Hello! My name is Chie. I am likely to be the girl you'll see whose eyes would bulge out of their sockets at the sight of a book store and be seized by waves of epileptic shock whenever there is a book bargain. I'll probably be the one pushing you out of my way to get through the book bargain bins and tediously combing through the pile. (I forget my manners when it comes to books). I am tone deaf and have two left feet. But I would endure the embarrassment of a performance in exchange for books (terms and conditions apply). I have created this blog in order to find kindred souls. Those who would gladly share the same passion for books and reading because although reading is solitary task most of the time, it's no fun having no one to ramble to after..
Synopsis: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to say where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
Review: It is finally time for to review a new Harry Potter story and that feels amazing. What doesn't feel amazing is that my thoughts are so conflicted, I finished reading this play and immediately stamped 5.5 on my Goodreads review. It wasn't that I loved the story, it was that I loved being transported back to a world I love, to characters I adore so much and to experience that magic once again. I had tears in my eyes whilst finishing this book because it brought back all those nostalgic feelings. The problem was that the story wasn't good as I had hoped and the more I think about the book, the less happy with it I get. It's currently on a 3/5 with the potential to go lower if I dwell on it anymore. So, no more dwelling, time for reviewing. And don't worry, if you haven't read the book yet then I won't spoil it. I will keep this part completely non-spoilery and have the spoilers after a massive warning, for all those who have read it.
This was never going to be the story that most Harry Potter fans wanted. For one thing, it is a script of a play, and not a novel. We all knew this before buying so it's not a shock, but it does mean it's a weird new way to experience the Harry Potter world. This is something that is supposed to be experienced and watched, not read. The other main issue is that, no matter how largely they write her name on the cover, this was not written by J.K. Rowling. And that is a terrible thing to me as it meant that I felt the characters were just lacking in a way they wouldn't have been if she had wrote it. The characters always just felt a little off and not like the characters we spent seven books getting to know.
The story itself was not at all what I was expecting, but I am mentioning nothing about it here. I think it is better to go blind. We all know this book takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and follows Harry's son Albus rather than Harry. We meet some brilliant characters in this, but also some bad ones. My main issue with the story was that it felt all a bit ridiculous and that alot of it didn't make sense. I, quite honestly, can never view this play as canon because it all just feels ridiculous and as if it would never happen. Another major issue is the gaping plot holes that this book leaves us with, and I hate gaping holes!
So yes, overall I was disappointed, I loved some aspects of this but was really pissed about other, I need to go into spoilery detail to explain that. If you haven't read this yet or seen the play then now is the time to skip out.
I am actually excited to review this and go into all my spoilery thoughts. I have to, I won't be able to contain myself otherwise. I need to lay it all out on the table. First, I need to get this out of the way: I LOVE HARRY POTTER! If you know me in real life or from my blog, Twitter, or Instagram, then you already know this. Harry Potter is my life and has been since I was a teenager. And because of my Gran I bought the whole set of books. Harry Potter was basically my childhood and I loved every minute of it. It was a childhood of midnight releases of books and films. Harry Potter is life and forever will be. But I am never going to be one of those people who is blinded by my love for something. I wanted to love this play, I really did, but I didn't in the end and that is because it has alot of flaws and problems and things I didn't like. Plus, I feel that this is important, it is a script for a play and I feel it is better to experience as a movie.
I will do a very quick summary for anyone reading the spoilery side even if they haven't read the play. Basically the story focuses on Harry's son Albus as he begins attending Hogwarts and gets placed in Slytherin. This is a huge deal and Albus ends up sucking at magic and forever living in his fathers shadow, which he resents, and their relationship is basically strained. Harry is a terrible father for some reason. Scorpius Malfoy is the most adorable bean of all time, and him and Albus become best friends. who are totally in love with each other - we'll get to that later -. Amos Diggory shows up out of the blue with his niece Delphi, wanting Harry to go back in time and save Cedric's life. Harry even though the one last surviving time turner has been found, lies and says he can't. Albus then decides to do it himself, with the help of good ol' Scorpius. Of course going back in time and changing one tiny detail changes everything. So then they keep having to go back, changing things until we eventually figure out that Delphi is the love child of Voldemort and Bellatrix and she wants to go back in time to prevent him from ever killing Harry, so that he would never have been defeated. And, yeah, the simplified version of this messy plot.
