(Synopsis taken from readings.com.pk)
Being labelled as 'the boy who lived' for his whole life has not been easy for Harry Potter. In the official eighth installment of the Harry Potter series penned in the form of a two-part stage production play, J. K. Rowling weaves yet another thrilling and magical yarn featuring the life of Harry Potter nineteen years later in the post-Voldemort wizarding world. Harry Potter plays the role of a man finally living out the quiet, conventional lifestyle he always wanted to live as a Minister of Magic employee, who is a doting husband and father of three. Yet, he struggles to escape the haunting past, the demons of which continue to consume him. The play also features a grown up Albus Severus Potter following the footsteps of his legendary father and labouring to carry the burden of a family bequest and fortune he hadn't expected. As the past meets the present, the legendary father and son duo strive to come in terms with the darkness that lies within and overcome their inner demons.
As we all were aware beforehand that this book was not a
novel but in fact, a script or screenplay written by Jack Thorne and not J.K
Rowling. I repeat, this was NOT written by J.K Rowling, just the story was
originally hers but the dialogue, script was not her work.
Anyway, when I received my copy, I am not going to lie, I
was extremely excited to read it. But others who had read it before me had not
given any interesting reviews regarding this book. Most of the potterheads
straight up detested the book but I, for one, actually enjoyed it quite a lot.
The book starts off from where we were left off in Deathly
Hallows in the ‘nineteen years later’ chapter, which got me fangirling and it
made me really happy to be getting another chance to go back into the wizarding
world and of course my beloved school, HOGWARTS! As the book went along, I got
completely engrossed into it but it was quite difficult for me to imagine it as
a stage play and not a movie. The original cast from the movies were the ones
running around in my head throughout the whole book.
I read tons of other reviews regarding Harry Potter and The
Cursed Child and the main issue that everyone had with this book was that all
of them were Out Of Character. I agree to some extent because in a script there
are ONLY dialogues and no expressions or any lines in between to give us an
idea as to what the respective character is feeling or thinking. The characters
are brought to life by the actors, so we cannot judge if they really were OOC
until we have watched the play ourselves. To sum up for the potterheads who
have yet to read this book, go ahead, read it and enjoy the whole world of
Hogwarts and Harry Potter one more time and please think of it reading as the
script for the movies and not a novel. It will save you the disappointment!
NOW FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE READ IT!
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT AND DO NOT WANT ANY SPOILERS PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY
FURTHER ON! ABORT IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT!
My most favourite thing about the book was Albus’s and
Scorpius’s friendship, and the fact that Harry and Draco’s kids are best
friends just blew me away. They had a great chemistry going on throughout the
script. It also made me glad to read about two, brave, kind-hearted, selfless
Syltherins, something that none of us expect from a fellow Slytherin. And yes,
I was flabbergasted when Albus got sorted into Syltherin, I mean what is up
with that?!
Now, let’s talk about the parts I hated in the book. First
off, Harry was a complete arse in the script or in a much civil tone,
overprotective over his son. I understood that he had grown up without parents
and a loving family so it was only natural that he did not want his kids to be
deprived of that, but I think he took it way too far. He had a problem with
Albus being friends with Scorpius but not a problem with him being in
Slytherin? Wow, makes so much sense.
Another HUGE issue I had was Voldemort’s daughter! Like
excuse me, how can Voldemort have made a child and especially before the battle
of Hogwarts and with Bellatrix Lestrange, who is known to be married! What is
this sorcery and how did J.K Rowling let this happen? Voldemort would never
think anyone equal enough to him or he would never have wanted a child in the
first place because he couldn’t put anyone before himself. His power was what
was most precious to him and he even killed off his most loyal servants to get
that, so will someone please explain this to me that HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?!
Voldemort was the most powerful wizard, and he knew everything there was (except
the whole Snape thing of course) and if it was really his kid, then HOW in the
heck was Bellatrix able to keep it a secret knowing she was always with the
Dark Lord? So yes, that ruined everything for me!
I’ll conclude by saying that I did not hate the book, I
thoroughly enjoyed it until I read about a child of Lord Voldemort and I swear
it made me laugh because of how absurd that part of the plot was. Besides that,
it was spectacular to go back into Hogwarts Halls once more and relive all the
amazing moments once more!
