In my mind, it’s a piece written by Rita Skeeter. There’s very little truth to it. Just garbage she made up to get people to read it and piss off Harry.
The first seven books are biblical, everything else by Rowling are just the ramblings of a wise seer. Some of it is truth, and some of it is craziness.
Despite this, if you ever get the chance to see the actual show then you should go. Yes, the writing is not so great but the production is absolutely incredible and the Imogen Heap soundtrack is fantastic.
yeah i honestly wasn't a fan of the story (though i didn't read the screenplay) but i absolutely loved seeing the show. The actors were amazing, especially the actor for scorpius was brilliant
I'm so glad I read this. I *can't* with the plot, because the ending of GoF and the themes about the pointlessness and tragedies of war were unbelievably formative for me, so the very existence of a story where Cedric's death is \~for the greater good\~ makes me incredibly viscerally angry.
But my partner's grandmother bought us tickets to see the show, so we're going as soon as production starts back up post-COVID. It's encouraging to know the experience of going to the show is worth it.
>Can we crowdfund to bribe JK Rowling to make this canon
"The story of #CursedChild should be considered canon, though.
u/jackthorne
, John Tiffany (the director) and I developed it together."
Literal Tweet from JKR.
I never include it in my reread. Read it once (for the same reason everyone did) and I doubt I’ll ever read it again. There is fanfiction written by 12 year olds with a better plot than CC
I did too, as with several of my friends. And we all agreed on the same thing. The actors did a wonderful job at their roles, and the effects were exquisite. However, it still doesn't take away the fact that the underlying story in itself is garbage.
I don’t know. Harry Potter was my childhood and has many good memories for me. The series as a whole was just…perfect. The Cursed Child, however, considering it’s classed as canon, was terrible and contradicts so many of the plot points JK made in the original series
That is also the case with the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ films. It makes it seem like JKR stopped paying attention to her own work.
Like the “twist” that Nagini is actually a cursed witch, thus explaining why the snake had human-level intelligence in the original series… except within the books, the explanation for that was that she was a Horcrux.*
The original books depict divination as an extremely imprecise and vague branch of magic; when prophecies are accurate, they are delivered in vague terms subject to interpretation. But in FB2, Grindelwald just shows a crowd of onlookers accurate visions of WWII.
The Wizarding World no longer feels immersive and lifelike because it’s all so arbitrary now.
*edit: I was misremembering and it was actually Nagini’s unusual loyalty to Voldemort that suggested she was a Horcrux, not her intelligence; however, within the universe of the books, all snakes seem to have human level intelligence (Harry has a conversation with a snake that understands geography in the first book) so it didn’t really need explaining at all anyway.
Fantastic Beasts are far from perfect but they are pretty entertaining at least, there are some problems and continuity errors but it doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out like CC does, it remains something I enjoy watching.
True. I just consider Fantastic Beasts to be a lot more egregious because JKR is the sole screenwriter and you can’t blame all the inconsistencies with the original books on anyone else; it was entirely JK Rowling’s creative vision to retcon essential elements of the magical world, as opposed to CC where you could at least blame that on it being the only HP work not written by Rowling herself.
Dumbledore proposes it as his working theory in Half-Blood Prince in chapter 23 I think; the snake’s intelligence is what makes him think she’s a Horcrux.
The books never explicitly suggest that this explanation is inadequate, as indeed she *is* a Horcrux.
Edit: having just now checked the chapter in question, I realise I was misremembering; it was Nagini’s unusual loyalty to Voldemort that made Dumbledore suspicious, not any human-level intelligence… which is never actually so much as hinted as being anything other than the result of being controlled by a Parselmouth.
It obliterates any character development in the series. The whole premise surrounds Harry Potter not being a good father, Voldemort having a child, Cederic becoming a death eater, Hermione being a dumb and mentally unstable woman. They changed their personality to drive the plot, and even then they failed to make the plot make sense.
Because it makes absolutely no sense. I fail to understand how they even came up with such a ridiculous plot. And what’s worse is that Rowling actually approved the piece of shit.