The first thing I have to mention is probably what anyone who has read it wanted to discuss the most... Voldemort had a love child with Bellatrix Lestrange! REALLY?!?!?! I got to that point in the book and suddenly understood why I heard people saying that they felt this read like a fan fiction. My mouth dropped open and disappointment set in. It just makes zero sense tom me, and the explanation of it and timeline of those events also makes no sense to me. I just don't see Voldemort as someone concerned with having a child. His plan was to get the Deathly Hallows and master death, so he wasn't looking for an heir. And, come on, it's like the guy has even one tiny paternal bone in his body. The only thing that does make sense is that if Voldemort had a kid with anyone, it would be Bellatrix, you can totally see her wanting to have his baby. I still don't get how this all happened and no one knew. And that it was never alluded to in the final book. She apparently gave birth in the Malfoy Manor before the Battle of Hogwarts. So where was the baby whilst she was off fighting? Why did Draco not know about it? Or did he and just never felt like he should mention it? Come on, this is the most ridiculous Harry Potter story line in the history of ever and I am going to pretend that it is a fan fiction and not cannon because otherwise I'd have to rate this a 1/5 and I just can't deal with that right now.
The next thing we have to discuss is the main plot device here: Time Travel. Why?! Do not mess with the time travel, it's far too overused and just results in endless plot holes and problems. This book is not an exception to that rule. Especially when we take into account that the main plot here is that Albus and Scorpius want to use the time turner to go back in time and save Cedric Diggory's life.
They have a time turner that can take them back years and they are going to use this to save Cedric Diggory. Can we all take a moment to appreciate how utterly pointless and stupid that act would be if we think about the fact they could go back in time and strangle tiny, evil baby Voldemort and save thousands of people?! Oh no, let's just go back in time and save one boy.
That is like someone giving you a time turner in our world and going back in time to save Anne Frank, rather than killing Hitler. If you kill the evil overlord then you would save all the people that died at their hands. So the whole time I am just sitting here wanting to slap everyone for just being so stupid. But it is obvious why they can't all suddenly realise they have the power to murder Voldemort and prevent everything. It would mean that everything that came after that would completely change and the first seven Harry Potter books would never have happened. So of course we can't have that, so we will just have this giant stupid plot hole instead.
The next biggest problem with this book is the characterisation and how wrong it is in this play. Ron is suddenly reduced to just a little bit of comedic relief. He just eats food and pulls pranks and apparently got so drunk at his wedding and that he forgot most of it. Why has Ron suddenly turned into a Weasley twin too? I know he liked pranks and found them funny before but he was no Fred or George. And why is he giving a small boy a love potion as a joke gift? He was put under the influence of love potion and it wasn't an experience he particularly enjoyed, so I can't see him then being stupid enough to give one to a child. I hated seeing what Jack Thorne reduced his character to here, it was not fun to read.
Harry was even worse, I hated him being the world's worst father who would be horrible to tell his son that sometimes he wished he wasn't his son. I just don't see Harry ever saying that. I feel he would love his children, no matter how difficult they could be and appreciate being able to be there for them, as he never had that as a child. And watching him treat Professor McGonagall made even for even more unpleasant reading. Am I supposed to believe that Harry, the guy who flipped out when a Death Eater spat on her, would then go and treat her with so little respect? Nope, I am not buying that.
Hermione was just as hard to read, especially in the timeline where she and Ron and never got together. She basically becomes a female version of Snape. She's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts who treats the children horribly. She's nasty and bitter, and apparently all because she didn't wind up with Ron?! No. Are we really reducing Hermione down to this? She is a strong, brave, kind person and I don't see her ever turning that bitter because of a guy. She is so much better than that. Why did J.K. Rowling give this her stamp of approval?
And I am still sold on the fact that getting humiliated one time would suddenly turn Cedric Diggory into an evil Death Eater situation but it is just awful. I don't believe for one second that Cedric would allow that one moment in his life change him so completely that he suddenly goes to the Harry Potter dark side and start working for Voldemort. No.
