Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two

1 out of 5 ☆’s.

“I didn't much like my life without you in it either.”

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Note: I want to preface this by stating that I am not much of a theater person — and I don’t have much experience reading playscripts — so it’s entirely possible that this just wasn’t my cup of tea!

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Where to begin with this one? I guess I’ll start off with mentioning that I wasn’t a big fan of the way that the original HP characters were portrayed in this story…

While I understand that these characters have grown older - there are things that I just cannot see them doing (and Harry being a horrendous father & saying horrible things to McGonagall are two of those things).

This is the same Harry James Potter that used the cruciatus curse on Amycus because he spit in McGonagall’s face, and you expect me to believe that adult Harry would speak to her the way that he did? Belittling McGonagall for not having children of her own, and then ordering her around as though he’s her boss? Never in a million years.

I also wasn’t a fan of most of the dialogue in this story — it felt rather lackluster and left me wanting more depth.

(I also have issues with whoever thought that it was ok — or funny — to have Albus kiss his aunt on the mouth multiple times. There was no reason for that to happen?)

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The one shining light throughout this playscript was Albus & Scorpius’ relationship. I enjoyed reading about them and their care towards one another!

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Note: It’s possible that I would feel differently about this story if I were to watch the actual play (perhaps it’s something that needs to be seen to be fully enjoyed) but that’s not possible for me at the moment - so this will have to do.

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bookerbride's review

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked - not loved - it and it made me want to start reading the series again. I agree with some of the criticism others mention. Some characters are not well-written. I was especially bothered by how Ron was just a funny, dumb presence who had nothing to contribute. Overall, I felt entertained. I enjoy stories including time travel, attempts to set things right, seeing the consequences, exploring how characters turn out different under changed circumstances. For me, it was ok for the story to focus on Albus and have his siblings be less present. This is his story.
Regarding format: I'm used to reading plays, so it was "interesting" to also have them explain feelings, thoughts and memories - and not just the visible part.
Finally, I felt the target audience of this book/play must have been younger than for the last books. The themes seem less mature and as someone else put it "unnecessary [teenage] drama" about identity and family relationships.

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daisy1_f's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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studiomikarts's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I finally decided to try reading this again for the first time in years because it was the December selection for the Protego Foundation book club, which I had only recently discovered. The first time I attempted to read this, back when it was first published, I only got a few pages in before completely losing interest. This time, my second attempt, I got a bit farther. I found it easy to read, and even though I'm extremely busy this time of year, I was able to finish Part One before the book club meeting.

By that point, I am disappointed to say, I didn't care if the meeting ended up spoiling Part Two. There was so much that was off about the story, the characters, and their relationships. I did my best to give a generous amount of leeway, in consideration of the fact that this is the script for a stage production and not a novel, but that wasn't enough. A word I found myself constantly using in my reading notes was "unbelievable". Examples:

The father-son issues between Harry and Albus felt contrived, even forced. The Trolley Witch throwing explosives and growing spikes from her hands as a method of keeping passengers onboard the Hogwarts Express was utterly ridiculous; I think most people would jump overboard in fear, not quietly return to their seats! And the big drop, Cedric turning Death Eater because he was publicly embarrassed. Truly unbelievable to anyone who is a fan of the main series of novels. But that was not the worst moment. The poor taste of including a scene where adult Harry literally stands there and watches his parents being murdered: sickening, and out of line with everything we have come to expect from the Harry Potter stories.

There were plenty more complaints along those lines, but I don't want to spend any more time on this book than is necessary to express my deep disappointment. The only reason I finished it at all, after the book club was over, was because it was so easy to read. Even without the impetus of interest, I was able to breeze through it without any effort. I think that's perhaps the reason I gave it one star, instead of zero.

I think I'm generally quite a generous reviewer and an easy-to-please reader, but this book was horrible. I kept thinking, well, at least it can't get worse than this, and I kept being proven wrong! At the book club, I was hesitant to present a sure opinion, but it was already strongly unfavorable. Now that I'm done, I can say for sure I hated this story!

P.S. The Protego Foundation is an animal rights charity, so I read this with a focus on the depiction of animals. While there weren't many animals in it, I can't say I ever saw a positive mention. They were either used as weird insults (like 'only animals wet the bed' wtf?) or as symbols of evil, when they weren't rehashed elements from a previous Harry Potter novel or weak jokes (

a book club member pointed out that it's ridiculous to suggest Harry had no problem with the filthy owlery at Hogwarts but finds pigeons creepy because they're dirty?

). Even when reading it from this unusual perspective, there was nothing good about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child...at the book club, many people espoused the opinion that the actual performance is much better than the book. At the time, I said I'd probably see the play if I ever had the opportunity. Now I don't feel that way. I feel like it would be saying all the things that were so miserable about this reading are acceptable so long as something else is there to cover them up.

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annapox's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

It reads like mediocre fanfiction and blatantly contradicts the canon of the novels in terms of the magic system, characters' personalities, and even some dialogue. It was interesting enough to keep me from abandoning it, though.

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eggfriend's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jenna_justi2004's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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sauvageloup's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

firstly, fuck J.K.
but the play wasn't bad at all, I did like Scorpius and Albus a lot and the story and characters carries you over some awkward writing

pros:
- by virtue of it being a script, it's quick to read, punchy and gripping. the plot whisks along.
- it went darker than I expected and I liked that, it wasn't afraid to shy away from the dark stuff explored in the OG canon, and even go darker with the world that could've been
- I've read scorpius and Albus fanfic for a while so it was cool to see where aspects of fanon had come from

- delphi made a great villain and was unexpected but interesting

cons:
- the impact on Albus of being Harry's son still wasn't entirely explored and could've been more addressed. their relationship was better, but there was still real pain for Albus in being different
- i liked Harry and draco's new friendship but it was a bit of a fast turnaround
- Harry was just generally dislikable tbh and ginny was unremarkable, as she was in the books imo. the kids definitely stole the show.
- there could've been more of Harry still healing from the trauma, but what was there was pretty good.

overall, i did like it a lot. shame (one of) the author(s) is a pile of shit.

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