Skip to main content

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne



Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Takes place about 20 years after the end of the Deathly Hallows. We get a glimpse into the world where our favorite characters have grown up and are now "adulting" with a job and kids heading off to Hogwarts. Harry worries that Voldemort isn't really dead and his son Albus must deal with living in his father's shadow.  

Category: Fiction

Why I chose this book: read the others in the series

My personal opinion (the review): No, no no, and NO! I really didn't have high expectations for this and it fell short of even those. So disappointed. You can tell some of the ideas might have been J.K. Rowlings to begin with, but then someone else took them and manipulated them. The main characters from the series (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Professor McGonagall) felt all wrong. The only one who maybe worked out okay was Snape and he's only mentioned in one scene. I will admit there were a few good plot elements, but then they dragged them out too long. The final climactic scene didn't play out like anything I'd come to expect from Harry Potter. Even the title is totally misleading. I'd give this book MAYBE two stars out of five. 

I have no interest in seeing the play for the story line, but would like to see how they were able to pull off some of the special effects described. 

Warnings
Language: None
Violence: Very little
"Adult" situations: None
Death: None

Movie rating equivalent: Strong PG-13

Protagonist description: The real focus of the book is Albus. He struggles with a lot of anger and resentment issues toward his father and his father's legacy. Just like Harry was, I find him a bit whiny, but he is able to get the job done when it comes right down to it.


Point of view of story: Written in play format, 3rd person

Book length:  Short

Story flow: Choppy, play scenes that jump from one thing to another

Grammar and spelling issues: None

Character connection (no spoilers): None 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Matched By Ally Condie

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow. (Amazon) Category: YA dystopian Why I chose this book: Recommended based on other things I have read, it's been on my list for a while My personal opinion (the review): Of the many popular dystopian/futur

Slave, Warrior, Queen by Morgan Rice

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Ceres is a young woman (17) living in an oppressive Empire, with an equally oppressive mother. She has ties to a rebellion, and stronger ties to her brothers. She is basically thrown around her world constantly- enslaved, imprisoned, set loose, etc. Each time, she puts herself in the best position to cause the most damage to whatever she hates most. Category : YA fiction, fantasy Why I chose this book : Recommended on the library website My personal opinion : It's complicated. I loved the action, the pace, the unknown special power, the strong female lead character, the general story line. But I disliked the coincidence (see Emma Coats, rule #19, link below)- Ceres got out of trouble so many times. Mostly by fighting, but a couple times by coincidence. I disliked that the "Queen" phase never came, before the end of the book. Maybe that's part of the series, but the next book doesn't mention that in its title. I disliked tha

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Brief synopsis Clary and Jace continue their Shadowhunter path, chasing after demons and one "bad guy" in particular. They're attracted to each other deeply, and they're also siblings. Eww. With the help of werewolves and vampires, the good guys fight a bunch of demons led by a madman. Category YA Fiction Why I chose this book My daughter wanted to read the series, so I decided to give the next book a try. My personal opinion  (the review) I'm very disappointed. The characters are caricatures- complete personifications of one particular trait, each. The plot is predictable (the good guys will win, in the end). Jace and Clary are basically invincible. The only thing the story has going for it is the cliffhangers. Throughout the book, it felt like the story was constantly begging, "wait, don't put me down- there's another surprise coming!" I don't recommend this book at all. Warnings Language: A couple f-words at the beginning, less