Harry Potter and the Cursed Child- Parts 1 and 2 by JK Rowling, John Tiffany, & Jack Thorne

Amy      

Lynnie   


play, fantasy

The adventures of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, along with their friends and family, continue into the next generation of witches and wizards in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  The script to this play based on J.K. Rowling's young adult series, though written by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne (despite her prominent name on the cover), has been called the 8th story in the Harry Potter series.

Amy's Review

While I enjoyed being back in the world of Harry Potter, I did not really care for this story line. It had its moments, but I did not like seeing Harry being anything other than an exemplary father. And, some of the boys’ antics and troubles and immaturity were painful to read about. The best parts were the alternate universes, in my opinion. But, I just was not excited at any point during this play. I thought it was a great idea to have a play instead of a novel as a follow-up. But, it did not meet my expectations and ended up leaving me unsatisfied.

Lynnie's Review

Um... Honestly? I didn't love it. Let me start by saying I read a lot of plays, so the format wasn't the problem for me. The problem was that it was kind of a crap play. The staging, as described, sounds tremendously cool & I'm sure adds a lot to the experience but as a script? It's just okay.

My biggest issue was the story. It's clear from the beginning that this wasn't written by JK Rowling, therefore it felt a lot like reading fan fiction, and bad fan fiction at that. The older characters didn't sound like themselves, though I enjoyed the younger, newer characters tremendously. It's possible I would've enjoyed it more if the story focused solely on them, but it didn't. Part Two (so the second night of the show?) was much more enjoyable than Part One & saved this from being a 2-star review.

Overall? 2 1/2 stars & I'm going to add this to the pile of sequels I wish didn't exist- like Allegiant (Divergent series), Breaking Dawn (Twilight), Go Set A Watchman (TKAM) among others in the pile of shame. I'm just gonna pretend this didn't happen & go back to Deathly Hallows.