Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Author : John Tiffany, Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling
Publisher : Arthur A. Levine Books
Release date : July 31st, 2016
Rating : 4/5
Synopsis (from 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.
Review :
I’m super duper biased right now, so of course I enjoyed it immensely and gave it a good rating. I mean, HARRY POTTER and the Cursed Child is a sequel and it’s CANON since Rowling co-wrote it. It was a joy to see familiar characters, to dive back in HP’s world, to be welcomed at Hogwarts once again.
Um… but I’ll try bringing more reasoned arguments on the table.
The writing is definitely not Rowling, despite her co-writing it. It lacks the quirkiness and the dry humor that I’m used to. Maybe it’s because it’s all dialogues, or maybe they had to adapt our characters to adulthood. Actually, it’s probably one of those two reasons, but I missed the giddy feeling I had while reading HP. But since it’s theater, I think they put all the quirkiness they could into the characters.
And I do love the characters. My favorite one, unsurprisingly, is Scorpius. Such a sweet and considerate guy, so different from his family’s heritage. He’s supportive and through their mistakes, he doesn’t waver and he’s genuinely caring and determined. When you think about it, he’s also the embodiment of Draco Malfoy’s job as a father. I’m proud, on behalf of Draco, of his son. His friendship with Albus was mesmerizing. And that’s all I can really say about Albus. I was pretty indifferent to him through it all; even when he acted up, I was only waiting for Scorpius to reappear.
The book was cheesy, I admit. But my biggest problem is that they didn’t stay true to the characters that we know and love. Some arcs were believable, and actually realistic. Harry is struggling with his role as a father, and I totally get it. He says things and does stuff that I wish he hadn’t and that I can’t reconcile with the HARRY we know. But he’s an adult now, and life happens, and in 19 years, I guess some things changed. Hermione lost her sass, but she’s still bossy and smart. Ron was… well, I had hoped he would become “cooler”, but he’s… a disappointment to me, unfortunately.
But the story was fun, funny and light, full of twists and magic! It gave me a great lasting impression. I felt as if it was more about the relationships and conflict between characters, than about the actual plotline. And I was totally okay with that, because Harry doesn’t need another story. Harry doesn’t need any addition. Harry doesn’t need a bow on top. But along the way, Harry got a companion. Harry got a friend. A cute and nostalgic one, and I fell in love.
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