In my opinion it’s because it contradicts a lot from the original 7 books. It’s not a good read, plus it’s a stage play so it feels out of place with the rest of the books.
At lot of detailed answers addressed on Quora. To summarize: the entire plot is dependent on time turner use that breaks all of the rules for time travel set in the book series.
I think even that could be overlooked if the characters were true to their characters in the original series. A big part of the appeal in JKR's books is how distinct and realistic her character's personalities are. Browsing through this sub you'll find countless threads analyzing HP characters on a deeper level because they aren't just names, they have very consistent behavioral patterns. In CC this all goes out the window with little attempt to portray the characters as themselves which makes them all feel like imposters. Inconsistent rules of magic could be overlooked but inconsistent personalities is what makes it intolerable.
I avoided reading it, but I went to see it in London with the original cast. It was one of the most incredible theatre productions I’ve ever seen.
The plot is dreadful, but seeing them portray the illusions and magic on stage was phenomenal. I don’t ever include it in re-reads and I don’t see it as canon. But I would go back and watch the production tomorrow if I could.
Same. I never read it because it's a play and not a 'book'. It's meant to be experienced on a stage, with actors, sound, lights and an audience.
I saw it twice in London with the original cast and both times were phenomenal, worth every penny and every minute. I do agree the plot was quite fanficcy, but the execution was out of this world.
People give it too hard a time, honestly.
The first time I saw the time Turner effect, I was completely stunned. And each time after, I would desperately try to figure out exactly how they were causing the effect.
When I tell people about it, I tell them to ignore the story and just enjoy the stage craft.
I think this could go for a large majority of stage performances. Unless your a theatre buff how well the plot is written probably doesn't matter to you. If you can sit, relax, and have a good time then it was worth the money.
I mean I can definitely believe the play is an amazing experience but I don’t think that means the fans can’t be hard on the story. Now we are left trying to concide things like Bella and Voldemort having sex and a terminator trolly witch with the canon and obviously fans are going to be pissed. And honestly the fact that the play is well-executed just makes it more tragic that the story sucks. If you’re going to put all this effort into a play, why not make sure that the story is good? Sounds like sprinkling glitter on poop.
As much as I agree with you that the play had to be experienced instead of read, I sadly didn't have the luxury to go and watch as I it never visited my country. All I could was read it and judge it based of that.
Aaahh, I really wish I could've seen it though. I hear a lot of good things about the stage production.
People give it too easy of a time because it looks good on stage. The plot is garbage and spits in the face of canon. That’s a problem no matter how cool it looks. It would have been a better play with a good plot.
Same camp, plus I have a friend in the NYC cast. I don’t know that I would’ve seen it if she hadn’t been in it, but I would see it again for the incredible tech. Hats of to the designers and actors who carry that script.
I read it and I enjoyed going back to Hogwarts somewhat but the plot has quite big issues. But the play in London! OMG! It absolutely blew my mind! There's polyjuice potion taken on the stage and the person changing on the stage! I was SO impressed! The end of the first act also blew my mind! I can't wait to see a video version of that play so I can watch it again and again
i haven’t read it because i just knew it would be bad (and i really don’t want the series ruined anymore than jk rowling already has for me) but… the… the what now
I can't believe I'm saying this about a Harry Potter story, but that was in an alternate timeline. Hermione is Minister in the "normal" timeline, and married to Ron.
Even within this clearly non-canon story, that isn't canon. It's a brief messed up timeline that gets immediately fixed. What's actually annoying is that this happens purely because Hermione doesn't go to the Yule Ball with Krum. Apparently that means that Ron never gets jealous so they never end up together.
I guess the thought process is that they never really admit that they have a thing for eachother because they never have a push that makes it obvious. But I think it's ridiculous that they'd literally never figure it out since they spend so much time together
That comment was a little misleading. The story is basically Albus and Scorpius going back in time and fucking things up. At one point they visit an alternate timeline where Ron and Padma are married. It's shit, but Ron and Hermione are still a happy couple by the end.
