Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two by JK Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

Dear Darlings, I'm so sorry I have been completely MIA. I said I'd be back a long time ago and then I dropped off the face of the earth. Life has been busy, and honestly, I have been in such a book slump lately that looking at my books makes me sad because they aren't being read and then I don't want to read because I'm sad and it's just a vicious cycle. But hopefully it's almost past. So without further ado, here is my review of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the only book I've been able to read in its entirety in the past 6 weeks.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

Five Sentence Summary

It's been 19 years since the Golden Trio took down Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts; Ron runs the joke shop with George, Hermione is the Minister of Magic, and Harry is a successful auror. However, the story revolves mostly around Harry and Ginny's son, Albus, and Draco's son, Scorpious, who, at the start of the book, are about to enter their first year at Hogwarts and are both sorted into Slytherin. Both boys feel like a disappointment to their fathers and feel extremely misunderstood; in addition to these feelings, Albus feels the need to set himself apart from his father. In their 3rd year, the boys abandon the Hogwarts Express and seek out Amos Diggory, who is still mourning the loss of his son and feels bitterly towards Harry since Cedric was just "the spare." Along with their companion, Delphi Diggory, they break into the Ministry of Magic, steal the only remaining time turner, and set to turn back time so that Cedric lives; however, trust is put into the wrong people and time could be ruined forever if Harry and Albus cannot overcome their differences to correct everything.

Paramount Moments and Dissatisfying Instances

• I know it is written in verse, I knew this going in and I told myself to not hold it against the book, but I wish it were written in prose. You miss so much! No internal dialogue, not a lot of description; there's a lot missing. 
• I feel like Albus is a little brat. I know, that's not fair to say of a child, but he almost ruined everything! He almost brought back Voldemort and stopped Harry from ever being born! I don't care that he fix it, it wasn't broken in the first place!

(Source: Giphy)

• A lot of our old favorites come back for this, which I love. McGonagall is back, Dumbledore (although he's in a portrait), even my beloved Severus Snape. But, there are some people I wanted there that weren't, or that just played a completely insignificant part that I was not satisfied. Those people would be Teddy Lupin, Rose Weasley-Granger, Neville Longbottom, and other various people.
• So Harry kinda sucks as a dad. True, he didn't have a dad, he had Uncle Vernon. And then he had Dumbledore who was (to quote Snape) "raising him as a lamb for slaughter." So he doesn't have the best examples to lead by. 
• On the other end of the spectrum, Draco's love for Scorpius, man, that had me crying at points. Scorpius is the only family Draco had left and he fought incredibly hard to make sure that he got his son back.
• A Voldemort-Bellatrix love child?! I don't know if I should count this as a plus or minus. The thought of Voldy doing the dirty with anyone gives me nightmares; but Rowling gets points for creativity.

(Source: Giphy)

• The last scene with Harry and Albus sitting on the hill by Cedric's grave had me in tears! I'm a sucker for a good bonding moment.

Honestly, I don't know if I loved the book, but I definitely didn't hate it. And I can easily see myself incorporating it into my annual reading of the books. But as I stated in the beginning, the fact that it's written in verse takes away a lot of it. However, I would sell a kidney if it meant I got to see the actual performance! Or any other organ really, you know, except the viable ones that I actually need that if I got rid of would make actually seeing the play impossible.

I will always love going back to the magical world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts. I will always proudly support my blue and bronze (Go Ravenclaw!). I can't foresee Jo ever doing anything that would turn me away from these books because of how much they've done for me in the past. Although I'd really appreciate if she'd make a book about the Maurauders. Preferably 7, you know, so I can better understand some of my favorites and get some more time with Sirius.

(Source: Giphy)

Rating: 8/10

Series: (unofficially) Harry Potter

Pages: 308