Recent Reads: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Being in a Doctorate level program, I don't get to pleasure read as often as I'd like. My reading endeavors usually end up being mostly easy fiction reads that are interesting and don't take up too much of my brainpower.

I always figure, the more things I put into my brain that are unrelated to whatever I'm being tested on, the more the things that I need to remember are pushed, little by little, out of it.

In my head its like when you try to squeeze a balloon; all the air pops out to the side. Maybe more accurately, it's like a jelly or cream-filled doughnut and when you bite into one side all the filling pops out the other end?

Anyway, I don't think there's enough room in there for all that I need to know, as well as added story lines and plot twists from books.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that the Harry Potter series is one of my favorites of all time. Not because I love fantasy books or anything; really, this is the only sci-fi type book series I've really gotten into. 

It's also not due to it being a literary craft with beautifully composed sentences; shocker, it's not. 

More than any of those other things, the creativity of the plot throughout the series is incredible. 

J.K. Rowling has such an amazing mind and patience in order to weave different aspects of the plots from each of the 7 original series books together. There are things that she HAD to have planned from the very beginning in order for the whole thing to work out. 

And then she actually had the will-power to NOT alter her strategy or give them away too early! It's truly brilliance. 

Anyway, enough about my love for the way everything comes together and is revealed in the original series. On to the review!

To start, this book is written as a play, rather than as a normal novel. Because of that, it's a VERY quick read. We're talking like 3-4 hours (my best guess). Nice and easy for a roadtrip or lazy Saturday. 

Second, be forewarned that this book is a continuation of the series, but not truly. It skips ahead 20 years to when Harry is 37, and picks up where the epilogue left off with the Potter family at King's Cross Station. 

Next, if you're a die-hard potter fan and have followed the series all the way through, you will notice some inaccuracies in this book. 

Not going to give things away, but just know that if you're like me, you'll be thinking, "Wait, that's not exactly how I remember it going," or "Hold on, doesn't this have to happen in order for that to be possible?"

Take it all with a grain of salt. The general themes are accurate, but some of the details got lost in translation. 

Overall, it was a really good, easy read. At first I thought the story had to be a dream, and that it would say that Harry woke up and everything changed, but that's not what happened. It was a creative and engaging story line, exactly what you'd expect from the genius who brought us the original story, albeit a little unexpected at first.  

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you'll be drinking in every word of this play/book simply for the chance to be in that world again and have more time with the characters and you fell in love with. It felt like wrapping myself up in a warm blanket of comfort to be reading about the wizarding world one more time.

Have you read it yet? What was your take on the whole thing? 

Let me know in the comments, and happy reading!

Photos: 

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