I have another big issue and that is, Scorpius and Albus are blatantly in love with each other. The issue isn't that they love each other, the issue is that it seems super obvious to 90% of people reading and yet it is never addressed. Come on, they totally love each other and I ship it endlessly. I just get so sad to see the potential to have our first openly gay couple in the Harry Potter universe squandered. These two were just utterly adorable. Not just watch them fill a play with so much homoerotic subtext and then just brush it all aside at the end. In my mind they become the most adorably squishy couple ever, get married and join the Potter and the Malfoy households.
It wasn't all bad though and there were aspects that I really liked. The biggest one being Scorpius Malfoy. He is adorable and I just loved his character. He is so sweet and kind, and I was just happy with his character. I also loved that Albus and Scorpius were both Slytherins, and both kind, wonderful Slytherins. I have a big spot for Slytherin house so I was happy that this plays shows that Slytherins are just as awesome. I also loved when Ron told Hermione he wanted to renew their wedding vows.
Writing this review actually felt quite therapeutic, but I must admit that the more I think about the story the more upset I get, I just wanted this to be amazing and everything I was hoping for, and it wasn't, I feel this was definitely missing J.K. Rowling's touch and I wish she had been the one to write the script, as I feel the characters would have felt more real if she had. It wasn't all bad and I enjoyed the story whilst reading. It blew my mind reading it, as I tried to figure out how they were going to pull this off on stage. I can't ever consider this as a canon because it is just had too many plot holes and makes little sense when you think back on the Harry Potter Books.
Scholastic, Little Brown UK to Publish "Cursed Child" Script this Summer!
Only a couple of weeks ago, I was cautiously optimistic that Harry Potter and The Cursed Child would be published as a book sooner than I originally hoped, meaning those fans unable to make the trip to London to see the show wouldn't be missing out on reading the next chapter of Harry's (and Albus') story. Now, I have confirmed - the full script of Cursed Child will be released on Harry's (and Jo's) birthday: July 31, 2016. Of course this is only a day after the play officially opens (although it does run in previews for a few weeks prior) which means that readers around the world will get the chance to read the story almost in real time, greatly reducing the risk of running across spoilers on the internet.
In the U.S., the book will cost $29.99, and in Canada it will priced at $39.99. The British hardcover will be £20. A digital edition will be released via Pottermore simultaneously. Information released by the publishers states that this edition will contain the script of the play as it stands during the production's preview period - a Special Rehearsal Edition. As further rehearsal and transition to performing in front of the live audiences may produce changes to the script, this edition will be available for a limited time - a Definitive Collector's Edition with the final version of the script will be released at a later date.
The CEO of Little Brown Book Group UK, David Shelley said of the announcement:
We are so thrilled to be publishing the script of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. J.K. Rowling and her team have received a huge number of appeals from fans who can't be in London to see the play and who would like to see the play in book format - and so we are absolutely delighted to be able to make it available for them.
Scholastic's promotion for the book's release has already got me excited. And planning which robes I am going to wear to the midnight release of course. Wait, there's no such thing as midnight release here in the Philippines.
Upcoming Show: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Stage Play) Cast: Jamie Parker (Harry Potter), Noma Dumezweni (Hermione Granger), Paul Thornley (Ron Weasley) Directed by: John Tiffany Date Premiered: July 30, 2016 Place Premiered: Palace Theatre, London, United Kingdom Based on: Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling) Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Synopsis: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is an upcoming two-part West End stage play, written by Jack Thorns and based on a story by author J.K. Rowling, Thorns and director John Tiffany. The play is scheduled to open in July 2016, at the Palace Theatre, London, England, and will feature Rowling collaborating with an experienced team to bring the production to the stage. The play is set nineteen years after the conclusion of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows and follows Harry Potter, now a Ministry of Magic employee, and his youngest son Albus Severus Potter.
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
Whilst Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.
Thoughts: So if you have been following this blog for awhile, you would know that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. The story line was something perfect. Even though multiple of the books were out when I first started reading them, I still grew up on the books. I would not be where I am today if Harry Potter wasn't a part of my life, and I don't think lot of us would be. Harry Potter shaped my childhood, and shaped who I am today. This is why when it was announced that there was going to be a Harry Potter play, called the Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, I was ecstatic. I had absolutely no idea what it was going to be about, but just knowing there was going to be an extension of the Harry Potter world in some form, it was amazing.
Jamie Parker, Paul Thornley and Noma Dumezweni
The plot was announced, and the entire Potter fandom freaked. We are getting an eighth story. They are continuing the story from where it left off. The tagline for the play is "The Eighth Story, Nineteen Years Later".
