I did the midnight release thing and I have read my copy of The Cursed Child. As a reader who is wildly biased in favor of all things Potter, I can tell you that it’s…OK. It’s certainly not the best Harry Potter selection every written, but it has some sweet moments, funny moments, and satisfying moments and I would be lying if I didn’t confess that I got all teary at least once. Here is my spoiler-free review of the script (I’m not talking much about the plot specifically because I want to avoid spoilers).
The Cursed Child involves the lives of Harry and company as adults and the lives of their children. In particular, the story is about Harry’s son Albus, and Draco’s son, Scorpius. Scorpius is the most adorable character in the history of ever: I heart him with all my might. Albus is rather whiny and self-centered, which Scorpius points out, but Scorpius is just pure wonderfulness without being too soppy. He is the best reason to read the play – that and the deep satisfaction of seeing Harry’s son and Draco’s son being BFF’s, to the extreme annoyance of their dads.
The book is unusual for a couple of reasons. One is that is was not actually written by J.K. Rowling. Rowling wrote the story, and thus deserves a tremendous amount of credit, but the script itself was written by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. It’s also unusual in that it’s a script, not a novel, and it’s clearly a product that would be more enjoyable to watch onstage than it is to read.
There are scripts that work well as stand-alone written pieces. In particular I’m thinking of scripts by Eugene O’Neill, because he put so much work into the detailed stage directions as well as the dialogue, or the work of Arthur Miller. The Cursed Child is not one of those scripts. There are just enough stage directions so that the reader can follow the action, but not enough to paint a vivid picture of the characters or the setting. The plot involves multiple fight and action sequences and sequences of comedy that undoubtedly are magnificent onstage but are a bit flat in printed form.
This is a play in which everyone spells out their feelings – as such, it can be both clunky and satisfying depending on how you feel about constant explicit communication. On the one hand, I’m a huge fan of clear communication, but on the other hand, even for Rowling this is really anvilicious. You will learn the following valuable lessons:
Friendship is Magic
Adults are Not Perfect
Parents Should Accept Their Children For Who They are, Not Who They Want Them To Be
Time Travel Will Fuck You Right Up
Another moral, which is implied but not spelled out, is that Men are Idiots. The primary role of women in this play is to point out that male characters are being morons. This is a huge waste of Hermione and Ginny and the potential storylines of the daughters. While there are a lot of female characters, and they are important, the book is very much about Fathers and Sons and their angst with one notable exception.
J.K. Rowling is at her best when she writes character-based stories that take place in a contained world instead of trying to make the magic world mesh with our own real world (she struggled with this even before her ill-advised North American history). The Cursed Child works so well because it takes place almost entirely in the world of wizards, and because it is all about relationships despite a convoluted plot. It falters because everyone spends so much time discussing their feelings in extreme detail, over and over again. I’m all about feelings but a little more showing (which can be conveyed on stage by actors and in print through stage directions and notes) and a little less telling would have made the script much more graceful.
For me, the Harry Potter Series proper will always have ended at the end of The Deathly Hallows. But I still enjoyed checking in on my peeps and making some new friends (love you, Scorpius!). The play is full of nods to the previous books, plus many very clever and funny and some truly heart wrenching. I don’t think I’ll read the play over and over the way I’ve read the other Harry Potter books, but I do look forward to seeing the play someday.
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Thanks!
I’d been wondering if this was actually a novel of not. Thanks for clearing that up.
Sounds like a “wait for the paperback” book for me.
Thanks for the review! I really loved reading this, not so much because it was it was a brilliant, self-contained piece, but because it felt like bumping into a dear friend from long ago and catching up. I particularly enjoyed seeing the way that the flaws and virtues of Harry’s teen years played out (believably, I think) into his adulthood, although I agree that other characters got a a bit of short shrift. Perhaps the most touching part, to me, was realizing how much I’ve grown, as Harry has, from identifying with the students of Hogwarts when I first read the books, to now identifying with the parents of those students.
Also, Scorpius. A thousand times Scorpius. That child set every maternal instinct I have off like a firework. Definitely worth reading to meet him.
