Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Harry Potter und das verwunschene Kind - Teil eins und zwei

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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daisy1_f's review against another edition

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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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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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amiamor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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lilith_hmr's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

0.5

Honestly, whatever Rowling says about this being canon, I cannot accept it. This book was absolutely shit. Definitely not the Harry Potter I read in the Series. But not going to lie there were at least 2 lines in the book that added a nice touch to it, but the rest of the book contained a lot of loopholes, and definitely not going to re-read it ever again.

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leilaliw's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-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

3.5

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madeleine_wilks's review against another edition

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2.25

Okay so. I was expecting to hate that a lot more than I did.
Obviously, it doesn’t hold a candle to the actual series. The thought is laughable, and I’m sure if you were to ask the authors of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, they would agree wholeheartedly. The beginning of this was cringe-worthy and made me want to bang my head into a wall. Oftentimes they strayed very far from an original characters personality (Harry was absolutely nothing like the Harry we all know and love), the school was nothing like Hogwarts, everyone spoke similarly, and there were no diverse personalities. Everyone felt the same, even our well-loved cast. They missed a huge point that the original franchise is so revered for- unique and quirky characters. There was a lot of forced drama, a lot of poorly portrayed teenage angst, and quite a bit of making characters follow some very thin, very forced logic that made most decisions seem irrational and most situations very unlikely.
But all in all, it was eh.
That is the best word I have.
There were a few okay moments towards the end, to be honest. There were some moments that made me smile. If I hadn't known the true wonder of the first seven books, I would have said: "That was nice". So I'm just throwing it in the middle. It could have been worse. It is fanfiction, after all.

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alisazhup's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

SO. I agree that this read like fanfiction (who said that's a bad thing??? I love fanfiction), that the OG characters were somewhat unlike themselves, and that there were plot holes, but dang it. I, a huge Harry Potter fan, was immersed in the plot, came close to crying in multiple parts, and am happy to consider this canon.

I mean, the scene where Harry finally addresses the ways Dumbledore hurt him as a child? Snape getting to choose in advance between life and death, and still choosing sacrifice? I'm happy to know this information. It makes the original books more meaningful to me.

Objectively, was it bad? Pretty much. But if you treat this like a book that was written a long time after the ending of a series, then it has the potential to be enjoyed.

(Plus, I borrowed this book from the library so J.K. Rowling did not receive any of my money)

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