Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two (Special Rehearsal Edition): The Official Script Book of the Original West End Production

by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London's West End on 30th July 2016.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

• ISBN10: 0751565350
• ISBN13: 9780751565355
• Publish Date: 31 July 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Little, Brown
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

"The world changes and we change with it. I am better off in this world. But the world is not better. And I don't want that." (Scorpius Malfoy)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the official eight Harry Potter book, but it doesn't even feel or read like canon. The plot doesn't feature anything new and exciting and the characters that I've come to know and love aren't the same.

I didn't enjoy the plot of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. After the happy ending in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I expected Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to come up with something different and original. Instead, we end up reading about the same issues, the same villian from the original series and time travelling. Everything is just LESS MAGICAL. Harry's scar starts hurting again. There's a threat of Voldemort coming back. And the worst part, Voldemort has a daughter with Bellatrix LeStrange. WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?!

It's also weird to see characters that I know and love acting completely different or being pushed aside and becoming cardboard cut-outs. Harry Potter becomes a narrow-minded man with poor parenting skills, Hermione loses almost all of her "punch", Ron is reduced to being the comic relief character and (surprise, surprise) Draco is featured in a brighter light than The Boy Who Lived. However, what I do like about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is that it's very character-driven. I especially enjoyed reading about the conflict that Harry Potter is having with his son and seeing how their relationship progresses. My favourite character is Scorpius. Who would have guessed that Draco Malfoy would have such a precious cinnamon roll for a son.

I wish I could watch the play just to experience the Harry Potter and Cursed Child magic. Reading a script that has the potential to derail every single nostalgic thought that I have of one of one of my favourite childhood series is quite a scary thing. The good news, I didn't hate Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The bad news, I didn't love it either.

"Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe." (Professor Dumbledore)

[brokentune]

I will keep this brief.

There was little I liked about this book. The little there was were the three young characters Albus, Scorpius, and Rose. I loved that they were not cast as repeats of their parents and that their background did not determine their character or actions, which, I guess, it the main message of the book/play.

That was it.

Other than this....oh, dear.

The story is like a Greatest Hits compilation of all the best loved or most famous parts of the HP series that is thrown into a mix with Back to the Future.

None of the characters from the original books were anything like they should be.
I mean, come on, Snape ending his sentences with "..., boy" rather than "..., Potter" ? It made him sound like he was taken out of Gone with the Wind, not HP.

I also had problems with McGonagall, Harry, Dumbledore, ... really anyone who was in the original stories.

There was a lot of cringe-worthy dialogue, too. And then, of course, there was the twist...
I will not give it away, but if you really think about it, it is absurd and also made me go "eew".

Anyway, I read it. Thankfully, I was able to borrow the book rather than buying it.

[MurderByDeath]

I knew the general consensus about this book was that it was a disappointment, which put me off reading it for awhile.  So I was a little surprised as I began it, because I was really enjoying it and didn't understand why there was a fuss.   Then Act 1, Scene 10 happened.  Now I get it, because from scene 10 the whole thing just got a little silly and twee.  Attempts at anything deeper and more authentic were mostly a failure and as much as I did like the characters (especially Scorpius), even to the end, the situational part of the plotting just did not work.  It felt like Harry Potter after Disney got ahold of it.   Ah well, I'll still go see it performed if it ever makes the rounds. 

[KitsuneBae]

2.5 or 3? Yeah, whatever. Finally, finished reading this and I can say that I'm still breathing. I won't deny that finishing the Cursed Child was really painful. The way Tiffany wrote Albus made me cringe from start to finish. The only character that I've liked in this book was Scorpius. >, Wish there was a real book out there and that JKR wrote it.

To those who want to read Cursed Child, please dive into it with the full knowledge that JKR didn't write it to lessen your disappointment. :D

[jeannamichel]

Just no. Review to come.

[remo]

Pues qué quieren que les diga. Me encantó la serie de HP y me ha encantado este libreto. No es una novela de HP y no se lee tan fácilmente. Pero me ha dad muchas, muchas ganas de ver la obra de teatro. Supongo que de aquí a unos años pasará por Madrid.
JK Rowling hace unas pocas trampas para meter de nuevo a nuestros personajes en apuros, la primera (y más gorda) de las cuales es hacer aparecer de nuevo las máquinas del tiempo. Pero si obviamos el uso de este manido recurso de liarlo todo, la historia es entretenida. Hay unas cuantas escenas y sobre todo cambios de escena que me encantará ver en vivo. Recomendable para Potterófilos.

[Stephanie]

I have very conflicting feelings about this. I feel like I just read a fan fiction story.

[malberto]

Well, for starters is good to have in mind that this is the script of a play and not a proper novel, that being said the scene descriptions and character labeling actually made it more immersive for me.

The 4 stars are mostly due to nostalgia, the story is predictable (specially part 2) and the feeling of "fanfic" doesn't go away, but it was nonetheless enjoyable.

I'd recommend it to HP fans, just because...

[Nessa Luna]

Warning: This review might have spoilers in it, so if you want to go into the book knowing absolutely nothing - do not proceed.

Nine years ago, Deathly Hallows was released and that was the end of the Harry Potter world. Or was it? Suddenly, we got Pottermore; with so much new information that made fans all around the world incredibly happy. And then, it was announced there would be an official eighth story. I had tried to read some fanfiction about the Next Generation before, and that wasn't a huge success. So I was thrilled to find out we would be getting an official story by the hand of J.K. Rowling. When the announcement came that it would be a play, I was even more excited. I got tickets to see the play (12 March 2017, here we come!) and when the book was confirmed as well, I pre-ordered it.