I have been at the midnight release books for Harry Potter since the fourth book came out when I was 15, but I skipped this one. I feel like a whiny brat saying this, but the seventh book kind of ruined the series for me. I had so much anticipation, and the lack of fulfillment of a lot of the foreshadowing (Ron was supposed to die, imho) as well as the couplings of Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny that in my mind didn’t feel plausible for long term happiness, was a let down.
Like in Rachel’s metaphor, the Harry Potter books were a dear friend, but for me it was like a friend who spent a semester abroad and came back different enough that I could never really reconnect with them. I love the memories but those aren’t quite enough to sustain continued love for everything from that universe.
I might end up getting these, because I think Draco is a very interesting character and I’d like to see how he’s handled, but I have a feeling I’ll be disappointed by the lack of Hermione/the other women and girls’ stories, so I’m going to put it off until I am in a particularly nostalgic mood.
We had a kindle preorder so at midnight Sunday it downloaded and my daughter was waiting. 12:01 she starts reading. I go to bed. I wake up Sunday and she’s sitting at the kitchen table. I asked how Cursed Child was. She told me “meh, Hermione and Ginny are wasted. Scorpious is a lovey-bug of squishy loveliness. Harry sucks.” Disappointed would be an understatement at my house.
Thank you for the review (and all of the corroborating comments!) I’ve been on the fence about reading this – I enjoyed the books but am not a super-fan and if it were a book I would read it for sure, but I wasn’t sure about the script.
At this point, based on what I’ve heard so far, I will not be buying a copy but a friend has offered to lend me hers when I see her at the end of the month.
Thanks for this. I’ve been wondering about it, but now I know I want to read it.
I was pretty meh about it. I like HP fanfic and I mostly read this so I can read the fanfic. I’m a huge HP fan – I have a Deathly Hallows tattoo and everything – but this didn’t really work for me. Harry is an ass, Ginny and Hermione didn’t do much and it read like so-so fanfic, and not in a good way. Loved Scorpious.
I’m not sorry I read it, but now I’m off to reread my favorite Albus and Scorpious fanfic because I don’t feel completely satisfied with Cursed Child. It’s like trying to eat cotton candy for dinner, you’re hungry again in an hour.
Really great review and the first time since this play/book was announced I am tempted to read it.
But I’ll take a pass. The play smacks of an attempt to eke out every last dollar out of a beloved series to me. I realize that most want to know what happens to Harry and his cohorts as adults but I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know what happens to anyone in the much loved books of my youth. I want keep them just where I left them. I find comfort in that.
I was very much an adult when I read HP. It was the book banning thing that drew my interest. (Banned books are automatically moved to the top of my TBR pile) I read the first book and I was hooked. I love the series but I am quite content to leave HP as young teens. I am not a fan of reading plays either.
I really enjoyed it, but my feels are affected by a few things.
1) Jo is a damn queen in my eyes.
2) The affection I have for the Harry Potter series is not particularly rational, and I own that. I’m just happy to spend time with the characters.
So, with that said, it didn’t bother me that it was a script, but that’s because I had to read Shakespeare in high school, and I recently read The Hamiltome, so my brain was already set up for what it was going to get. Would I have liked more detail? Sure, but that’s because detail is one of Jo’s strengths, and I like knowing the ins and outs of all the things. Do I think it looks better on stage? Naturally, it’s a play. In an interesting note, the FB book club that I am the de facto evil overlord of, we talked yesterday about doing a live-read of it using web conferencing (a lot of us are based in Florida, but we have some outliers in Montana, Texas, and I think California). There would be wine and win.
Now to my feelings about the actual work. I would read the wheels off of any future stories about Scorpius. LOOOOOOOOVED that kid. I felt like the characterization of the adults was spot-on (especially Harry and his parenting), and weirdly, the person who had had the most interesting development? Draco. I came away with warm fizzy more than friends feelings for DRACO. I don’t know what to do with this. I did feel a little bit like the big villain reveal was telegraphed well in advance, which was strange, because the Scooby-Doo moment was usually a bit better disguised in those earlier novels (especially Prisoner of Azkaban). There’s also a moment at the end…when you find out the things that Harry fears, well, it makes your heart squeeze. I would have loved more time spent with Hermione and Rose, but that’s mostly because Hermione should have been crowned queen of the universe long ago, and I always want more time with her.
