[Review] Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Jack Thorne, John Tiffany & J. K. Rowling

Author: Jack Thorne, John Tiffany & J. K. Rowling

Original Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Publisher: Little, Brown

Release Date: July 31st, 2016
Finished Date: January 5th, 2017
Pages: 343
Read in: English

The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later.

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 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.

Source: GoodReads

Rating

The reading experience of this book did not go as I expected it to. In fact, with the sole exception of one of the characters, I pretty much hated it.

I am an incredibly hardcore Harry Potter fan, and as I’m sure many fans have, I have been eagerly waiting for a continuation of some kind. As such, when this play was announced I was immediately excited to read it (although not as excited as I would have been with some Marauders content).

Anyway, I knew I had no hope of actually going to London to see the play, so I would have to make do with reading the script. And I have to say that although a lot of people complained about the format, it really didn’t make that much of a difference to me - we knew the world already, and we’d spent seven books following most of the characters so that we would automatically understand what would not be written. Or we would have, if the world’s rules hadn’t been overlooked for the sake of this (lack of) plot and the characters hadn’t been completely unrecognisable.

I truly believe that J. K. Rowling did not write this in order to squeeze the cash-cow, as she literally has no financial need for it. In fact, I do not, or better yet, I choose not to believe J. K. Rowling wrote this at all.

There are so many plotholes in this story that it is hard for me to believe this was even allowed by her to proceed to publishing and performing. And most worrying, everyone is out of character. I simply can’t imagine that J. K. Rowling would ever let her characters talk and behave as they did.

I have spent many hours of my life reading Harry Potter fanfiction, and I can with all certainty say that some of those fanfictions are much more believable than this script is. And trust me, this is hard for me to say. You have no idea how much I wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Maybe I’m being too critical, or I’m looking at it through a magnifying lens and nitpicking, but that is my nature. You might actually find it entertaining. I just couldn’t overlook these flaws enough to actually appreciate the story’s entertainment value.

The following extended review contains spoilers

If you have not yet read the book and/or do not wish to be spoiled, please do not read any further.

[Review] Life and death (Twilight, #5) - Stephenie Meyer

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Original title: Life and death - Twilight reimagined
Publisher: Little, Brown
Release date: October 6th, 2015
Finished date: October 11th, 2015
Pages: 442
Read in: English


Synopsis

Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Twilight! This special double-feature book includes the classic novel, Twilight, and a bold and surprising reimagining, Life and Death, by Stephenie Meyer.

Packaged as an oversize, jacketed hardcover “flip book,” this edition features nearly 400 pages of new content as well as exquisite new back cover art. Readers will relish experiencing the deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful love story of Bella and Edward through fresh eyes.

Source: GoodReads

Rating

Life and death is a complete gender swapped version of Twilight, written by Stephenie Meyer to prove that Bella wasn't really a damsel in distress, but a human in distress. Did Stephenie prove her point? I'm not sure, but I really think not. What Stephenie did was show us in not such big words what a screwed up society we live in. But I'll get into that in the spoilery section of this review. The point is this is not Midnight Sun.

Now, what everyone wants to know: IS IT WORTH BUYING?

Let me start out by saying that I'm not a Twilight hater. I started out as a gullible Twilight lover, actually. As I grew up, I begin wondering why my 14/15 year-old self loved this book so much. I went back and reread it. I did not enjoy the story that time around, but I couldn't deny the feeling of nostalgia that came with reading it. You see, back in 1999, 6 year-old me began reading the Harry Potter series. I got a new book every few years, and can you guess what I read in between? The ones that were already out. So by 2007, with the release of the last Harry Potter book, my reading life fell to a standstill. I was in a book hangover for a very long time, during which I read mostly classics.

It's easy to see why Twilight revolutionised my reading - I began reading YA again. I began reading fantasy again. And even though I loved Harry Potter with all my heart, I could finally move on.

It sounds overly dramatic, I know, but everything feels this way when you're 15.

So back to the question, do I believe you should buy this book?

No.

Unless you want to read the Twilight series for the first time, and never came in direct contact with the franchise, in which case, if you're curious enough, go ahead.

If you're just super super curious but don't wish to spend that amount of money on it - lets be honest, the cash cow is moaning right now - and you already know Twilight, try reading the spoilery section to make sure you really are that interested.

All in all, I didn't hate this book - I actually thought it was better than Twilight in some ways -, but I couldn't really take it seriously. Because even though the characters were gender swapped, their dialogue and especially Beau's inner turmoil remained mostly identical to their opposite gender counterparts. 

The following extended review contains spoilers

If you have not yet read the book and/or do not wish to be spoiled, please do not read any further.