Ephemeris of the Mind

(Book Review) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child:​ Parts One and Two

Time to read: 3 min read

Book Cover Book Cover

Love blinds. We have both tried to give our sons, not what they needed, but what we needed. We've been so busy trying to rewrite our own pasts, we've blighted their present.

Past Harry Potter novel reviews:

Review

I was initially apathetic towards the latest Harry Potter story as it’s not a novel but a play but after watching the production live at the Ed Mirvish Theatre recently, I finally read the play.

To be honest, the story was decent but not spectacular; it takes place nineteen years after the events of the last Harry Potter novel and focuses on Harry Potter’s son Albus Severus Potter. Unlike the previous novels, the play focuses much more on the conflicts between the characters, such as Harry’s struggles on being a father, with the actual conflict (an evil returning to the wizarding world) being more of a subtext for the relationship struggles. I felt that the story also centered around the theatrics as opposed to the actual main plot. The plot is a tad scattered and I felt it wasn’t nearly as strong as the previous seven stories.

The actual live production, however, was phenomenal. The special effects used were magical, such as with the time travel effect and the dementors. The acting was also amazing; the friendship/romance between Scorpius Malfoy and Albus was very entertaining to watch. The screenplay for the production I watched has been adapted from the original screenplay but after reading the original, I did not feel that one is missing much as the scenes which were cut from the adaptation were mostly filler. The concessions were also pretty cool, the theatre served wizarding world themed snacks and merch; I got some free refreshments (the spiked butterbeer was ok) and some house scarfs from my credit card offer.

Overall, if one is just reading it, I can see how the play is disappointing, especially compared to the last novel which I felt was the strongest one. The actual play, however, is very entertaining and certainly worth checking out.

Conclusion

An amazing play but probably not meant to be read on its own.

Overall rating: 7.5

What does the rating mean?