I was completely fangirling for many, many hours after this was announced. I still am freaking out and fangirling about this play. However, it sort of died down, and turned into a little bit of disappointment and confusion, when I realised that this was a play. It was a play, which at least for now was only premiering in London. How was I, living in the Philippines, going to be able to watch a play that was only showing in London?
This doesn't just apply to me. Potterheads from all over the world started to wonder the exact same thing. How were they going to be able to experience this amazing story, the continuation of a story that we have all loved and grown up with, if they didn't live in London? Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is still in the early stages, and you never know. There could be a professionally filmed version of the play for people to see all over the world, the play could tour the world for others to see, or they may even be a book written for the play.
However, those things, if they were to even happen are very far down the road. The play itself premieres in July 2016, which means that for people that have no way to see the play in London, it could be years before we find out more about what happened nineteen years later.
Don't get me wrong, I am sooper excited to eventually see what happens in this play. If J.K. Rowling thought that the best way to get across her new story, would be showing it up on stage, then I trust her. Though by having thousands and millions of Harry Potter fans around the world, and then making the eighth story available not even a tenth of those fans, just don't feel like a very smart idea.
J.K. Rowling herself said:
"I am confident that when audiences see Harry Potter and The Cursed Child they will understand why we chose to tell this story in this way."
Do I wish that our long awaited eighth story, sequel, to the Harry Potter series would have been released in a different format? Yes. Do I wish that the format had been in a book? Absolutely. I just hope that they somehow find a way to get this story to all Potterheads around the world.
I would absolutely hate to miss out on this amazing sequel to my favourite series of all time, just because I didn't live in the right place.
Harry Potter will always be a huge part of my life. I re-read the books all the time, and have multiple movie marathons every month. My dream place to go would be the Harry Potter studio in London, or the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida. I am a huge Potterhead, and I always will be. I hope that I will be able to see this continuation of the Wizarding World in some way, and that I will be able to experience the continuation of the magic that J.K. Rowling has created.
If you would like to hear more about the play and some official information on it, you can check it out here and here.
I am sorry about this rant, I just felt sad about the subject, and it's all that I have been able to think about for the last 24 hours or so when I found out.
I hope that some of you share my same feelings on this topic. I am still sooper excited for this play, and I can't wait to see how it plays out. I just hope that I get to see this for myself, and not through somebody else's eyes.
Synopsis: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to say where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
Review: It is finally time for to review a new Harry Potter story and that feels amazing. What doesn't feel amazing is that my thoughts are so conflicted, I finished reading this play and immediately stamped 5.5 on my Goodreads review. It wasn't that I loved the story, it was that I loved being transported back to a world I love, to characters I adore so much and to experience that magic once again. I had tears in my eyes whilst finishing this book because it brought back all those nostalgic feelings. The problem was that the story wasn't good as I had hoped and the more I think about the book, the less happy with it I get. It's currently on a 3/5 with the potential to go lower if I dwell on it anymore. So, no more dwelling, time for reviewing. And don't worry, if you haven't read the book yet then I won't spoil it. I will keep this part completely non-spoilery and have the spoilers after a massive warning, for all those who have read it.
This was never going to be the story that most Harry Potter fans wanted. For one thing, it is a script of a play, and not a novel. We all knew this before buying so it's not a shock, but it does mean it's a weird new way to experience the Harry Potter world. This is something that is supposed to be experienced and watched, not read. The other main issue is that, no matter how largely they write her name on the cover, this was not written by J.K. Rowling. And that is a terrible thing to me as it meant that I felt the characters were just lacking in a way they wouldn't have been if she had wrote it. The characters always just felt a little off and not like the characters we spent seven books getting to know.
The story itself was not at all what I was expecting, but I am mentioning nothing about it here. I think it is better to go blind. We all know this book takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and follows Harry's son Albus rather than Harry. We meet some brilliant characters in this, but also some bad ones. My main issue with the story was that it felt all a bit ridiculous and that alot of it didn't make sense. I, quite honestly, can never view this play as canon because it all just feels ridiculous and as if it would never happen. Another major issue is the gaping plot holes that this book leaves us with, and I hate gaping holes!
