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Midnight July 31, 2016: one of the most anticipated moments of the year. At least, it was in the world of Harry Potter. This was the day that Harry Potter and Cursed Child was being released — the long-awaited sequel story to the amazing Harry Potter series. Even as the huge book nerd I am, I have never stayed up until midnight to get a book before. This book received such hype that I was up until midnight at Barnes and Noble to get it and finished it in less than 24 hours, and I know I wasn’t alone. And although there was huge anticipation for the book, it wasn’t as perfect as I thought it was.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play that is being shown in the UK. When it was announced that JK Rowling was not the only author of the script (she worked with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany), a lot of fans became skeptical, but were excited none the less. The play script was released as a book, and as I read, I saw a lot of Rowling’s writing styles in the script, though I could tell it was not all her.

Before receiving the book, it’s important to know one thing that a lot of people missed: it’s not a real novel, it’s a script complete with stage directions and scenes. Personally, I liked it as a script because it’s interesting to figure out how the people are just through dialogue, but I can see how that could be frustrating to read for others.

As I began reading the book I immediately fell in love with the kids. Albus Potter was a lovable, quirky character along with his sassy and hilarious best friend Scorpius Malfoy. I loved the new perspectives on life as seen through the eyes of new characters, not just Harry. For Rowling writing with other characters,

Although I loved the characters, I do wish this had been more inclusive of other characters, such as James and Lily Potter (Albus’ siblings), Hugo Weasley, Teddy Lupin and more. Many of the kids were not mentioned or shown in the story, and it would’ve been nice to see how they were doing during their years at Hogwarts. As it was a play based around this one specific plot line, I understand why it only had a few characters, but it did leave me longing for more.

I thought the plot of the book was amazing. It was shocking and interesting, just like the original Harry Potter series. I was one of the first people to read it that I knew, and it was really hard not to start coming up with theories of what else might happen. This was a book that could spark a lot of discussion among Potter fans. It was intriguing and thought provoking.

One big discussion about the book is the relationships between the kids. Throughout the book, Albus and Scorpius are together through everything and are incredibly close friends. Some readers — myself included — thought they were going to end up as a couple at the end of the book, or at least have it be hinted at as it was through the entirety of the story. However, it is revealed later in the book that they don’t like each other like that and instead that Scorpius liked Rose Weasley (Hermione and Ron’s child). Although I still think the relationship between Scorpius and the other character would be cute, I think it is a little forced after the rest of the play and wish they had hinted more at a relationship with him and Albus or had just left it out entirely.

It’s not my all-time favorite Harry Potter book, but it was nice getting to know about the next generation. I’d recommend this book to anyone who has read the original series. Even if they don’t end up liking it as I did, it’s fun to read and know what happens