How are you?
Firstly (again) I want to apologies for not posting in a while. I recently moved house and I've only just got wifi after a month without it. Secondly, some of you might have seen in August that I accidentally published an unfinished review but this is my official review.
So if you've read one of my reviews before you will know that there is a certain layout to them, which goes like this: cover review, plot overview, character chat and opinions. But I've now decided to add a non-spoiler section so that people who haven't read the book can still read my review.
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Review- Contains Spoilers
Non-Spoiler Thoughts
When HP+TCC was published there was lots of controversy around it. Many of the fans were upset and didn't like the book as it wasn't written by JK Rowling. Lots of fans weren't happy that it was written in script format and that you don't get the same experience if you don't see the play.I personally really enjoyed it, yes it was very different to the other 7 books in the Harry Potter world, but at least we finally got our questions answered. I was so happy to be able to reemerge myself in this world with something new. I enjoyed seeing our favourite characters all grown up and meeting new characters. I also enjoyed reading it in a different format and with help from other people (not just JK). There were moments that made you laugh and moments that made you cry, it brought back all the emotions from the Harry Potter books.
Cover Review
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| A photo taken from my Instagram |
I really like the gold foil on the cover as it makes it seem more special and magical. It also shows that this edition is the rehearsal script edition and that later on there will be a final version.
Plot Overview
What does Goodreads say?
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.
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.
Average rating on Goodreads; 3.86/5 (this statistic is taken from 190782 ratings and 35901 reviews)
HP+TCC starts where Deathly Hallows ended, at Platform 9 and 3/4. We now see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny as adults with their children now attending Hogwarts. I really enjoyed how we had the dialogue from Deathly Hallows, it really linked HP+TCC to the rest of the Harry Potter world. We have our first dilemma that Albus is worried that he'll be sorted into Slytherin and Harry reassures him that it doesn't matter. We soon see that Albus has been sorted into Slytherin (no surprise, TBH) and is now friends with Scorpius Malfoy. We quickly skip through the first few years at Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Harry works at the Ministry and has been having funny dreams about Voldemort. We also see that Harry has been having lots of visits from Amos Diggory and his niece Delphi, as he is now an old man and wants some closure about his son's death. This is when we learn about a time turner that has escaped destruction. Albus and Harry argue about being related and end the argue saying they wish they weren't related to each other. This is when Albus teams up with Delphi and they decide to steal the time turner, which Hermione has hidden in a bookcase. We then go through a series of alternate time lines- Cedric Diggory loses the Triwizard tournament, Cedric becomes a Death Eater, Voldemort wins the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry dies, Albus doesn't exist, Ron and Hermione don't get married etc. Meanwhile Harry and Draco are panicking about were there children are. We have a really nice moment here were Draco opens up to Harry about his wife's death and his jealousy of Harry. We also have a scene were Harry confronts Dumbledore's portrait and says how angry he was that Dumbledore never told him anything and expected so much more from Harry. The news then gets leaked about the time turner and some how the boys get back to their parents. We also learn that Delphi is Bellatrix and Voldemort's daughter and she wants to meet her father. We then travel back to the night were Harry's parents die and they prevent Delphi meeting Voldemort and Harry is forced to watch his parents death's which is a very emotional scene. The final scene is were Albus and Harry make up.
That is my very quick summary of the plot for HP+TCC, if I missed anything out please let me know!
Character Chat
I am only going to talk about 5 characters in this section and they are: Harry Potter, Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and Delphi Diggory.
Harry Potter
I really loved seeing Harry as an adult. We got to see him outside of Hogwarts and in a completely different light. It was nice getting to see him as a father and a husband. We get the sense that Harry had to grow up quickly and that the Battle of Hogwarts has effected him massively. We also get to see him as a tired Ministry employee and how he copes with his "fame". I really loved his and Albus' relationship by the end of the book as we can see that they have gone through so much and they now appreciate each other a tiny bit more.
Albus Severus Potter
Albus is a character we saw very briefly at the end of Deathly Hallows and was a character I came to love. At first, I didn't like him because he was just so mean to Harry. I really didn't like the scene were he mocked Harry about his past with the Dursley's and his parents dying. I know that Harry's reaction was unacceptable, but he says to Albus that he knows how to get under his skin. I loved his relationship with Scorpius, you could see that they were "made for each other" and were really good friends. They would do anything for each other and that is what matters in a friendship.
Scorpius Malfoy
Scorpius was a new character that we only got a tiny mention in Deathly Hallows and was my favourite character in HP+TCC. He was so funny and nerdy, the perfect character in my opinion. He was the perfect friend for Albus. I felt so sorry for him as there were all the rumors that he was Voldemort's son and then his mum died and I could have cried! I just wanted to cuddle him in every scene and let him know that he was loved. I got the feeling that him and Draco weren't close, which we saw in one of the alternate worlds.
Draco Malfoy
I loved Draco as an adult. I personally always liked Draco as I felt he was a misinterpreted character. He does all of the terrible things he does to save his family and prove himself to them. I think he would have turned out better if he hadn't been rejected by Harry. The scene were he admitted he was jealous of the Golden Trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione) was so heart breaking. It made me wish that we had got to see Draco differently in the books. I loved how he worked with Harry to find their sons.
Delphi Diggory
Again, Delphi is a new character that we only have in HP+TCC. Immediately I got the sense that Delphi wasn't to be trusted by some of her actions and things she says. I didn't like the fact that she was Bellatrix and Voldemort's daughter. I kinda felt that her character was a bit unnecessary.Opinions
I personally really enjoyed HP+TCC. I was so happy to be back in this world that has been a huge part of my life. It was amazing to be able to see our favourite characters all grown up. Yes this book had its flaws, but so does every book. You have to remember that this is a play not a book. I think that at lot of people didn't like it because we hadn't seen these characters between the books so it was hard to accept them the way they were.
I was so happy that Harry's childhood traumas were addressed and that he finally admitted he was traumatized. It's something that I wished we had more of in the series. I also loved Albus and Scorpius's relationship! They were so sweet and genuinely cared for each other. Also, Scorpius is so sweet and such a big nerd! I love him as a character and want to know more about it. Some lines in the book were lines I could see JK writing, for example the scene were Harry and Draco are dueling at Harry's house and Draco says "keep up old man!" and Harry replies "Draco, we're the same age" and Draco says" yes, but I wear it better!" Those were some classic Draco-Harry lines. There was also a lot of humor from Ron, my favourite line of his "Nothing scares me. Apart from mum", again we have another classic example of a Ron line. I loved seeing the alternate worlds if certain things happened, I found that very interesting. My favourite part was a flashback were Hagrid goes and takes Harry from his parents house and says "Hello, my name is Hagrid and I'm going to be your best friend now" That honestly made my heart melt and I want to give Hagrid a hug because he is so cute.
Some things I wasn't happy with was the idea that Bellatrix and Voldemort had a child together. I just always assumed that Voldemort was too proud to have a child. I also didn't like the scene were Albus mocks Harry for his past, yes I get it that Albus feels ashamed to have a famous father but Harry NEVER asked to be famous and that scene was so hard to read as it made me quite upset. There were also a lot of plot holes and things from the Harry Potter universe that had been changed for the play, which annoyed me slightly but they were things I could overlook.
Overall I gave Harry Potter and The Cursed Child 4/5 stars and I hope one day I can go see the play as I am quite interested to see how they did some of the special effects.
Love,
Carenza x