So yes, overall I was disappointed, I loved some aspects of this but was really pissed about other, I need to go into spoilery detail to explain that. If you haven't read this yet or seen the play then now is the time to skip out.
I am actually excited to review this and go into all my spoilery thoughts. I have to, I won't be able to contain myself otherwise. I need to lay it all out on the table. First, I need to get this out of the way: I LOVE HARRY POTTER! If you know me in real life or from my blog, Twitter, or Instagram, then you already know this. Harry Potter is my life and has been since I was a teenager. And because of my Gran I bought the whole set of books. Harry Potter was basically my childhood and I loved every minute of it. It was a childhood of midnight releases of books and films. Harry Potter is life and forever will be. But I am never going to be one of those people who is blinded by my love for something. I wanted to love this play, I really did, but I didn't in the end and that is because it has alot of flaws and problems and things I didn't like. Plus, I feel that this is important, it is a script for a play and I feel it is better to experience as a movie.
I will do a very quick summary for anyone reading the spoilery side even if they haven't read the play. Basically the story focuses on Harry's son Albus as he begins attending Hogwarts and gets placed in Slytherin. This is a huge deal and Albus ends up sucking at magic and forever living in his fathers shadow, which he resents, and their relationship is basically strained. Harry is a terrible father for some reason. Scorpius Malfoy is the most adorable bean of all time, and him and Albus become best friends. who are totally in love with each other - we'll get to that later -. Amos Diggory shows up out of the blue with his niece Delphi, wanting Harry to go back in time and save Cedric's life. Harry even though the one last surviving time turner has been found, lies and says he can't. Albus then decides to do it himself, with the help of good ol' Scorpius. Of course going back in time and changing one tiny detail changes everything. So then they keep having to go back, changing things until we eventually figure out that Delphi is the love child of Voldemort and Bellatrix and she wants to go back in time to prevent him from ever killing Harry, so that he would never have been defeated. And, yeah, the simplified version of this messy plot.
The first thing I have to mention is probably what anyone who has read it wanted to discuss the most... Voldemort had a love child with Bellatrix Lestrange! REALLY?!?!?! I got to that point in the book and suddenly understood why I heard people saying that they felt this read like a fan fiction. My mouth dropped open and disappointment set in. It just makes zero sense tom me, and the explanation of it and timeline of those events also makes no sense to me. I just don't see Voldemort as someone concerned with having a child. His plan was to get the Deathly Hallows and master death, so he wasn't looking for an heir. And, come on, it's like the guy has even one tiny paternal bone in his body. The only thing that does make sense is that if Voldemort had a kid with anyone, it would be Bellatrix, you can totally see her wanting to have his baby. I still don't get how this all happened and no one knew. And that it was never alluded to in the final book. She apparently gave birth in the Malfoy Manor before the Battle of Hogwarts. So where was the baby whilst she was off fighting? Why did Draco not know about it? Or did he and just never felt like he should mention it? Come on, this is the most ridiculous Harry Potter story line in the history of ever and I am going to pretend that it is a fan fiction and not cannon because otherwise I'd have to rate this a 1/5 and I just can't deal with that right now.
The next thing we have to discuss is the main plot device here: Time Travel. Why?! Do not mess with the time travel, it's far too overused and just results in endless plot holes and problems. This book is not an exception to that rule. Especially when we take into account that the main plot here is that Albus and Scorpius want to use the time turner to go back in time and save Cedric Diggory's life.
They have a time turner that can take them back years and they are going to use this to save Cedric Diggory. Can we all take a moment to appreciate how utterly pointless and stupid that act would be if we think about the fact they could go back in time and strangle tiny, evil baby Voldemort and save thousands of people?! Oh no, let's just go back in time and save one boy.
That is like someone giving you a time turner in our world and going back in time to save Anne Frank, rather than killing Hitler. If you kill the evil overlord then you would save all the people that died at their hands. So the whole time I am just sitting here wanting to slap everyone for just being so stupid. But it is obvious why they can't all suddenly realise they have the power to murder Voldemort and prevent everything. It would mean that everything that came after that would completely change and the first seven Harry Potter books would never have happened. So of course we can't have that, so we will just have this giant stupid plot hole instead.
