*****
5 Stars/5
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the fantastic 8th
story in the Harry Potter universe, and I have not felt this nostalgic and
sentimental about a book since I finished reading The Deathly Hallows. This story
has the same atmosphere as the books and I loved being back in this magical
world again. It is a very quick and easy, with an engrossing plot, twists and
turn and lots of familiar faces. Like the books, it focuses on friendship and
love but also looks at the impact and outcomes from the decisions from the
original 7 books.
I had to get used to reading a script layout instead of a
normal book format which I did but because it is not a standard book I missed
the emotional depth we see in characters in novels. One criticism is that it
has a fanfic vibe to it, with all the old favourites back, and one thing in
particular I felt was there to power the story and to make fans happy rather
than it making sense in the original books (will talk more about this later).
I struggled to get on with Albus in the beginning as he
came across selfish and with too much angst but he did grow on me. He feels he
is disappointment as he cannot live up to his father and is an outsider. While the
story points out often the Harry and Albus are different I felt their personality
and beliefs are very similar, which is probable why they clash and quarrel often.
My favourite character in this story is Scorpius as he is an outsider and geeky
(and proud). He is the sensible best friend who is a follower not a leader, and
is also kind and lonely.
Harry is stressed as an adult as he has to deal with
being thought of as legendary and his traumatic childhood which has still left some
big emotional scars. I also think fans will like and understand his struggles
with being a good parent and feeling like he is doing everything wrong. Hermione
has become more confident and determined as an adult and has a lot of responsibilities
resting on her shoulders but is still the same character we know and love. However,
I was very disappointed with how Ron was portrayed in this story. This is
because instead of having the complex and overlooked Ron from the books we have
the Ron from the films whose only role is to be the joker of the group.
Spoilers!!!!
The main thing which made no sense to me in this story
was Delphi’s parents for two reasons. Firstly I got the impression from the
book that as Voldemort became less human he lost interest in having sex and
generally he saw people were pawns just used to get him more power, so him
fathering a daughter near the end of his life did not ring true to me. Secondly,
whilst Bellatrix adored Voldemort and would have very happily slept with him,
how come no one knew she was pregnant or had had a child including her nephew Draco?
Spoilers End
That being said I love this book as it adds to the story
of Harry Potter without copying it, and I am desperate to watch the play soon,
to see this story in the format it is meant to be seen. I will always want more
books set in this world and while J K Rowling says this is the end for Harry, I
would love more books set either in the past or future. I would recommend Harry
Potter and the Cursed Child to everyone who loves Harry Potter and wants to
find out what happens next.