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

Being Harry Potter’s son is not easy, especially for Albus Potter. While his brother James has exceeded everyone’s expectations by being housed in Gryffindor and becoming a star student, Albus has done the opposite. He’s been sorted in Slytherin and struggles both academically and socially.  Still, he’s got his best friend Scorpius Malfoy, but even that introduces problems. Besides the fact that the Malfoy’s and Potter’s are anything but friends, Scorpius is rumored to be the son of Voldemort. But, while their friendship has some difficulties, it is nothing compared to the tense relationship between Albus and Harry. When Albus overhears Cedric Diggory’s father pleading with Harry to go back and save Cedric, he’s not surprised that Harry denies the request. Albus is fed up with all the lives that have been sacrificed for Harry, though, and he knows what he needs to do. So, with the aid of Scorpius and Cedric’s cousin, Delphi, vow to bring back Cedric. However, very soon into the mission, they realize going back in time is a lot more complicated than what they thought it would be, and that they may being doing more damage than good.

I was very hesitant going into this book. I grew up reading Harry Potter, and the series is what initially got me into reading. I’m so attached to the characters and the story, and didn’t want those good feelings to be ruined, especially since I’ve heard a lot of reviews saying that the book was disappointing. After reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I’m not necessarily disappointed, but I can see why it would be. It was a fun read, but also a little unnecessary.

Because the novel is based on a play, it is written in script form. I was scared that because of that, I would feel disconnected from the story, which did happen in some places. I had no problem imagining the setting- mostly because I’m so familiar with the Harry Potter world that it was easy to create a background in my mind. That being said, I did not picture the story playing out on a stage, even though there were stage directions throughout the writing. On a different not, I did feel kind of disconnected with the characters that were newly introduced. With the older characters, it was easy to figure out why they made the decisions they made (because I was so familiar with their thinking), but it was harder for me to understand Albus’s or Scorpius’s actions, since I had no idea what they were thinking. On a plus side, because it is a script it was a super fast read.

Now, it’s time to get technical with the story, and this part is definitely going to have spoilers. My big problem with this book was that it majorly slipped up on, you could say, the magical checks and balances. Confused? That’s okay, because I’m going to it explain it all for you. To start off, it’s important to mention that to go back in time. Albus used a Time-Turner to go back in time, as did Harry in the his third year. So, when Albus went back in time, everything he did affected his future, and every he came back to the present it was different. However, when Harry went back in time, the actions that he did were technically already happening, and always had happened in that scenario, thus keeping the fate of his present situation the same. Therefore, Albus’s actions, no matter what he did, shouldn’t have changed his present situation.

Okay, technical stuff done. And, besides that aspect, I absolutely loved the book. It filled my heart with joy seeing Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny again, since they were so important in my childhood. Ultimately, even though there were so major problems, I loved this book.

4 Stars