Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by John Tiffany
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
For the sheer nostalgia, for reintroducing us to Hogwarts, for making us wish this series had never ended so we never had to experience this bittersweet feeling, I rate this a five on five.
Scorpious Malfoy is a delightful addition while many of our usual suspects aren't as spicy as one would like them to be. There is a lack of descriptions, of the quirky tidbits that Rowling amply uses in Thorne's prose. While as a play one can imagine the wondrous stagecraft it could induce, as a book, it falls short of conjuring the rich details that the Potter books generally come with.
What is still beautiful is the magic. Hogwarts is still alive, in a better less darker world. It is unconvincing and insufficient in many parts making us crane our necks to see the sidelines for what Thorne missed to add. What is Hagrid upto now? Are Molly and Arthur still around? How is George holding up? And why are Harry's other two kids so insignificant? In a play, the above questions can easily be pushed to the backstage. As a book (although simply a script), you demand that we engage more. After all, we've been around, ever since ' The Boy who Lived'.
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