Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was weird.

I think we need to get that out of the way. It's not weird because it's a play, it's weird because it exists at all, in a sense. There's always a desire for more in-universe stuff in any widely-loved property, Harry Potter being no exception. So a story that comes nearly a decade after what we all assumed was the final book that takes place many many years in the future? Yeah, it's gonna feel a little weird. But if you move past the weirdness, the overall story itself feels very familiar and enjoyable.

The story takes place many years after the events of Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter is a middle aged father, married to Ginny, friends with Ron and Hermoine still, and his son Albus is close with Draco's son, Scorpius. Albus feels a lot of pressure, though, and not just because he's the son of The Boy Who Lived, and, with the help of Scorpius, acts out.

I would stop reading here if you don't want to be spoiled, but it's impossible to not talk about the major plot point here, which involves a stolen time turner from the Ministry of Magic. This time turner is something Albus and Scorpio opt to use to try and change the outcome at the Triwizard Tournament from Goblet of Fire, and what happens is along the same lines of any time travel story where the future is changed in a variety of ways. And, kids being kids, they do it over and over again.

The point of all the setup comes about in the final quarter of the story, and that's likely the best part and the part that feels the most "true" to the overall series. Yes, we get the humor and heroics back, but so much of the book/story spends so much time re-establishing who these characters are that it's just somewhat jarring. And, if we're being really brutal, it's very fanfictiony. I don't know if any Potter fan has tried to have a detailed conversation about Potter that doesn't end up talking about time turners and why they never used them throughout the series, but this essentially tries to answer that question and it's... kind of silly.

Still, though. It's more Harry Potter. And it's very good. Maybe better than the worst parts of the overlong books late in the series, but as an inessential tacked on piece of work, I don't think it was bad unless you have really, really high expectations for the results of this. It's also worth remembering that this is a play, thus meant to be performed. The lack of seeing a performance on this might mean missing some of the flow of nuance that would have made this a better experience otherwise.

Still, though, I flew right through this. It was a pretty enjoyable read even with my share of nitpicky issues throughout. I could complain about the changes in the characters, but I know I'm not the same as 35 as I was at 17. I could complain about going back to the well a few too many times, but this is meant to be fanservice in a way. So enjoy it for what it is, but maybe set your expectation bar a little lower than you might have wanted.

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