The next biggest problem with this book is the characterisation and how wrong it is in this play. Ron is suddenly reduced to just a little bit of comedic relief. He just eats food and pulls pranks and apparently got so drunk at his wedding and that he forgot most of it. Why has Ron suddenly turned into a Weasley twin too? I know he liked pranks and found them funny before but he was no Fred or George. And why is he giving a small boy a love potion as a joke gift? He was put under the influence of love potion and it wasn't an experience he particularly enjoyed, so I can't see him then being stupid enough to give one to a child. I hated seeing what Jack Thorne reduced his character to here, it was not fun to read.
Harry was even worse, I hated him being the world's worst father who would be horrible to tell his son that sometimes he wished he wasn't his son. I just don't see Harry ever saying that. I feel he would love his children, no matter how difficult they could be and appreciate being able to be there for them, as he never had that as a child. And watching him treat Professor McGonagall made even for even more unpleasant reading. Am I supposed to believe that Harry, the guy who flipped out when a Death Eater spat on her, would then go and treat her with so little respect? Nope, I am not buying that.
Hermione was just as hard to read, especially in the timeline where she and Ron and never got together. She basically becomes a female version of Snape. She's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts who treats the children horribly. She's nasty and bitter, and apparently all because she didn't wind up with Ron?! No. Are we really reducing Hermione down to this? She is a strong, brave, kind person and I don't see her ever turning that bitter because of a guy. She is so much better than that. Why did J.K. Rowling give this her stamp of approval?
And I am still sold on the fact that getting humiliated one time would suddenly turn Cedric Diggory into an evil Death Eater situation but it is just awful. I don't believe for one second that Cedric would allow that one moment in his life change him so completely that he suddenly goes to the Harry Potter dark side and start working for Voldemort. No.
I have another big issue and that is, Scorpius and Albus are blatantly in love with each other. The issue isn't that they love each other, the issue is that it seems super obvious to 90% of people reading and yet it is never addressed. Come on, they totally love each other and I ship it endlessly. I just get so sad to see the potential to have our first openly gay couple in the Harry Potter universe squandered. These two were just utterly adorable. Not just watch them fill a play with so much homoerotic subtext and then just brush it all aside at the end. In my mind they become the most adorably squishy couple ever, get married and join the Potter and the Malfoy households.
It wasn't all bad though and there were aspects that I really liked. The biggest one being Scorpius Malfoy. He is adorable and I just loved his character. He is so sweet and kind, and I was just happy with his character. I also loved that Albus and Scorpius were both Slytherins, and both kind, wonderful Slytherins. I have a big spot for Slytherin house so I was happy that this plays shows that Slytherins are just as awesome. I also loved when Ron told Hermione he wanted to renew their wedding vows.
Writing this review actually felt quite therapeutic, but I must admit that the more I think about the story the more upset I get, I just wanted this to be amazing and everything I was hoping for, and it wasn't, I feel this was definitely missing J.K. Rowling's touch and I wish she had been the one to write the script, as I feel the characters would have felt more real if she had. It wasn't all bad and I enjoyed the story whilst reading. It blew my mind reading it, as I tried to figure out how they were going to pull this off on stage. I can't ever consider this as a canon because it is just had too many plot holes and makes little sense when you think back on the Harry Potter Books.
Scholastic, Little Brown UK to Publish "Cursed Child" Script this Summer!
Only a couple of weeks ago, I was cautiously optimistic that Harry Potter and The Cursed Child would be published as a book sooner than I originally hoped, meaning those fans unable to make the trip to London to see the show wouldn't be missing out on reading the next chapter of Harry's (and Albus') story. Now, I have confirmed - the full script of Cursed Child will be released on Harry's (and Jo's) birthday: July 31, 2016. Of course this is only a day after the play officially opens (although it does run in previews for a few weeks prior) which means that readers around the world will get the chance to read the story almost in real time, greatly reducing the risk of running across spoilers on the internet.
In the U.S., the book will cost $29.99, and in Canada it will priced at $39.99. The British hardcover will be £20. A digital edition will be released via Pottermore simultaneously. Information released by the publishers states that this edition will contain the script of the play as it stands during the production's preview period - a Special Rehearsal Edition. As further rehearsal and transition to performing in front of the live audiences may produce changes to the script, this edition will be available for a limited time - a Definitive Collector's Edition with the final version of the script will be released at a later date.
