Book review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

July 31st.
Harry Potter and JK Rowling's birthday.
The release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the continuation story of the Harry Potter Universe.
The day Harry Potter nerds fans like myself have been waiting for for years.

*note: this post may contain spoilers!*

I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant on this book. First, it's not really a "book". It's an adaptation of  script for a play. Which means all the background work, all the details, all the scenery get taken out, and we're left with mainly dialogue. Reading dialogue only makes for a quick read, however.
Second, though JK's name is on the cover, it is known that she did not write the majority of this book. Yes, she came up with the plot line, the characters, etc. If you look closely, it says "based on an original new story by JK Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. A new play by Jack Thorne". Therefore, JK did not write this book which I believe is going to be a common misconception with diehard HP fans.

All that being said, I did enjoy the story. It was not on the same level as the original HP books, but it was a nice read. The plot kept me engaged and interested throughout. The underlying messages were easily picked up, but woven in very subtly in a nice JK manner. Characters we loved dearly make their return in various forms, which made my heart flutter with excitement. I now feel as if I need to start rereading all the HP books over again!

There are times when I felt annoyed at the story, however. Without going into spoiler details, there are just a few times towards the end when I found myself scoffing at the book. Did Delphi really need to exist? Her whole story line at the end made me cringe. Understandably it got the characters to the ending place, but I felt like it could have happened another way. She popped in and out so infrequently the rest of the book, it seemed like the authors tried too hard at the end. Plus, (spoilers) the whole Bellatrix and what happened right before the Battle of Hogwarts threw it off-- we know Bellatrix was an integral part of the war, so how was that supposed to have happened?

Overall I give this book a 7/10. A nice summer read, a great way to bring back memories and feelings with the original HP characters, and a good play. I would love to see it preformed if it ever comes to the States!

Next up: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (released today, August 2nd)