Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Highly enjoyable albeit ham-fisted nostalgia packaged in a "greatest hits"-style plot that calls to mind the worst Doctor Who Christmas specials (or the latest entry in the Star Wars "saga"...)

I would still recommend it to fans of the Harry Potter franchise - but would do so with both reservation as well as many qualifications

No, it's not Harry Potter, Book 8. No, it's not J.K. Rowling's familiar, wonderful writing. It's a tad derivative, somewhat difficult to connect to, and only gives a taste of that world that we grew up loving. But you know what? I could see it. I could feel it. Despite all of the weight this play has to carry, this was that same world: time-worn and viewed through the smallest of looking glasses, but it was "home" nonetheless. I'm thankful I got to experience it one more time.

Now bring the play Stateside!

Though undoubtedly better on stage, J.K. Rowling's latest venture to expand the Wizarding World is still a fabulous fan letter to a generation now facing the challenges of adulthood after growing up with Harry.

Well, it's got kind of nice aspect, but it's nowhere near the brilliance of the original 7 books... in fact, it's pretty horrible after all.

Nostalgia. That's the one and only reason you should read this book.

Considero que esta "continuación" ha sido un gran regalo para todos los fans de la saga por los numerosos guiños que hay. Tiene varias inconcluencias, unos giros de trama que no me han gustado y por eso le he puesto tres estrellas. Podían haber aprovechado mejor algunas cosas para haber conseguido algo grande e importante...

I give this four stars because I love Harry Potter and it kept me hooked until the end. I loved Scorpius and Albus, Scorpius more so actually. That being said, I was disappointed by a lot of different parts. The biggest thing that disappointed me was the lack of mentioning Hagrid (in the present tense), the complete ignoring of Teddy's (Remus and Tonks' son) existence, and the way they talked about Ron running Weasley Wizard Wheezes without ever mentioning George. They didn't need to pay actors to play characters that they only mention, all I wanted was a mention of these few characters.
At some points it seemed so much like a run of the mill time travel story set in the Harry Potter world, that it felt like a fanfiction, written in script form, which was really weird. The characters seemed to not have the original writers' mind behind their words and actions, which makes me wonder exactly how much JKR actually wrote, and if she was really just a consult for continuity purposes. Ron was basically comic relief which was annoying because in the books he actually has a personality. Harry would never ever say the things that he said to his son in this book, in my opinion, and he had none of the normal sass that he has in the books. Ginny was more spot on but I feel like that's because she never had a lot of personality in the books anyway.
I only loved it because it was set in the Harry Potter universe, the story and the characters were not done to my liking, which I assume is better when seen play out on stage, which I would still love to see. Draco and Scorpius were the best characters in it which was odd.
Basically when I finished it, I didn't quite know how to feel at all. I loved it and I was disappointed at the same time. I was glad to see the characters back as well as being disappointed in their portrayal. But again, it may be because I am not used to reading in script form, now I just feel like I want to see the play even more to see if the actors can counteract some of the things I disliked.

When you're catching up with old friends things can become a tangled mess of nostalgia, silliness, and some revisionist history for comedic or dramatic effect. That's how reading this play felt to me.

At times it gets convoluted. It strays from the canon. But it made me so happy to catch up with my old friends that the flaws almost become part of the charm.

Do not read this as anything more than fanfiction that got published and highly publicized, no matter what J.K. Rowling says. There are some nice character beats that I'll adopt for my own headcanon, but I do not accept it as anything more than that. I would probably rate this closer to 3 stars, but as Goodreads classifies it, 2 stars = "it was okay" and that's closer to how I felt. Let's say, "I like it okay."

This wasn't great, but neither am I angry that I spent money on it. It was...decent. Decent, but only that.

It's essentially on par with good fanfiction. It's not the best fanfiction I've ever read, but it also definitely wasn't the worst.

This may have been canonized by J.K., but I'm not sure I'm going to let it into my head-canon for the HP universe.

This book will never ever be canon for me!!!!
Everything was just so wrong right from the start. Why did they change the epilogue so unnecessarily? And how could they dare turning Harry into such an ignorant father? I just don't buy it at all. And don't even let me get started on that Back To the Future shit!!! And that whole stupid Delphi thing! What the actual fuck?! It was nothing but ridiculous!

Admission, I like Harry Potter but I don't love it. Back when they were first being published, I devoured the first four books but my interest waned a bit as the books got longer and longer, I seriously wondered if Voldemort had killed off Rowling's editor as well as some of my favourite characters. I ordered a copy of the Cursed Child mostly out of curiosity, but actually I appreciated its brevity and enjoyed it much more than The Deathly Hallows.

Seeing some of the responses to the script book makes me wonder if they are still teaching Shakespeare in schools. There was a lot of surprise that it was a script, complaints that there was only dialogue and how it's laid out. It does include some production notes which helps put each scene in context and I think the book presented the play to the best of its abilities.

The production sounds amazing, I am more likely to see the play now than before. Although knowing the amount of work that must be involved makes me doubt we'll get a tour. I'd still see a cut down version if it came to regional theatres although I imagine you're not going to get the full London experience.

I've seen other complaints that it reads like fan-fiction. Well why can't the author write fan fiction of her own work? It explores what could have happened if things went differently. How key moments in the books, some of which may have been criticised by fans in the past, shape the rest of the timeline.

I loved grown up Draco. And yes, Harry isn't perfect. Reality check, people aren't perfect, ever, and he was never perfect in the novels either.

It is an emotional story that brought tears to my eyes. If you can't make it to the play, and are capable of reading a script for what it is, then I would recommend grabbing a copy.

Des années après, plonger à nouveau dans l'univers d'Harry Potter m'a bien plu. Le style théâtral convient plutôt bien à cet univers, et l'histoire, sans être révolutionnaire, est sympathique. Ce retour est plutôt une réussite, tout en étant un hommage touchant à la saga que j'ai suivi avec passion à l'époque.