' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' was released in bookstores around the world last week. Companies such as Scholastic and Bloomsbury are now releasing their sales numbers. An article on Hypable states that "two million print copies were sold in the first 48 hours in the United States and Canada, according to Scholastic, and another 664,478 copies were sold in the U.K. in its first 72 hours." As the newest extension of the series, it was bound to do well from the start. But if you are one of those who chose to wait and see if the story lived up to all of the hype, the English Major/ Harry Potter nerd in me would like to present you with an informal book review. If you are worried about spoilers, never fear. I wouldn't dare ruin someone's joy in discovering the twists and turns of a story.

So lets begin with the style. It is a script co-written by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. While the lovely binding and cover suggest the appearance of a novel, the book lacks certain qualities. It has the savory meat and depth of a quality story with a riveting plot and well rounded characters, but it's missing the vast descriptions and inner workings that we came to love in the original series.In fact, general descriptions and imagery are only sustained by our previous knowledge of the setting. While this is unfortunate, it is just a script; a well written script I must say, but visuals are meant to be experienced through the performance itself.

Like many Shakespearean plays, 'The Cursed Child' is about the relationship of fathers and sons. Twenty years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the boy who lived is all grown up and has three kids of his own - James, Albus and Lily. The story is about Albus, who is, in general terms, trying to find his own identity that doesn't center around his father's fame. I was pleasantly surprised to the the character development of Draco Malfoy and his son Scorpios, who act as foils for Harry and Albus.Unfortunately, we don't have much perspective on the other two Potters. While we do meet Rose Granger-Weasley, her brother Hugo is almost entirely glossed over. Oddly enough, the Weasley presence is noticeably missing as Ron and Ginny seem to have taken lesser rolls in the plot of this story even though they do hold notable positions. Despite the lack of presence of these minor characters, there were several old favorites that will warm and break your heart at the same time.

Overall, the only negative aspect of the story is that I wanted more. Could it have been a novel? Maybe, and it would have been quite a long one if it were to cover everything. But the fact that we can fill in most of the missing space in our own imaginations is yet another reason to applaud Rowling for a job well done because she laid the ground work with such precise detail of the wizarding world to make that possible.