Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Author: J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, & Jack Thorne
Release Date: July 31, 2016
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Pages: 328
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Plays

Summary

The eighth story. Nineteen years later. 

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, 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's 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 refuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
 -Goodreads

The Rundown

Hmmm....alrighty let us just get right to it.

I don't know what to think. Which has never happened to me with what I'm now calling the Canonical Seven Potter books (I really may never be able to bring myself to think of this as Harry Potter 8. I don't care what you say Goodreads.) It feels more like a series spin off rather than a continuation of the original. Which is probably a good thing, because the end of The Deathly Hallows felt so perfect and like everything had come full circle to me.

Maybe because I was so excited for this, to see some of my all time favorite literary characters all grown up, that I felt such a letdown. Maybe on stage (it's a play) it comes across differently, as something more? Alas I may never know. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. It was just...yeah.

The teen angst got a bit much for me at times when it came to how Albus related to Harry. I was having major flashbacks to The Order of the Phoenix, which is still the hardest Potter for me to deal with (Harry was just so emo haha sorry early 2000s kid term...he just had a lot of feelings that year). On the flip side, I loved how Wizard or Muggle, there's no magic spell for parenting and Harry is just figuring it out as he goes along.

Character standouts were definitely grown up Draco and his son, Scorpius. Much like Snape won my heart in The Deathly Hallows, the Malfoys found a place in my heart thanks to this. Harry, Hermione, and Ron (my fictional character soul mate) seemed somewhere between caricatures of themselves and dull. Then again, maybe they'll just always be eternally 17 to me. And that's okay.

Overall, I missed the magic that came to define the series for me. And I'm not talking just spells, but the overall magic that you can't help but feel when you're truly captivated by a story. 

How many times have I read the Canonical Seven Potters? It's well over 10 times. How many times will I reread The Cursed Child? Probably just this once.

What about you? I geek all things Potter! Leave a comment!

Rating: 3 Stars. Meh.