Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne Review By Nina Claudia Soukhanovskii

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne Review

By Nina Claudia Soukhanovskii

“Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe.”

A Note Before I Review the Book:

Everyone says that the current generation doesn’t read much. And that was true. I mean, who wants to read if there are so many interesting things to do out there, such as keeping up Snapchat streaks and catching Pokémon with the Pokémon Go app? However, when I wanted to read the all-new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and I searched it up on the library catalog, I found to my astonishment that all the copies were checked out. What does that mean? So does the current generation read, or is it just this particular book? In fact, it’s a little bit of both. “One legacy of the Harry Potter books is that they turned a whole generation onto reading,” writes the August 2016 issue of the Time magazine. And that’s absolutely true, for no other book in our library (and probably in other libraries) is as demanded as the Harry Potter books. 

Meet the Main Characters:

Harry and Ginny Potter: This remarkable duo returns in the eighth book of their story. However, this time, they are not Hogwarts students defending everything they know, but supportive parents of their three children (James Sirius, AlbusSeverus, and Lily Luna). 

Albus Severus Potter: The main character of this story, Albus is the middle child of the three Potters. When he first goes to school, everyone is surprised that he is not like his father in so many ways, and Albus struggles to keep his reputation together as he tries to be like his father but only makes it worse.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger: Of course, the book wouldn’t be complete without these two. They are the loving parents of Rose Granger-Weasley, and they help Harry with his “son troubles” as they did long ago.

Rose Granger-Weasley: Tries to be Albus’ friend, but only makes him more frustrated about his life and personality. She, herself, is very much like her mother.

Scorpius Malfoy: The son of the once-hated Draco, he is rumored to be Voldemort’s son and also struggles with his life. He quickly makes friends with Albus, despite their father’s concerns.

Delphi: A sneaky little witch that lures the two boys into a trap that they didn’t know they were in until they fell right into it. 

A Little Summary With No Spoilers (I promise!)

​It is time for Albus Severus Potter, Harry Potter’s middle child, to start his schooling at Hogwarts. Despite the excitement around him, Albus is very nervous because he believes that he will mess up. As soon as he arrives to Hogwarts, everything goes just the opposite of how Albus wants it to go. He is not placed into Gryffindor, he makes friends with a Malfoy, and he isn’t at all like his father in lessons. 

​One night, Albus overhears a conversation of his father with Amos Diggory (who is still suffering from his son’s death). Amos tells Harry that he heard that there was still one time-turner left at the Ministry of Magic. He begs Harry to let him have the time-turner just to go back to the Tri-Wizard Tournament and to bring back his son. However, Harry refuses to do this and denies all facts of having a time-turner.

​Albus, still angry at his father because of several previous arguments, decided to help Amos Diggory to show his father that he is still good at something. With the help of  his Malfoyfriend and a girl named Delphi (who claims to be Amos’ neice), he breaks into the Ministry and steals the only time-turner Hermione didn’t destroy.

​However, this time-turner only allowed the trio to travel into time for five minutes. Obviously, this wasn’t enough time, but Albus decided to do it anyway, and plunged into the Tri-Wizard tournament of his father’s youth. The trio manages to save Cedric, but when they come into the past, there are several changes. Rose isn’t born, Albus is in Gryffindor, and Hermione is a teacher at Hogwarts (although before she was Minister for Magic). 

​The trio flies into time again, and save Cedric again. Only this time, when they return, Scorpious Malfoy finds that Harry Potter had been dead for years, Albus was never born, and Voldemort ruled the world. Scared and horrified, Socrpiousalone (for Delphi has disappeared somewhere) runs into what is left of the sad party. Ron and Hermione (although not married), along with Severus Snape all live in the depths of a forest, and constantly have to be on the watch for they could be killed any moment.

​Desperate to get back to the world he knew, Scorpious tells the new Ron, Hermione, and Severus of his world. The three are surprised to hear what had actually happened, and they agree to help him get back to reality. Scorpious returns. Everything seems that it’s just right.

​However, that’s not the case. All of a sudden, the boys find out who Delphi is, but it’s too late. She takes them back to the day Harry’s parents were killed, and leaves them stuck in the past. It’s up to the boys to call over their parents and close ones to help them defend the past and save the future, all while living in the present.

My Thoughts on this Book:

Overall, I thought that this book fit snugly with the other seven, and that it was a great continuation. It must be remembered that this play is only based on the book, and is not the actual story. However, it was still hard to tear myself away from it because I have not touched the series since I finished it, and I realized how much I missed this wizarding world. There was plenty of action for those who cannot read long and boring descriptions, and there was enough descriptions for those who are confused without it. The style was so much like J.K. Rowling’s, it was hard to believe that she didn’t write the play as well. I definitely recommend this book to all Potterheads and Un-Potterheads. Everyone will love this new book, for it’s like the other seven and not like them all at once. Enjoy!

My Rating:

I give this book 10 out of 5 stars. No, I didn’t make a mistake. I am giving it 10 out of 5 stars because it was simply wonderful.