Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Please note a few things when reading this review- I am not a very well certified Harry Potter fan. I have gone to no premiers, I haven't watched the movies, and I read the books... about a year and a half ago. If you want a proper fan's review, a dedicated and much better Harry Potter fan's review, look elsewhere. I'll just send you right off over to Citali and Willow at The Fangirl Archives, who have two drastically different responses, and are much more certified than I am.

Note number two- SPOILERS! I actually had it spoiled for me, and it was not as much fun due to that. I will be spoiler-ing, and honestly, just go read it. It can be hard finding a copy, but you can do it. If all else fails, buy an ebook or something. 

Well, off into the review!

My first impression was actually, oh, this isn't actually too bad. I mean, nothing really horrific struck me. I do feel like- well, the plot was pretty bad, so I was really just reading for the characters, so I'll try and talk about that good bit. 

Ron and Hermione are the characters I feel like are most like themselves. Ron's awful jokes add a bit of interest to the story, and his good natured, laid back sort of sarcasm is on point. I can see his original character easily evolving into adult Ron- but I still feel like they didn't do much except develope his sense of humor, and his sense of humor would more fit George, not Ron. Hermione feels slightly... I don't know, off. She's the least off character, but they didn't really get her right either. I like her weaponizing her book shelf. I love Scorpius and Albus' friendship, I love the tables being turned. The other next generation is either not there, or badly fleshed out. I want a next generation fic, not whatever this is. 

And Harry is nothing like the Harry I know. "Meet the once-great Harry Potter, now a stone-cold Ministry man." I want Harry to be the DADA teacher, chill and easy going and awesome. You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain, I suppose. 

The plot is bad. I'm sorry, they think he's Voldemort's son? And people take this rumor seriously? At MY school, all sorts of rumors fly and people just shrug and move on with their lives. And Delphi is... and the pregnancy... and the time turner... it's just bad. Part of it is the way it reads- I care next to nothing about the plot. 

The medium in general isn't so great. For instance- Act One, Scene Four is kind of hard to understand. Is the Sorting Hat singing an individual song for each person? Is it walking around or something? 

I am just as unimpressed as they are. 

I feel like one of the writers is very sarcastic and is trying to mess with the readers. i.e. "He looks at the approaching TROLLEY WITCH. Her hair wild. Her spikes particular spiky." Or, back towards the beginning, in scene two: "His hand is empty. It's a lame trick. Everyone enjoys it's lameness." And, you know, I like this person. They've got a nice, wry sense of humor. But are we supposed to take this book- play, really- seriously, or no?

In all honesty, I would prefer to take this as some sort of parody. I like the way they play around with different Hermiones- rebel Hermione, Snape-like Hermione. (And some stuff is so cheesy and ridiculous I cannot imagine being anything else. For instance, Act Three, Scene Two.  It's fun. But I don't take this as canon. This is, in my opinion, a little extra, side dish, for Harry Potter fans. This, to me, isn't the eighth book, just like Quidditch Through the Ages isn't. 

So, too enjoy this book, I'm not going to take this as canon. I accept Citali's terms. I may at some point reread this book, I may appreciate the sarcasm, but this isn't canon. And I will, of course, continue being Book Eight.