The CEO of Little Brown Book Group UK, David Shelley said of the announcement:
We are so thrilled to be publishing the script of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. J.K. Rowling and her team have received a huge number of appeals from fans who can't be in London to see the play and who would like to see the play in book format - and so we are absolutely delighted to be able to make it available for them.
Scholastic's promotion for the book's release has already got me excited. And planning which robes I am going to wear to the midnight release of course. Wait, there's no such thing as midnight release here in the Philippines.
Upcoming Show: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Stage Play) Cast: Jamie Parker (Harry Potter), Noma Dumezweni (Hermione Granger), Paul Thornley (Ron Weasley) Directed by: John Tiffany Date Premiered: July 30, 2016 Place Premiered: Palace Theatre, London, United Kingdom Based on: Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling) Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Synopsis: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is an upcoming two-part West End stage play, written by Jack Thorns and based on a story by author J.K. Rowling, Thorns and director John Tiffany. The play is scheduled to open in July 2016, at the Palace Theatre, London, England, and will feature Rowling collaborating with an experienced team to bring the production to the stage. The play is set nineteen years after the conclusion of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows and follows Harry Potter, now a Ministry of Magic employee, and his youngest son Albus Severus Potter.
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
Whilst Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.
Thoughts: So if you have been following this blog for awhile, you would know that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. The story line was something perfect. Even though multiple of the books were out when I first started reading them, I still grew up on the books. I would not be where I am today if Harry Potter wasn't a part of my life, and I don't think lot of us would be. Harry Potter shaped my childhood, and shaped who I am today. This is why when it was announced that there was going to be a Harry Potter play, called the Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, I was ecstatic. I had absolutely no idea what it was going to be about, but just knowing there was going to be an extension of the Harry Potter world in some form, it was amazing.
Jamie Parker, Paul Thornley and Noma Dumezweni
The plot was announced, and the entire Potter fandom freaked. We are getting an eighth story. They are continuing the story from where it left off. The tagline for the play is "The Eighth Story, Nineteen Years Later".
I was completely fangirling for many, many hours after this was announced. I still am freaking out and fangirling about this play. However, it sort of died down, and turned into a little bit of disappointment and confusion, when I realised that this was a play. It was a play, which at least for now was only premiering in London. How was I, living in the Philippines, going to be able to watch a play that was only showing in London?
This doesn't just apply to me. Potterheads from all over the world started to wonder the exact same thing. How were they going to be able to experience this amazing story, the continuation of a story that we have all loved and grown up with, if they didn't live in London? Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is still in the early stages, and you never know. There could be a professionally filmed version of the play for people to see all over the world, the play could tour the world for others to see, or they may even be a book written for the play.
However, those things, if they were to even happen are very far down the road. The play itself premieres in July 2016, which means that for people that have no way to see the play in London, it could be years before we find out more about what happened nineteen years later.
Don't get me wrong, I am sooper excited to eventually see what happens in this play. If J.K. Rowling thought that the best way to get across her new story, would be showing it up on stage, then I trust her. Though by having thousands and millions of Harry Potter fans around the world, and then making the eighth story available not even a tenth of those fans, just don't feel like a very smart idea.
J.K. Rowling herself said:
"I am confident that when audiences see Harry Potter and The Cursed Child they will understand why we chose to tell this story in this way."
Do I wish that our long awaited eighth story, sequel, to the Harry Potter series would have been released in a different format? Yes. Do I wish that the format had been in a book? Absolutely. I just hope that they somehow find a way to get this story to all Potterheads around the world.
I would absolutely hate to miss out on this amazing sequel to my favourite series of all time, just because I didn't live in the right place.
Harry Potter will always be a huge part of my life. I re-read the books all the time, and have multiple movie marathons every month. My dream place to go would be the Harry Potter studio in London, or the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida. I am a huge Potterhead, and I always will be. I hope that I will be able to see this continuation of the Wizarding World in some way, and that I will be able to experience the continuation of the magic that J.K. Rowling has created.
If you would like to hear more about the play and some official information on it, you can check it out here and here.
I am sorry about this rant, I just felt sad about the subject, and it's all that I have been able to think about for the last 24 hours or so when I found out.
I hope that some of you share my same feelings on this topic. I am still sooper excited for this play, and I can't wait to see how it plays out. I just hope that I get to see this for myself, and not through somebody else's eyes.
