Book Review #1: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Author(s): J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne

Genre: drama, fantasy
Number of pages: 320
Released: July 2016

RATINGS…

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall enjoy-ability: 4/5

THOUGHTS?

This being the eight story of my beloved Harry Potter series (which I can’t deny being completely obsessed with), I was expecting something absolutely amazing. 19 years after the Golden Trio leave Hogwarts, we meet Harry’s, Ron’s, and Hermione’s kids. Albus Severus Potter, however, befriends Scorpius Malfoy. The plot revolves mainly around the adventures, or should I say misadventures, of the pair.

Because the book is a play-script, you can’t expect the exceptional details and descriptions of scenery, as our lovely Joanne made sure to have plenty of in the original saga. This was, in a way, a disappointment - what I loved so much about the Harry Potter books is the little details about a character’s way of speaking, the way they walk, the backstories, and how exactly a spell does its magic. But here, you sort of need to guess.

Maybe that’s the art of it, though? You’re the one who writes the story, in your head. I’m not sure what I think of this.

 There were some MAJOR plot twists that legitimately made me put the book down and stare at a wall for a good five minutes, trying to absorb what just happened. There’s a lot of time travelling going on - the boys seem to travel between different worlds, which is pretty mesmerising, and at the same time a little bit confusing. I found it ever so slightly difficult to keep up where and when they were at some points. Some characters (I won’t say who!!!!) turn out to be completely the opposite of who they claimed to be (yes, you, pretty girl who was pretending to be a goody-two-shoes for a good 200 pages before you turned absolutely evil. *kisses teeth*. Still not saying who it is - I don’t want to ruin the biggest plot twist in human history).

A lot of the old characters from the previous books return - this caught me off guard as much as it surprised Scorpius when he met them. The only detail I’ll reveal is that they’re supposed to be dead. I know that there’s a lot of debate withing the HP Fandom on who should not have died and whose death was the most dramatic. I’m sure everyone’s jaws will drop.

The complexity of characters, however, is amazing. That’s J. K. Rowling for you! Ablus’s relationship with Harry is heartbreaking and at the same time so relatable - I sympathised a lot with the pair of them, being a person who isn’t very good at expressing their feelings.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable story, and I’m dying to see the play. Maybe I’ll beg to go for my birthday.

How did you like the book?

J x