Harry Potter and The Cursed Child came out at the beginning of the month. I'm sure many of y'all know because of the many articles that have been circulating around on various platforms. Some articles are positive, some articles are negative, and some articles are just a bit random (like which Pokemon Go team would Albus Potter be in). I decided I would throw my two cents in. Fair warning, this article will fall on the positive side and hold possible spoilers.
It took about two or three days to read. I work full time or else it would probably be much sooner. It is written in play format, similar to Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately, that is a big turn off to some people who liked the description of the original series. In play format, the majority of the writing is dialogue. A coworker of mine took one look at act one, scene one and immediately put the book down, refusing to read any more of it because of the play format. In my opinion, the play format makes it easier to read because there is less wordy descriptions. Don't get me wrong. I love the descriptive settings of the original series, but it did take longer to read that the dialogue sections.
While I did enjoy The Cursed Child, there were some parts I was less privy to. The first part being how fast the story moved. Within about twenty pages, the story progressed from Ablus's first year to his fourth year. Little detail was given on Ablus's time at Hogwarts during those few years other than the fact his best friend is Draco's son Scorpius and both boys are hated by nearly everyone in the school and their house, Slytherin. Also that Albus and Harry have a tense relationship. Another part I didn't like was that the fight scene at the end is short. I understand that it is hard to prolong a fight during a play, but I feel it could have been slightly longer and a bit more dramatic.
On the other hand, I did enjoy how the story showed the developing relationship between Harry and Albus, Albus and Scorpius, and Draco and Harry. It was also nice to see the continued relationship between the main characters of the original series: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and even Professor McGonagall.
After reading The Cursed Child, I felt a desire to reread the original series. Knowing what happens in the later books really puts the earlier books in perspective and gives insight into areas you might have glossed over reading the books the first few times. The Cursed Child reawakened my love for Harry Potter which has been buried since the last book came out. Even though this book might not be everything you hoped for or expected, it doesn't mean that this book isn't good. It may not fall into the traditional Harry Potter book section, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a chance. And though it may not be what you wanted and may not be exactly how you thought the story should have progressed, it doesn't mean you should bash the story. It happened. It is cannon. It is part of the series now. Like or not. Don't rain on everyone else's parade.
