Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 

Author: J. K. Rolling 

Series: Harry Potter, (Book 8)

Genre: Theater 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Pottermore 

Published: July 31, 2016 

 

Synopsis: 

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play by Jack Thorne. It is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage.

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.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is one play presented in two Parts, which are intended to be seen in order on the same day (matinee and evening) or on two consecutive evenings.

*Image from pottermore.com 

*Synopsis from: harrypottertheplay.com 

☆☆☆☆☆

Harry Potter and the Cursed child was weird, and dark, and twisted, and sad, and terrible, and beautiful, and amazing all rolled into one, and I am giving it five stars! I was somewhat doubtful that Cursed Child would be worth reading since it was written as a script for a play, but I bought it as soon as it was released in the Kindle edition, (because who wouldn’t jump at the chance to be back in the Potterverse?), and now I understand why J. K. Rolling chose to write it in that form. There is simply too much action and switching among view point characters to cram it all into a book. The original seven Harry Potter books were also filled with action, but they could be shown through the eyes of one character, one scene at a time. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child also has a pretty… tangled timeline… (you’ll catch the underlying meaning to that when you read it), and that would have most likely made for a confusing mess were it displayed in the form of a novel like the first seven books. Rather than being confusing or hard to read as I expected, reading Cursed Child was like reading a movie. It was a very quick read because of it being written as a script, and I was able to clearly picture each scene and hear the emotion behind each character’s words.

I won’t spoil anything, but the beginning of Cursed Child almost tore my poor little “dumbledork” heart to shreds! I hated forty-year-old Harry and wished I could slap him across the face so he’d shut up and listen for once! And I spent a good chunk of the book internally screaming, “Albus Severus Potter you are a blithering idiot and you are acting even stupider than your dad at this age!” But then the end of the book redeemed Harry and Albus, and I saw a side of Draco Malfoy that I thought I’d never see. Anyone who reads Cursed Child should be prepared to cry in heartbreak and then relief multiple times, and then with joy when the last word is spoken. J. K. Rolling did it again, just like I knew she would! She wrote a wonderfully magical story that shows a lesson that isn’t even evident until the very end, and one day I hope that I can evoke as much emotion through the words of my characters as she does through the words of Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. I honestly can’t say much more than that without terribly spoiling things, so I’ll move on and share a few quotes that I highlighted as I was reading. Be forewarned… One of the quotes is a mild spoiler, so watch out for the screaming alert! 

 

Quotes from The Cursed: 

■Albus Dumbledore: “You must see him as he is, Harry. You must look for what’s wounding him.” 

■Draco Malfoy: “Tom Riddle didn’t emerge from his dark place. And so Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort.” 

 

SPOILER ALERT!!! 

■Severus Snape: “Sometimes costs are made to be borne.” 

END SPOILER ALERT!!! 

■Albus Potter: Oh I’m not going to be a wizard, I’m going into pigeon racing.” 

■Harry Potter: “They were great men, with huge flaws, and you know what—those flaws almost made them greater.” 

 

 

Find It ON: 

•Amazon 

•iBooks 

 

What do you think? 

Have you read Cursed Child? are you planning to read it or see the performance? I’d love to know what you think in the comments. If you haven’t read it yet, you are nothing but a muggle! Hopefully I didn’t spoil anything, but if I did… Alas… earwax!