THIS. I GOT SO MAD WHEN I READ THAT BIT THAT I ALMOST THREW MY WHOLE DAMN LAPTOP ACROSS THE ROOM INTO THE WALL (I read it online because I couldn’t be bothered to spend my money to buy it)
Here's the context for the lines (that I think is what the commenter is talking about) that makes things worse - >!Harry wants to keep his son Albus away from Scorpius Malfoy, because without much of any proof, he believes Scorpius is evil and has cursed Albus. His idea is to make McGonagall use the Marauder's Map to track Albus, a huge breach of privacy. McGonagall tries to be reasonable, Harry isn't.!<
The lines in question: >!"With the greatest respect, Minerva - you don't have children - you don't understand"!< and right after >!"This map will reveal to you where my son is at all times - I expect you to use it. And if I hear you don't, then I will come down on this school as hard as I can using the full force of the Ministry - is that understood?"!<.
God I'd nearly managed to forget all this...
I regret writing my comment, if that helps. Had to dig out the precise scenario and lines when the only thing that I remembered from this was "senseless time travel, impossible couple, secret child".
What the f*ck? I think this is worse than "I wish you weren't my son", worse than the time turning plot, this is the worst spoiler ever. Harry would never say something like that to McGonagall, ever, it just doesn't make any sense. The only think that sort of makes sense, in my opinion, is Albus being a Slytherin. That could be interesting, and it could actually be canon. I can see Albus struggling to keep up with his family's reputation, everybody's expectations etc. I can see him wanting to differentiate himself, to make something of his own, and I can see why he would be frustrated with his family and why he would feel inferior and bitter. This could lead him to Slytherin, and to Malfoy, BUT it could be written in a better way, with respect to the characters. You can have a dramatic and interesting family conflict without the "I wish you weren't my son". It's such a pity that they had an good idea initially but they ruined it.
I think the only thing that stopped her was the shock of it. Although later she gets to do some great malicious compliance to his demand (>!Scorpius and Albus hide using the Cloak, she knows they're there due to the map, but because she didn't "see" them, she ignores it!<).
The one who >!says "i wish you werent my son" is actually Harry, imagine Harry who grew up with dead parents and being raised by the Dursleys saying something like that, the audacity!<
The whole thing isn't believable. Trolly witch throwing pastry bombs and wielding claws while saying some dumb shit about how she's never allowed anyone to escape the train. Cedric becoming a Death Eater because he was mad that he looked stupid in front of everyone in the third task. Did they even read the books? Did JK read the Cursed Child script? They BUTCHERED her works and she slaps a canon sticker on it.
I didn't even remember the 2nd spoiler you mentioned. I've worked very hard to forget i ever read that book. I don't know what's a worse ending to a series, the cursed child or the last season of game of thrones
When you are writing a comment, there is a little icon of an exclamation point below the typing section, click on it and what you type next will be hidden as a >!spoiler!<.
What??! I read it and swore it off but I don’t remember these things (not surprising, I have a bad memory). Oh no, part of me wants to read it again now.
Yes. I don’t know if you read it or not so I’ll just explain how that happened. >!Albus (Harry’s son) and Scorpius (Draco’s son) use time turners and go back in time to try and reverse Cedric’s death because Voldemort’s daughter manipulated them into doing it or something. Instead they end up embarrassing him in the second task, which makes Ced get angry so for whatever reason he joins the fricking DEATH EATERS, kills Neville and makes it so that Voldemort doesn’t die since Neville killed the snake.!<
Fr! Like seriously, I could understand it if say idk harry wasn't master of the elder wand, and he didn't sacrifice himself... for some reason? But Jesus christ, it feels like they just did not read the books and wanted to make a fanfic after watching the 1st movie
Lol, I thought I was being pranked when I read the story line. I went to multiple sites to confirm...
I then decided Cursed Child didn't exist, and have had no desire to read it.
I bought the book and was genuinely excited to read it. I started reading it and it just felt so off. I come to know that Albus is a loner guy with no friends. Just doesn't sit right with me i believe Hagrid and Neville would help him. Then comes the big kicker Harry saying that he wishes that he wasn't his son. I probably have done nothing as fast as shutting the book on the spot it felt like someone went into my memories and tried poisoning it. Been such a disappointing thing. Couldn't have been worse.
