J. K. Rowling

Ok, let me tell you what most annoyed me about this book: it says it's canon, but it reads like a fanfiction with a LOT of plot holes and bad plot devices, including bad characterization. And I'm not saying fanfiction is bad. In fact, I've literally read better fanfiction wih the same storyline -- going back in time to stop Voldemort (or to stop Harry) and, Jesus Christ, Voldermot's daughter. There are better Voldemort's daughters in FF.net, look it up.

There's fifty shades of wrong in this play, and I'm sure that to watch the play is far different than reading it, but from a strictly point of narrative... This is pretty bad.

I have a LOT to say about this one, from the plot to the characters (especially them). Stay tuned.

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Updated 08/15.

I must start by saying I had no expectations whatsover about this script - I wasn’t even thinking about reading it. I’m unfamiliar with Jack Thorne's works, I’m one of those people who do not care about the next generation and I absolutely refuse to conform to the HP epilogue (quoting a tumblr post that would be virtually impossible for me to find right now).

The only thing I new about the play was black!Hermione, and that’s about it. No spoilers, no idea what the plot was, no anything.

I’ll try to keep this post simple, so I’ll list the points that stand out for me about the play. Beware huge spoilers ahead.

The writing:

It’s a simple play. Nothing amazing about it. It basically delivers the story and gets its job done. I guess we couldn’t expect a master piece from it. To me, it’s too simplistic, even. (And yes, I know it was a script and not a gothic novel, my criticism comes from the fact that I've read better plays in my life). I'm sure the life experience of watching it onstage must be breathtaking, and probably would mask some issues in the writing, but my point here is the narrative, not smoke and mirrors and teary-eyed actors.

The plot:

Are you kidding? Fanfic-esque through and through. I don’t know if JKR gets around the internet reading fanfics, but god help me if Jack Thorne and John TIffany didn’t sniff around FF.net and AO3. The stuff sweats fanfic from its every pore. And I mean it in a good and a bad way - because just from this point we can discuss fanfiction and writing in standard media and the influence of fandom at length. There’s a lot to this topic that I won’t discuss further here.

We could also discuss an incredible lack of imagination, you know.

Let’s face it: the plot has been done hundreds, if not thousands of times before. It’s not my favorite storyline, so I’ve never read lots of it, but as far as constructing the plot and the characters in it, I’d say that Jack Thorne is passable, and I know he had guidance from JKR. The first 1/3 of the story was interesting enough for me, but as it went on, it felt like it was constantly losing its magic and going for the most obvious choices.

The characters:

And talking about characters, let me just say this: they spoke louder than the whole plot that, by itself, is not very interesting, but the characters were engaging enough for me to keep reading - Albus and Scorpius are just too lovable. I wasn’t very invested in the plot, and was quite skeptical about it to be honest, but the characters kept me going, and that is saying something.

What we have here is a bunch of (mostly) good, well-rounded characters, in a deflating storyline.

JKR says there won’t be any new HP stories, but I wouldn’t bet my money on that (although after reading this play I really wish she'd just stick to Pottermore).

On the overall, the plot is disappointing and full of predictable clichés. It was nice seeing the trio again, but it was even better seeing Draco Malfoy under this new light, and even though I have my reserves about the Next Generation, Albus and Scorpius and even Rose, who barely appeared and in the end was merely used as a non-sense love interest, were very captivating. Scorpius is an absolute dork and I love him to bits.

I was very disappointed that they didn’t develop the relationship of the boys in a more romantic way, because jfc, it was there from scene one. Again, traditional media letting us down; what else is new?

I've prepared a separate review about the characters that can be found on my Tumblr (http://diffindo.co.vu/post/148366059278/), because the characters were the thing that kept me going, not the plot (that is cringe-worthy). So if you wanna hear me ramble about how much I loved Scorpius and Albus and Draco, and how much I despised Ron's characterization, go ahead and click it.… (more)