MC
First of all, I wasn't that excited about the Cursed Child to begin with. Of course I was anxious to have another Harry Potter story, but I wasn't swooning over the idea like Mrs. Weasley lost her mind over Gilderoy Lockheart. I am one of those Potter fans who pretend the Epilogue in Deathly Hallows doesn't exist. I DESPISE Ginny (she is worse than Umbridge in my book) so I like to pretend Harry's life with her never actually happened. Hence the reason why I was excited to be back in the Harry Potter world, but I knew I wouldn't end up loving this story about Harry and Ginny. Going into reading this book, I knew I probably wouldn't be thrilled with the plot, so I tried not to take that into consideration very much in my critique. Different strokes for different folks, you know? Just because I don't like the plot of a book doesn't mean it's a bad book. Well...except in this case... First of all, the plot was about a million times worse than I ever imagined. So ridiculous. But even disregarding the general plot, this book was awful. Really, truly, and very unfortunately, awful. I'm sure you have heard the same things over and over again, but there were so many things wrong with this book. The characters were NOTHING like they were in the rest of the Harry Potter series. Yes, people change as they age, but not like that. I am trying to keep this discussion spoiler free, but if you have read Cursed Child, I'm sure you can think of multiple examples. There were also huge changes to the world and magic system that J.K. Rowling created. And honestly, it felt like these changes were made just because it made the plot fall into place easier. What a cop out for the sake of convenience. I could talk more about all the little intricacies of this script that bugged the hell out of me, but the internet is swarming with these types of discussions and I don't want to get myself all worked up over it. Let's talk instead about my biggest problem with this script. The writing was HORRIBLE. Yes, I understand that reading a script is different than reading a novel. But there are many plays that I adore and have read multiple times. This. Writing. Was. Awful. The stage directions were nonexistent, the plot was WAY too convenient, the characters were flat and dull and absolutely obnoxiously stupid, and I therefore spent about 90% of my time reading alternating between confused, bored, and angry. Honestly, there is SO MUCH that is wrong with this work. But I truly don't want to talk about it anymore. Like so many people, Harry Potter means the world to me. It breaks my heart that this awful thing now exists and is supposed to be considered an "eighth story." I don't want to discuss my dislike of this book anymore because I want to forget as much as I can as quickly as possible. It has left a bad taste in my mouth and I don't want my Harry Potter love tainted by it. I'm honestly so confused as to how J.K. Rowling could sign off on this idea. After all that she has created, it seems so strange that she would let it be muddled by Jack Thorne and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Play.
8 people found this review helpful
Maria G
I bought this book as soon as i saw an ad for it. Turns out is was not a book, but a play script. It was nearly impossible to read in that form. The plot was very disapointing, but it would have made for an ok book building on the success of the previous stories. I only discovered these books a couple of years ago, and it was a bit of a grieving process to read that JK Rowling was not going to write more HP stories. She should have kept silent. A cheap trick and a commercial stunt from the author. Shameful.
12 people found this review helpful
Ethan Miguel “E.M.” Serkey
Certainly the tone is different, but that is more of a problem for those who fail to imagine it staged as a play, without real magic like the prose works can rely on, or CGI like the films. And the lessons are very Harry Potter-consistent. Facing one’s fears, looking within to confront darkness, admitting to being flawed, and learning to deal with grief and the acceptance that tragedy must not keep us living in the past( because death is a part of life), and the evil in the world cannot diminish the good.