Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

[Brooke_the_Phoenix]

Who else was completely disappointed?

Who else feels like they paid money for a glorified fanfiction?

Who else feels like so many of the events that were so important to the story, ESPECIALLY that one thing we learn about Voldemort's past, were so unlikely it's hard to believe the same author was involved in this?

Who else liked the Harry Potter universe better before this book?

Am I the only die-hard Harry Potter fan who didn't even want an eighth book in the first place?

Discuss.

If you're going to talk about spoilers, put it in a spoiler tag please.

 

[LambdaDelta]

Who else feels like they paid money for a glorified fanfiction?

tbh the title alone sounds like a fanfic

also, I have no interest, so I didn't bother. but I will say I do remember a number of things in the 7th book (especially the epilogue) reading far more like a fanfic to me than a professional narrative

 

[visibleghost]

i havent gotten it and probably won't., i don't think it will be that great so i'm not going to read it.

and i'm not the biggest harry potter fan ever, but i agree with u; another book wasn't needed. it would be hard to write something that doesn't feel forced out for money, and it would have to matter for ppl to like it which seems hard too. idk but yye no i'm not geting it

 

[LinkToTheWorld]

I haven't bothered with it, yet. Have to say, I'm tempted. But I'm worried that it's going to just be a massive disappointment....going to wait for a few more reviews on it before I decide whether to read it or not. I loved the other books

 

[KaydeeKrunk]

I haven't read it myself but my sister got it release day as a gift from my grandma, and ate it up in two days and came out of her bath (where she finished it) pouting because there wasn't more, she's been a die hard Harry Potter reader since day one so... I mean I would read it if I had read all of the other books but I only made it to the third or something and never finished...

 

[SensaiGallade]

Is the book really that disappointing? I've read all the Harry Potter books and they were really good.

 

[Bowie]

I kinda feel like everyone should give it a read. It exists for a reason. That being said, I haven't, simply because I'm not a huge Potter fan. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I haven't really gotten into it as much as I would've maybe liked. I've seen all the films, though. Can't say I understand the story any better, though. From reading the synopsis, it feels like a stereotypical Potter fan fiction, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover or its synopsis. (The cover is really awesome, though.)

 

[andrewdklee]

I actually read the entire series from start to finish several times a year even.
And when I heard Cursed Child was coming out I was overly excited.
I knew that it would be in a play format, and that it wouldn't be the conventional Harry Potter books that we all loved and enjoyed. But I still had high expectations and standards from JK Rowling, even if she wasn't the one that actually "wrote" it.
What we got was something that turned out to be something on the standards of a poorly written fanfic and think that it shouldn't even have JK Rowling's name on it.
I've read everything she's ever written, from her excellent Robert Galbraith novels to Casual Vacancy. It just isn't worth reading or even picking up. But that's just my opinion. I had more excitement reading Mythical Beasts. But those are just my two cents.

 

[Soigne]

I kinda feel like everyone should give it a read. It exists for a reason. That being said, I haven't, simply because I'm not a huge Potter fan. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I haven't really gotten into it as much as I would've maybe liked. I've seen all the films, though. Can't say I understand the story any better, though. From reading the synopsis, it feels like a stereotypical Potter fan fiction, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover or its synopsis. (The cover is really awesome, though.)

?? Not following this logic. Everything exists for a reason, doesn't mean you have to read everything lmao

A lot of my friends read it & didn't like it, so I'll be skipping this one.

 

[Bowie]

?? Not following this logic. Everything exists for a reason, doesn't mean you have to read everything lmao

A lot of my friends read it & didn't like it, so I'll be skipping this one.

What I mean is, it exists because the author intended for it to contribute to the story. Fans of the series, or at least die-hard fans, should read it so that they can keep up with what is considered canon and relevant to the story. That's what a series is. Just because your friends don't like it doesn't mean you will!

 

[Megan.]

I enjoyed it. It was nice going back into the world of hogwarts once again.

 

[-Apples-]

I knew it would be a disappointment. How did I know? It's not because the premise is different, but in recent times, reboots of old series have always been an insult to the main series. It's not just limited to Star Wars and Indiana Jones. But here's what I know:

Independence Day: Resurgence generated poor reviews.
Teen Titans Go was heavily criticized.
Powerpuff Girls (2016) received negative reviews. The actors of the original Powerpuff Girls even hated it.
And there's more...

I believe Harry Potter became another victim of the reboot syndrome where the newest entry after a long break is a bust. The lesson, when an old series ends, it's best not to continue it, especially a couple years after. What's worse than not continuing a series that ended a while ago is adding a new entry that appears to be an insult.

What was wrong with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child anyway? I like my answers in spoiler boxes.

 

[AlmostBlueKitty]

I went to see the play, and I was blown away by it.
Although, that was purely because of the acting and the stage production. They put a LOT of effort into that and it definitely showed.
However, the actual story... I don't know. It felt a bit too cliched. I do agree it felt like a fanfic, and they changed the rules of a certain thing of the HP univerise which I was disappointed in...
I definitely liked the play but I wouldn't see it again. It would be good for a non-HP fan for a night out but other than that, it wasn't at all up to expectations.
I think JK might have done better without the other writers? Maybe? I don't know, I feel like the other writers may have influenced the story a bit too much.

 

[N e s s]

In my mind the series is permanatly over. I refuse to believe in any other stories.

 

[demoness]

jk rowling didn't write the play people are reading at all, jack thorne did, based on an original story he, rowling, and another writer wrote (sooo it reads like fanfiction, because in a way it is.) but like i'm not super interested anyway, re-read the original series recently and broke my nostalgia goggles and it's super decent juvenile fiction at best

anyway from what i can tell professional critics seemed to think highly of it so i'm guessing fans are being dramatic about their childhood memories or something, i totally more gauge things on their own merits.

 

[Pietro:)100]

I kind of did want to and plan on reading it, but after hearing a lot of similar things, I don't know if I should... The last book was kinda the end for me, in the sense that I was happy and didn't feel like I needed anything extra. I'm thinking that if I read this, my perfect little vision of it all ending well, both myself feeling fulfilled and the characters and storyline just ending happily, will all be kinda messed up as I have visualised how I thought it would all pan out after the final book.

 

[Crash]

I agree with OP completely. my mom read me the first book when I was little and I actually wanted to learn to read just to read them more than anything else. I even have tattoos dedicated to Harry Potter, I love it that much. but yeah, I've been disappointed since I heard this thing was coming out. I think the whole plot is stupid, I don't like plays to begin with and I never wanted a sequel in play form (or even a sequel at all tbh, it's unnecessary and I think a prequel would've been ten times better) and I cannot even emphasize how saddened I am by the whole thing. not to mention she wrote it with someone else (or multiple others?) so that, in my opinion, makes it even more disappointing. I know I'm being pretty harsh towards something I haven't even read, but HP is incredibly important to me and has played a huge part in my life, so seeing things turn out this way really sucks. there were so many different and much better ways she could've gone with a new story and she just blew it. :c

 

[seliph]

I have no interest in Harry Potter but I heard this was basically like that My Immortal fanfiction except canon and I find that hilarious.

 

[Iwaseleanor]

I was shocked at how bad it was
The plot twist truly was fanfiction worthy, and it is nowhere NEAR J. K.'s high standard.
It was also incredibly cringey from the start

 

[zoetrope]

I wasn't super excited about it but thought I'd read it eventually, like when the final script is released.


But then I read some spoilers. Lol no. Nope. My interest went from minimal to negative.