Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is a long awaited letdown
Harry Potter. Possibly the most coveted and beloved book series of our time. The books are iconic, the characters even more so, and the fans are obsessive, looking for new Harry Potter material wherever they can get it. People were overjoyed that they would be getting an entire book as an epilogue to the original Harry Potter series in which they would get insight into the adult lives of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Sadly, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child doesn’t manage to even remotely meet the hype.
The story begins nineteen years later, picking up exactly where the epilogue of the final book in the Harry Potter series left off. It centers around Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley’s son, Albus Severus Potter.
Albus is subject to all the scrutiny and ostracization that Harry Potter experienced during his time as a student at Hogwarts because he is unable to fit the idealized image of Harry’s son. His only friend is the son of his father’s nemesis, Draco Malfoy, Scorpius. Albus and Scorpius both face adversity at home and at school because of their fathers highly publicized actions.
The premise for their adventures is a result of Albus’ anger at his father and his attempts to undo his Harry’s supposed wrongdoings. He is, however, misinformed and ends up travelling through time and dragging Scorpius along with him to fix his potentially dangerous mistake.
The friendship between Albus and Scorpius, if executed well, could potentially have been an excellent central plotline for the story. However, their time travelling adventures and family drama are not enough to make up for their boring conversations with awkward, forced dialogue and constant whiny attitudes. The portrayal of their behavior is completely off base for normal fifteen year old children making the characters unrelatable.
The focus of the script is Albus’ strained relationship with his famous father. The premise of the struggles between Albus and Harry is strange and out of character for Harry Potter. The original books painted him as a perceptive, kind character who rejected the glory and attention he was given due to his heroic actions. He distances himself from Albus, who feels unloved and blindsided by the larger than life image of his father.
In the book, Harry’s actions are to his son are, simply said, unkind and bear absolutely no semblance to the transcendent character from the previous series. Weirdly, in the new story, Harry is completely blind to his son’s very similar struggles.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry, possibly the most beloved trio of best friends, are known for their banter and closeness. Throughout the series, they partook in envy inducing adventures and saved the world on multiple occasions.The dynamic between all the original characters seems unbalanced and untrue to the original Harry Potter series, making their relationship appear rigid. Harry, Ron, and Hermione act more like acquaintances than best friends.
While the focus of the story is the children, it feels they barely have any scenes with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. This might stem from the fact that this book was written in script format unlike the original series. The script format makes it a much more boring and dreary read than the original books which may disappoint many fans. The format of the book doesn’t give any insight to the character’s thoughts or details about the setting.
Overall, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is bluntly put, is a disastrous attempt to breathe new life into the Harry Potter franchise. The integrity of the original characters has been compromised, the writing is mediocre, and the new characters are dull and uninteresting. If you are looking for a book to match the vividly detailed stories and endearing characters of the original Harry Potter books that captivated millions of readers worldwide, this is not the book for you.