I refuse. I think it’s so far off canon I don’t consider it.
- Voldemort having a kid? He never would have had a romantic relationship. Remember what Dumbledore said *”Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, nor do I believe that he has ever wanted one."*. He would never want nor need a romantic relationship or an heir.
- Harry being a bad Father? Absolute joke. Harry would strive to be the best Father he could considering his childhood.
- Time travel suddenly a-okay way back in time? Doesn’t work.
Yeah I haven’t read it, won’t read it, I heard the play is awesome but I won’t see it because I will never consider it canon.
More on the Voldemort point.
He would not have even considered *needing* an heir because he thought his plan was foolproof. There was no way someone would find out he had made a Horcrux, much less *seven* of them. To him his plan was so fool proof he wouldn’t have even considered needed an heir.
Re-introducing time turners was just a lazy way to ride the coattails of the original series. Even if its not Harry Potter, if you put the sentence "some time turners were secretly not destroyed" to pretty much any book or movie you can make a second version quite easily, just kinda uncreative and cheap IMO. Like it would have been useful to know that time turners still exist *before* Voldemort came back, killed ppl, battle of Hogwarts etc right?
It is so much harder in a script format to get across this type of storyline, because we have no insight (apart from brief stage directions) into Harry's internal narrative, which we are privy to throughout the series. I was reasonably impressed by how it came across in the stage show, Harry's actor definitely managed to act out the outburst of emotion and immediate regret well. But just reading the raw text is so different.
Also, zero percent chance that Bellatrix (obsessed with Voldemort, sensitive to anyone else earning his favour, generally too unstable to be strategic) would not have IMMEDIATELY started lording either a romantic relationship or a pregnancy over all the other death eaters. You’re telling me that the person who can’t get through a private conversation with Narcissa and Severus without letting his snide comments about her contributions from inside Azkaban slide would be exercising restraint and being discreet? Nah.
I can definitely see Voldemort considering procreating to have an heir after Harry started destroying the Horcruxes because he could feel it. That doesn’t need to involve love or romance or anything. But I don’t see him actually going through with it. Voldey with that new body probably don’t work the same as a normal male…
Harry striving to be the best father and succeeding are very different. I could definitely see Harry struggling to be the father that Albus needed. That was the only part of this story that actually felt real.
Time travel is cool but time travel in Potter never made sense. And this story totally disregards the actual canon about time travel and the Time Turners.
>Harry striving to be the best father and succeeding are very different. I could definitely see Harry struggling to be the father that Albus needed. That was the only part of this story that actually felt real.
I agree with seeing him struggle to be the best dad but "I wish you weren't my son" is a level above that which I don't see Harry ever saying no matter how hard he struggles.
Voldemort wanted to be immortal and beloved he would live forever, why would he leave an heir, also the timeline with Bellatrix doesnt add up since she should have been pregnant during the Malfoy Manor chapter and couldn't have done all the crazy stunts she did.
After all I've heard about it I have no interest in reading it. I don't know if 'avoid' is the right word for me though. I don't 'avoid' it any more than any other book I have no interest in reading.
I got sooooo excited when I first got it, not knowing anything about it. And then I was disappointed with the sheer and utter trashiness that I just presented to myself. I literally never read it anymore, and it is kept safely away from all my other books.
I have read it twice, once when it first came out and once in audio book format (once you get used to the stage directions being weird, it's actually a better experience).
I won't be reading it again.
The whole thing is odd and screams fanfic. I know it is, but like others have said there were SO MANY BETTER fanfics than this, it seems completely out of touch with the world JK created, not to mention how the characters are all wrong.
Honestly, I feel like you should read it just to make your own mind up. But if you feel like you've read too many opinions and might not be able to put that aside then it's best not too.
