on the next book. The 1st movie came out the same year I graduated high school.
Basically, I grew up with it. I have read and re-read these books throughout the years. My mom named her dog Padfoot. We thought about naming any daughter we ever had Ariana (Dumbledore's sister). I started reading them to my son. I watch the movies anytime they are on TV; and I have all the movies myself. I own memorabilia; and I gladly let my nerd flag fly when it comes to HP.
All that is to say that these stories and characters are a huge part of my childhood. I get emotionally attached to fictinal people when I read stories. I feel like I know them. I know the Harry Potter universe.
What I Knew Going In
Like most Harry Potter nerds, I keep up with the going ons in that world. Pottermore, Mugglenet, and so on. When I heard about The Cursed Child I was through the moon excited. I knew it was a play. I knew the "book" would be in script form. I tried to #keepthesecrets.I read all the reviews that didn't have spoilers. (Although one didn't mention spoilers but had a HUGE one!). I started seeing that people were not really happy with this "eighth story" in the HP world. Some of the things the characters did just didn't match what we know and love about them. It just didn't add up to the JK Harry Potter world we know and love.
I was going to read the book no matter what. For one it was so exciting to be waiting on another HP book at midnight. Reading all the things people had to say about it. Thinking about what the story was going to bring to this world that I know and love. Seeing other people's posts about what they thought and what they were looking forward to. Even though I knew one of, if the THE, plot points going in, I was going to read it.
The Review
So here is my review on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child..
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I didn't like it. I cannot say there was actually one part that I enjoyed. I cannot say there was any part of this book that sent me back to the HP world that I know and love. I knew this was a script and not going to be in book form. That wasn't it. I was okay with that part. My imagination is good enough to fill in those blanks. I knew it wasn't written by JK herself. That someone else wrote it and she approved it. My thoughts where that SHE KNOWS HER CHARACTERS and if she approved it that it would be spot on.
I am not here (like others) to say that I know the Harry Potter characters better than JK. That is ridiculous in my opinion. They are her creation after all. Some say that this book/play isn't in "canon". That anything outside the 7 books don't fit in this world. That is also far-fetched to me. This world and this canon are JK's. If she wants Harry to grow up, dress in drag, and date Peeves (non of that happened btw), she can! It is in canon and part of that world. This world is JK's after all. W are only lucky to be part of it.
I am here to say that I have my own thoughts on what characters would and would not say. That there were some things that the main people said and did that just blew me away. Not in a good way. There is one main thing that Harry Potter says that, in my opinion and I feel most everyone else's, he would never ever ever ever say. Never! By the time I got to that part of the story, I was already put off.
The characters apparently grow up and become completely different people. Say and do things they would never do in real life. They all but forget Harry and Ginny's other two kids. There are two stand out points in the book. They are interesting but lacking. The idea of this story line is great. Which I feel like is JK's part to this story. The writing itself and the character development is awful.
The story itself bounces around all over the place. They drag one beloved character from the past through the mud. Harry smacks close to the Harry we loved to hate in Order of the Phoenix. The moody and annoyingly "why me" Harry. Ginny reminds me a lot of Molly in the book. There is no mention of George. Ron is the closest to the Ron that I imagined. Hermione grows up and reverts back to the pre-troll version of herself. Albus Potter needs a good smack and I actually like Draco's boy, Scorpious. I cannot say that it was this way for everyone else. I kept expecting something to happen between Albus and Scorpious.
In Summary
Don't go in expecting this to be a wonderful addition, THE 8th book in the Harry Potter world. They could have given us this information in a post on Pottermore and I wouldn't have been as disappointed. You will be able to tell pretty early in that this was NOT WRITTEN BY JK. It feels more like a fan-fiction. With that in mind, I've actually read fan-fiction that was so much better than The Curse Child is. It strays from the story we all know and love too much. The main characters in this book apparently grow up to become other people. There is weird things added in like dragging people through the mud, time turners that don't make sense, and hand grenade pumpkin pasties...yeah. You read that right. Think "Anything of the trolley" and then the sweet old lady growing spike and throwing exploding pumpkin sweets....weird. Just plain weird.I wanted to much for this to be amazing. I think that is why I went to bed this morning wholly disappointed. I feel that the only positive thing this story had was taking me back to my childhood. Reminding me of midnight releases and the wonderful anticipation of a new story. It failed miserably in everything else.
The Play Itself
I only read the script. (Wasn't expecting a book btw. That isn't where the disappointment comes in). I have not seen the play itself. I have not read a negative review about the play. Most people say that it is magical and wonderful. So, maybe it is. Maybe the negativity comes from the fact that this wasn't actually a book. That this was a script. That you cannot get everything from it without watching the play.I hope that the play comes to America one day and that I will be able to see it. Not enjoying the book from of the script will not keep me from watching the play. It will also not keep me from loving the world that is Harry Potter either. I just don't think that The Cursed Child will be part of that world for me.
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So, there you have it. My little review on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Did you read it yet? What did you think?
Are you going to read it? I highly suggest you do. Even though
I did not enjoy it and it is getting bad reviews, I think everyone who loves Harry Potter should give it a go.
Tell me what you think. Comment below.
Link me up to your review!
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