I did have an interesting discussion with my husband. I won’t say here what Hermione ended up becoming, but it’s not a teacher, and my husband was very surprised at that. “I thought she’d be a teacher. She was always the brain of the group, always reading.” I told him, “You only read through book three, and something the movies never addressed is that as Hermione grew up, she had a strong interest in social change, especially where oppressed populations were concerned. Her position makes perfect sense if you know that about her.” But I did think it was lovely that he thought the brains of the group would be a teacher. A note: he’s reading the series with our son, so he’ll end up finishing it this go-round, I think.
Thanks for the review, my sister got the book the day it came out and emailed me bits and pieces, and just from that I can tell Scorpius is adorable. However I don’t think I’ll ever read it, just from the summary there’s so many plot holes and contradictions I’d go bonkers. It’s really noticeable that JKR didn’t write it, it totally changes the way time travel and other kinds of magic work. Really disappointed that JKR went against her own statement that there would never be an 8th Harry Potter book, it feels like a sellout. I’m happy for all the people who get to revisit their childhood but to me HP will be 7 books (minus the epilogue).
I read this in one sitting. I thought it was OK, but not worth 15 bucks for a kindle edition.
I will be honest, some of this script read like some really bad fan fiction. I only read it to keep up with the Potter world, but I will not be going out of my way to see this play live.
I’m also pretty meh about this book/script/play/thing-y.
I haven’t read it and I don’t think I will, because it feels like it has all the makings of a not-so-great work of fanfiction.
I ordered the hardcover and fully expect it to be a minor entry in the canon, maybe not a long-term “keeper” any more than the Beasts book, but 1) I like reading plays and 2) I am not heavily invested in a personal interpretation of the characters and 3) Jo is Queen. So what if it’s not perfect? Nothing I’ve written was perfect, either.
I loved it, but I’m the type of reader that likes to skim the descriptions and I LOVE people spelling out their feelings (and yet there are still plot obstacles to overcome! Not just miscommunication!). It wasn’t the-best-thing-ever, but it met my expectations (and made me keep going “HOW WILL THEY DO THAT ON STAGE OH MY GOD”).
With that being said, this is a fantastic and hilarious review. 🙂
This just makes me wish JK Rowling would right books in the HP world.
Like Amelia, I was also interested in how many of the described effects would be done on stage. That’s one of the many reasons I thought this work would be better enjoyed on stage.
Scorpius forever.
Other than putting Scorpius in my life, I thought the play did a better job of justifying the adult romantic relationships than the epilogue of Deathly Hollows did. One scene in particular especially did this for Hermione and Ron for me. In addition to the romantic relationships, I enjoyed the development of the platonic relationship between Harry and Draco. There’s a scene in which they deal with the difficulties of being adults/fathers and it really worked for me.
Overall, a lot of the character/relationship development worked for me but much of the plot felt a little lazy.
I found it cute but problematic. It’s like the authors said let’s pick the most disputed piece of wizard tech and makes a story revolve around it. And why was Scorpius a Slytherin? I did not get that at all. But mostly it just didn’t have the emotional weight I was looking for. I felt like it mimicked the silly slapstick action adventure tone from the movies. Definitely glad a borrowed it from the library so ask it cost was a couple hours if my time.
I just read this (finally) and I was not at all disappointed. Scorpius forever! I would love to see it on stage *sigh* not gonna happen.
Things I thought were particularly well done: the adult relationships and their evolution, in particular Harry/Draco and Ron/Hermione. I relished certain cameo appearances by characters-who-shall-not-be-named-because-spoilers.
And I thought the emotional core of the story, the phoenix feather in the wand if you will, of Albus/Scorpius said some really important things about why people related to books 1-7 so strongly in the first place.
But ultimately I agree with the Guardian review of the play in that the theme is father/son misconnection, and that is particularly well executed.