All Things Halloween Review - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Harry Potter, # 8)

By: JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany

Publication: July 31st 2016 by Little, Brown

343 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Source: Own/Personal Library

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Goodreads description--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.

Husband bought me Harry Potter and the Cursed Child when it published. However he bought me the hardback copy (which I would have told him is the version I wanted had he asked, but he surprised me). Yet reading a physical copy of a book is just about impossible for me right now. What reading I do is mostly done on my phone a page here and there throughout my day, 15 minutes here while nursing the baby, and another 15 there before bed. And that's why I put off reading this book for so long. I actually ended up borrowing this from the elibrary just so that I could read it on my phone. And it feels good to have finally read this finale.

I didn't have high expectations for this continuation. That's mostly because I always worry that a series that has ended doesn't always need to be revisited (even the ones I loved the most). Sometimes the original ending is where things need to stay and let our imaginations fill in the rest. So I just went in with low expectations and that being said I really ended up enjoying Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The old gang was much more involved in the story than I originally expected. While I assumed they would be present in the parental nature, I didn't expect the roles to be as prominent as they were. The story is as much about Harry's relationship with his son Albus as it is anything else. I enjoyed the fan service included throughout. I was pleasantly surprised with Draco's role and how much his character has changed since we last saw him. While I did enjoy this change if I'm being honest it is hard for me to imagine him this far changed from who we're used to seeing. In the same way I was surprised with how much of a role the old gang had in the story, I was also surprised with how little of a role Harry's other kids (James and Lily) and even Ron and Hermione's kids had.

Albus and Scorpius form the other main section of story. It isn't easy being the son of Harry Potter. Nor the son of Draco Malfoy. These two bond over their lack of other friends. I was quite concerned that the writers were going to turn the friendship between these two boys into more but I'm so glad that wasn't the case. They do have a bit of a David and Johnathan kind of closeness between them which I really appreciated seeing. I love stories about deep friendship.

I was also unsure about the villian of this story. Because this is a single story, the writers didn't have time to build up an evil to rival Voldemort who was complex and slowly revealed over the course of seven books. I didn't want old V to be the villian of this story also considering everything our characters did to defeat him in the original 7 books. I was happy with how things worked out even if they weren't completely unpredictable.

The most important part ofHarry Potter and the Cursed Child was the father/son relationship between Harry and Albus for me. There were parts that had me concerned about the direction of this story and the characters but in the end I was happy with how all the pieces played out. Throughout the majority of the book I was thinking I'd probably only give this 3 Stars, but the ending brought it up to 4 Stars for me. Have you read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? What did you think? Let me know!

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.