I was *so* excited for Cursed Child. I got that book hardback, preordered, the lot. I started reading immediately. An hour or two later, my heart deflated, I put it down and never picked it up again. I don't remmeber specifically where I stopped, but I just realised that it *wasn't good* and it *wasn't getting better*
I've never been so dissapointed by a book before.
I luckily heard how strange it was before deciding to not to buy/read it despite being a huge Harry Potter fan. I plan on keeping it that way (don’t need more stress in life lol).
I feel like this is a popular opinion. I read it the once because you sort-of have to, but wouldn't want to read it again. It's not canon to me and that's where I'm happy to leave it.
I still want to go see the play however as apparently it's excellent performed!
Read it once, thankfully my mind repressed most of it naturally, so I don’t have to work too hard to forget it now. I’m genuinely surprised (again) when I see some of the details people mention on here. I only remember some of the more basic plot points. My copy lives in the garage now.
People here treat this book like it's some hideous creature that's puking some weird liquid if you speak out it's name.
But Hagrid has tought us that everyone and everything deserves to be loved by someone. I won't say that the book is good or bad, it just exists and some people actually like it. That's totally fine.
>That's totally fine.
I don't know if I misanderstood anything, but did anyone here say anything about it **not** being okay to like the book?
Also, it's totally fine to dislike the book as well, IMHO.
I'm nuking my account due to Reddit's unfair API changes and the lies and harassment aimed at the community by the CEO and admins. Good Reddit alternative: [Squabbles](https://squabbles.io/) -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
I read it and feel very sad. Things like Harry being rude to Mcgonagall, Cedric will become death ether if he didn't die because of humiliation and stuff.. It really doesn't sit right with me. Though one thing that I like might be Snape scene. It was heartwarming.
I tried reading it i wasn't aware of anything about it, i just thought 8thHP book awesome!!, But it turned out to be a play and reading a script that long is near impossible (for me), so i just read a detailed summary of it.
It is horrible and as you say totally unnecessary.
10/10 wouldn't recommend it. Its not even fully written by JK.
As a standalone thing, it is fine some would say it's good on its own and fun. But if you try to connect it with rules laid down by previous 7 books you are gonna be disappointed.
In my mind, it’s a piece written by Rita Skeeter. There’s very little truth to it. Just garbage she made up to get people to read it and piss off Harry.
This would make so much sense.
The first seven books are biblical, everything else by Rowling are just the ramblings of a wise seer. Some of it is truth, and some of it is craziness.
The first 7 Harry Potter books are the Cassandra Trelawney to The Cursed Child's Sybill Trelawney
Despite this, if you ever get the chance to see the actual show then you should go. Yes, the writing is not so great but the production is absolutely incredible and the Imogen Heap soundtrack is fantastic.
yeah i honestly wasn't a fan of the story (though i didn't read the screenplay) but i absolutely loved seeing the show. The actors were amazing, especially the actor for scorpius was brilliant
I'm so glad I read this. I *can't* with the plot, because the ending of GoF and the themes about the pointlessness and tragedies of war were unbelievably formative for me, so the very existence of a story where Cedric's death is \~for the greater good\~ makes me incredibly viscerally angry. But my partner's grandmother bought us tickets to see the show, so we're going as soon as production starts back up post-COVID. It's encouraging to know the experience of going to the show is worth it.
This is my new head canon for this.
Can we crowdfund to bribe JK Rowling to make this canon?
How about we just ask her nicely?
Lmao
>Can we crowdfund to bribe JK Rowling to make this canon "The story of #CursedChild should be considered canon, though. u/jackthorne , John Tiffany (the director) and I developed it together." Literal Tweet from JKR.
No, they want to make canon that it was written by Rita Skeeter and none of it is true
Yep, that’s what I meant. I certainly don’t want the healing pile of garbage known as The Cursed Child to be canon.
oh, gotcha
So THIS is why it's Canon according to JK Rowling
This is now my head cannon
I never include it in my reread. Read it once (for the same reason everyone did) and I doubt I’ll ever read it again. There is fanfiction written by 12 year olds with a better plot than CC
I'm with you. I read it *once*, and my brain is actively trying to repress it. But god. Its contents. I've read better fan fics than that garbage.
