Review – Harry Potter and the cursed child

Hi guys,

Yesterday was a big day! J.K Rowling, yes, the British writer, celebrated her birthday yesterday. It was her 51st, if I’m not mistaken. And together with her, her biggest creation, Harry Potter, celebrated his birthday too. Which brings me to the newest Harry Potter book: “Harry Potter and the cursed child.” Excited yet? ;)

Yesterday the book was released and I managed to get it, yay! ;)

I started reading in the afternoon and by midnight, I ended it. Needless to say I’m quite excited about the book! ;) It’s not as large as the previous ones, but that’s okay, because this one actually is more of an extra story for the fans. You should read the previous books in order to fully understand this one, but I guess everyone already did, so there’s no problem in that, right? ;)

First things first, it isn’t really a book, or actually, it isn’t written as a book. It’s an adaption of a theater play, and it’s written as a script, a screenplay, with lines and stage directions and all that, so when you start reading it, it might be a little weird and confusing, but once you’re used to the somewhat odd way of reading a screenplay, instead of reading a book, you’ll see that it’s pretty enjoyable.

Reading the book in English, which isn't my native language, was surprisingly easy. Probably because I know most of the English words from the movies ... ;) Here in Belgium, we don't have dubbed movies, you see, we just add Dutch subtitles, or French subtitles, depending on which side of Belgium you live in... ;) Quick fact: Muggles are called Dreuzels in Dutch. Well, there you go, you've learned Dutch! ;)

Anyway, the story begins where the last book, Harry Potter and the deadly hallows, ended, at platform 9 3/4, where Harry, (who’s a 37 years old man by now), his wife Ginny Weasley, Harry's best friend and brother in-law Ron and his wife Hermoine all say goodbye to their oldest children, Albus Severus Potter and Rose Granger – Weasley, who’re both ready to board the Hogwarts Express for the very first time. Last but not least, we also get to know Draco’s son, Scorpius. So excitening! ;)

I’m not gonna tell you what happens, obviously, nor am I telling you who the cursed child is, you have to read it for yourself, but take it from me, if you’re a fan, you will definitely like the story!

The characters are a little plain, Rowling could have give them some more depth, I guess, and the story kinda rushes through: after reading 5% of the book, we found Albus  in his fourth year already, but after those first 5%, it doesn’t feels that “rushy” anymore. And we’re all just so happy to read about Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Ginny, Draco, Neville, Minerva and even some other old characters again, even when they could have some more depth, aren’t we? ;)

Without giving away any clues or spoilers: the word “TimeTurner” is being used quite some times in this story, so it gets a little confusing sometimes… ;) But the story is well thought, strong, surprising and really good though.

In short: it’s a good story and it’s definitely worth reading, although it’s just not that good as the previous ones, because of the odd way of writing (the whole script thing, you know), the lack of depth of the characters and the rushing. As I said before, this is a big extra for the fans so if you’re a fan, be sure to give the book a chance! And if you’re not, try reading the first 7 books before you read this one! ;)

The book contains both part I and II so you can read the whole thing at once.

Feel free to leave your thoughts or comments about the book in the reactions below! :)

Enjoy! ;)

Thanks for reading!
Natje