A Review of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child

Harry Potter fans, raise your replica wands!

This has been a pretty good year to be a Potter fan. At least, as good as it can be now that the series is done. But, we got a screenplay and a new movie, so we can’t complain too much.

Now, I haven’t seen Fantastical Beasts yet, (since it comes out in November) but I did read The Cursed Child. And I’m not going to lie, I had mixed feelings about it.

Here are some things you should know before you read it.

It is a play, not a novel.

If you pick this book up expecting it to be, well, a book, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. It’s a play, and this is a play script that you’re reading.

This is not a bad thing. I like reading plays, and in fact one of my favorite Steven King Stories, Storm of The Century, is a screenplay. Just don’t be expecting the flow of dialog and descriptions that we found in the books.

JK Rowling didn’t write it.

I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you that every writer has her own voice. I could write the same story as you, and it would be completely different. If you’ve read the books, you’ll recognize Rowling’s voice, and find that this play lacks it.

I don’t mean to disparage the writers of the play, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. Their style is different, but good.

As of this writing, the edition available is the rehearsal edition.

And another edition is going to come out. I think it’s slanted for later this year, early next year. I don’t know how different it’s going to be. They might just want to clean some things up after the show was done. But be warned, it might come out and be completely different. It’s kind of like comic books. Just when you think you know something, a writer decides to ret-con a character and screw up your day.

I still loved it.

Even with all of that, I still loved this story. I wanted, like everyone did, to know what happened! What did everyone do after Hogwarts? I mean, we know that there are kids (poorly named kids) but that’s it! I wanted to know so much more. While Rowling has given us some of that, there was more to learn about. And I wanted something a little more official than fan fic. If that’s what you’re after, then The Cursed Child delivers.

Just know what you’re getting into.