Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling and Jack Thorne
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
My review for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is finally here. Going into this book, I tried to keep my expectations low because I didn't want to be disappointed. But it is Harry Potter so my expectations were higher than I wanted them to be and I ended up not enjoying it as much as I thought I would and I have a lot of thoughts on this book/script; I'm warning you now they aren't all good. Sorry if this ends up being a bit ranty.
Starting off with what I didn't like, so we can end this review on a positive note. Firstly, parts of it read like fanfiction and the plot got a little bit repetitive. Parts of it felt like it wasn't very well thought out and the old characters felt a little off at times. I don't know if that was because of the script format or because they had 19 years of growing up that we didn't get to see, but I found myself thinking that they [insert character here] wouldn't do that. Speaking of that, Harry telling his Albus "Well, there are times I wish you weren't my son". Yes, I can see a young Harry saying this if he were mad, but he has aged 19 years, this is his son. Personally, I don't think that Harry would have said something like to his child, angry or not. When I first read that line I was shocked, no parent would say that to their child, especially Harry Potter. The Harry/Albus issues were over done and this is just an example of that plot line getting out of hand.
What I really would have loved from this story is to see how they rest of the characters are. How's Hagrid? What is George up to? How are Molly and Arthur? And where is Teddy? All I asked for is one sentence letting me know they were okay (at least we got to see McGonagall). Another point that would have been good for this story is a different villain. Yes, Delphi can be seen as a new villain, (SIDE NOTE: Voldemort and Bellatrix when did that happen?), but the big threat that is still being held over their heads is Voldemort. It would have been nice to see something new. This next point is probably the biggest plot point I didn't like about the story and that is Cedric Diggory a Death Eater. From what we knew about Cedric up until Goblet of Fire, I don't believe that he would turn around and become a Death Eater just because he was humiliated. This is the guy that wanted a Quidditch rematch because Harry fell off his broom in Prisoner of Azkaban. This is the guy that showed Harry kindness during Goblet of Fire when no one else did. This is the guy that was ready to go down fighting along side Voldemort. He was a Hufflepuff; kind and loyal. Cursed Child made his character seem weak and had no moral compass. This is not how we should remember Cedric.
Now that we have gotten what I didn't like out of the way, we can move on to what I loved. The script format made it such a quick and easy read. Leaving out all the descriptions of places wasn't detrimental to the story as we had been there before. We already have a picture in our minds of what these places look like and it was nice to dive back into this world, but without an excessive amount of descriptions.
Something that I really loved about this story is that it dealt with issues that were never acknowledged in the original books. Such as how Ginny felt after Chamber of Secrets and the way that Dumbledore treated Harry. One of my favourite scenes was when Harry confronted Dumbledore's portrait. With Dumbledore crying and wanting to reach out to Harry, it was written really well and made me emotional. And Draco got a redemption arc. I loved this. Draco has always been one of my favourite characters, so it was really nice to see him on the right side of things for a change. It was interesting to read the dynamic between Draco and the Golden Trio when he teamed up with them (although it was weird to have Harry and Draco be on a first name basis).
Lastly, the best part about The Cursed Child is the friendship between Albus and Scorpius. They had such an incredible relationship and it was one I enjoyed reading. They had each others backs and they didn't care what everyone thought about them and I loved it!
All in all I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Yes I have my issues with it, but it is Harry Potter and I couldn't have hated it even if I wanted to.
3.75 out of 5 stars.
xx Holly