I found out later that the story wouldn't 100% be written by J.K. Rowling, seeing as the script for the play had been written by an actual playwright (that's the correct word, right?), but still I was so excited. When I finally got my hands on the book, I was rather nervous. I waited a couple of days, partly because I was still re-reading Order of the Phoenix, but when I finally finished the last pages of Deathly Hallows, I read the first couple of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Let me start off by being 100% honest: I didn't love it. I already had rather low expectations for this book, because I'd read some rather negative reviews (or rather seen the 2/3-star ratings) from people that I 'trust'. I had also seen some rumours that had started flying after the try-outs (because some people apparently cannot #keepthesecrets). Still, I wanted to read the book, because I wanted to form my opinion on it. But honestly, I can now say I don't want to count this book as canon.

Yes this is partly due to the fact that the play wasn't written by J.K. Rowling herself, but also because some of the things that happen in this book just don't work well with the rest of the series. There were parts that made me actually laugh out loud, not necessarily because it was so funny, and I think I rolled my eyes at least five times. Of course, I won't tell you too much about it, because I don't want to spoil anything, but let me tell you this: I thought the plot was the worst part of the entire script/play. Voldemort and Bellatrix having a child, Cedric Diggory a death eater. THE. LUNCH. TROLLEY. LADY. No sorry this stuff was ridiculous!!!!!!!

What I was missing most, I guess, were the incredible descriptions that we know and love from J.K. Rowling's writing; this didn't really work out well in a script, because the decor was just simply described as 'they're on a staircase now, looking at each other' and that just bothered me. Maybe I'll enjoy this part more when I've seen the actual play, but it just didn't work out for me while reading the script. (I will probably review the play as well, when I've seen it).

The characters are all the ones that we know and love from the original story, but of course they're older now which means they are a bit different from what they used to. Some characters I still loved as much, but with some characters I felt that the things they did were really out of character. I did still picture the movie actors as their characters though, so I guess that's a plus. As for the children, I did imagine the play's actors for them, partly because I had seen so many pictures of them lately that they kind of stuck. The characters, that I know and love, and the fact that we were back in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter are the reasons I gave this book three stars. If I had to rate this book solely on the plot, it would probably have been one star. Maybe one and a half (because yes there were elements that I liked).

I honestly don't know what else I can tell you about this story, other than that I just really didn't love it. It was enjoyable, I did laugh, I did actually cry at a couple of parts, but honestly I didn't feel the magic. At. All. Maybe this is because I've been reading an actual script, maybe I'll feel different about it when I've seen the play in March, but honestly I don't think my opinion on the plot will improve that much. It's just too fanfiction-y in my opinion.

Again, don't be discouraged to read the script because of my review; do it, form your own opinion, maybe you'll read it and completely disagree with me. Which is totally fine, of course. But I just didn't love it as much as I did with the original seven books.

My opinion in one gif: 

[lindsey]

I've read a lot of mixed reviews about this book, and while all of the opinions are valid, I do believe that most people were holding this up to a higher standard than other books.  That is completely understandable, but I learned a long time ago not to compare any Harry Potter-related media to the original seven books.  I used to complain about the movies not following the books exactly, until I realized they were two totally different mediums, and therefore, I shouldn't be so critical of the movies, but simply enjoy them for what they are - an adaption of the books.  I enjoyed the movies considerably more after that, so I've started using that approach with other series, as well.

I think that also holds true for The Cursed Child.  I know it was billed as the eighth book, and J. K. Rowling was involved, but it's not truly an additional book in the series, and it shouldn't be considered as such.  In fact, it's not really a book at all - it's a script, and it would probably be fifty times better seeing it on stage rather than reading it, but I digress.

I am a huge Harry Potter fan, so to say I was excited for The Cursed Child would definitely be an understatement.  I don't know about anyone else, but I loved it.  Again, it's not the same as reading the original series, but it was fun to read about these familiar characters almost twenty years after the events of The Deathly Hallows.  I was so happy that I wasn't spoiled at all before reading, and I believe it's a much better experience if you go in unspoiled.  Therefore, this review will be spoiler-free.  I'll try to stick to my thoughts and reactions, without mentioning anything specific.

Since this is a script and not a traditional book, it took a little time to get used to the format, but I was fine after a few pages.  And, wow, it's going to be harder than I thought to discuss my thoughts without referring to specific moments.  Suffice it to say, my emotions were running the gamut.  I started out excited and a little nervous, and I was completely taken in by the story almost immediately.  I giggled at times, I cried at others, but I think "shocked" is the emotion that would best sum up my reading experience.  The plot twists.  Some things didn't come as a surprise at all - I figured them out pretty quickly - but there were some things that completely blindsided me.  I mean, I was truly gobsmacked.  My emotions were all over the place at one point, and I had to close the book, and just take a minute to process my thoughts.  It was intense.  I loved it.

I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting - which hasn't happened in a while, I'll admit - and even though I stayed up too late to finish reading it, it was worth it.  I was having a pretty bad day, but this book carried me away for a few hours, and for that I was grateful.  The Cursed Child isn't perfect, and I may not even consider it canon, but it was a chance to spend more time with a few beloved characters, it entertained me, and it made me happy.  For that, it's a five-star book to me.