I read it once and thought it was lame. I’ve seen the show twice now and it’s much better to watch than read
I did too, as with several of my friends. And we all agreed on the same thing. The actors did a wonderful job at their roles, and the effects were exquisite. However, it still doesn't take away the fact that the underlying story in itself is garbage.
[удалено]
The live action ATLA wasn't even good in terms of action or looks either lol.
TRUE!
It was a dumpster fire. M Night disrespected the cartoon to no end
It's because of reddit that I never reddit 😂😂😂.
There are a TON of better fanfics honestly.
I read it once and now pretend it doesn’t exist.
Why is there so much hate for it?
I don’t know. Harry Potter was my childhood and has many good memories for me. The series as a whole was just…perfect. The Cursed Child, however, considering it’s classed as canon, was terrible and contradicts so many of the plot points JK made in the original series
That is also the case with the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ films. It makes it seem like JKR stopped paying attention to her own work. Like the “twist” that Nagini is actually a cursed witch, thus explaining why the snake had human-level intelligence in the original series… except within the books, the explanation for that was that she was a Horcrux.* The original books depict divination as an extremely imprecise and vague branch of magic; when prophecies are accurate, they are delivered in vague terms subject to interpretation. But in FB2, Grindelwald just shows a crowd of onlookers accurate visions of WWII. The Wizarding World no longer feels immersive and lifelike because it’s all so arbitrary now. *edit: I was misremembering and it was actually Nagini’s unusual loyalty to Voldemort that suggested she was a Horcrux, not her intelligence; however, within the universe of the books, all snakes seem to have human level intelligence (Harry has a conversation with a snake that understands geography in the first book) so it didn’t really need explaining at all anyway.
Fantastic Beasts are far from perfect but they are pretty entertaining at least, there are some problems and continuity errors but it doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out like CC does, it remains something I enjoy watching.
True. I just consider Fantastic Beasts to be a lot more egregious because JKR is the sole screenwriter and you can’t blame all the inconsistencies with the original books on anyone else; it was entirely JK Rowling’s creative vision to retcon essential elements of the magical world, as opposed to CC where you could at least blame that on it being the only HP work not written by Rowling herself.
Wait where in the book does it mention Nagini’s near human intelligence being because she was a horcrux?? I don’t remember this
Dumbledore proposes it as his working theory in Half-Blood Prince in chapter 23 I think; the snake’s intelligence is what makes him think she’s a Horcrux. The books never explicitly suggest that this explanation is inadequate, as indeed she *is* a Horcrux. Edit: having just now checked the chapter in question, I realise I was misremembering; it was Nagini’s unusual loyalty to Voldemort that made Dumbledore suspicious, not any human-level intelligence… which is never actually so much as hinted as being anything other than the result of being controlled by a Parselmouth.
“Unusual loyalty” now THAT I remember 100%
Yeah I don't remember this at all and I recently finished a re read. Also why would being a horcrux effect intelligence ?
Thanks for this
It might have JKs named stamped across the front cover, but there is no way she had any input in its creation
They came to her with the story. She just said yeah go ahead with it.
Like John Carpenter when they make a new Halloween: “Just send me a check.”
It reads like a 12 year old fan fic that didnt fully read the seried they are writing about.
That’s an insult to 12 year old fan fiction.
Hahahaha that made me laugh
They watched the movies, didn’t read the books.
No no no. Even people who just watched the movies could see that the CC pile of slop couldn’t possibly be canon
It obliterates any character development in the series. The whole premise surrounds Harry Potter not being a good father, Voldemort having a child, Cederic becoming a death eater, Hermione being a dumb and mentally unstable woman. They changed their personality to drive the plot, and even then they failed to make the plot make sense.
Because it makes absolutely no sense. I fail to understand how they even came up with such a ridiculous plot. And what’s worse is that Rowling actually approved the piece of shit.
In my opinion it’s because it contradicts a lot from the original 7 books. It’s not a good read, plus it’s a stage play so it feels out of place with the rest of the books.
At lot of detailed answers addressed on Quora. To summarize: the entire plot is dependent on time turner use that breaks all of the rules for time travel set in the book series.
I think even that could be overlooked if the characters were true to their characters in the original series. A big part of the appeal in JKR's books is how distinct and realistic her character's personalities are. Browsing through this sub you'll find countless threads analyzing HP characters on a deeper level because they aren't just names, they have very consistent behavioral patterns. In CC this all goes out the window with little attempt to portray the characters as themselves which makes them all feel like imposters. Inconsistent rules of magic could be overlooked but inconsistent personalities is what makes it intolerable.
I couldn't finish it.
I avoided reading it, but I went to see it in London with the original cast. It was one of the most incredible theatre productions I’ve ever seen. The plot is dreadful, but seeing them portray the illusions and magic on stage was phenomenal. I don’t ever include it in re-reads and I don’t see it as canon. But I would go back and watch the production tomorrow if I could.
Same. I never read it because it's a play and not a 'book'. It's meant to be experienced on a stage, with actors, sound, lights and an audience. I saw it twice in London with the original cast and both times were phenomenal, worth every penny and every minute. I do agree the plot was quite fanficcy, but the execution was out of this world. People give it too hard a time, honestly.
The first time I saw the time Turner effect, I was completely stunned. And each time after, I would desperately try to figure out exactly how they were causing the effect. When I tell people about it, I tell them to ignore the story and just enjoy the stage craft.
Exactly, it really was incredible. The UV effect at *that point* also stunned everyone, too, all the gasps!
I think this could go for a large majority of stage performances. Unless your a theatre buff how well the plot is written probably doesn't matter to you. If you can sit, relax, and have a good time then it was worth the money.
I mean I can definitely believe the play is an amazing experience but I don’t think that means the fans can’t be hard on the story. Now we are left trying to concide things like Bella and Voldemort having sex and a terminator trolly witch with the canon and obviously fans are going to be pissed. And honestly the fact that the play is well-executed just makes it more tragic that the story sucks. If you’re going to put all this effort into a play, why not make sure that the story is good? Sounds like sprinkling glitter on poop.
People read plays as books literally all the time, having a plot as bad as cursed child is more than enough reason to not like a play.
Yes, it kind of fits nicely at r/ATBGE.
Same here dude. It was an amazing show, so I never read the book/script version. The plot definitely took a back seat to the overall experience
As much as I agree with you that the play had to be experienced instead of read, I sadly didn't have the luxury to go and watch as I it never visited my country. All I could was read it and judge it based of that. Aaahh, I really wish I could've seen it though. I hear a lot of good things about the stage production.
People give it too easy of a time because it looks good on stage. The plot is garbage and spits in the face of canon. That’s a problem no matter how cool it looks. It would have been a better play with a good plot.
I have read many scripts. Love them. The plot behind Cc was just trash.
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I’m front of the line of people who hated the book, but I’d also be first in line to watch a live show of it. I’m sure it’s an awesome experience.
Same camp, plus I have a friend in the NYC cast. I don’t know that I would’ve seen it if she hadn’t been in it, but I would see it again for the incredible tech. Hats of to the designers and actors who carry that script.
I read it and I enjoyed going back to Hogwarts somewhat but the plot has quite big issues. But the play in London! OMG! It absolutely blew my mind! There's polyjuice potion taken on the stage and the person changing on the stage! I was SO impressed! The end of the first act also blew my mind! I can't wait to see a video version of that play so I can watch it again and again
I heard about >!Sometimes I wish you weren’t my son!< and >!Cedric being a death eater!< and I knew I could never read such shit
Oh and voldemort had a daughter.
And the murderous grenade-happy trolley witch monster.
I got about that far and couldn’t bring myself to read any more.
Yup same point for me.
i haven’t read it because i just knew it would be bad (and i really don’t want the series ruined anymore than jk rowling already has for me) but… the… the what now
Wait, that trolly witch monster was in cursed child? Oh dang I thought it had come up in a bad fanfic I read once not a published book
Really?
Yup. >!Ron and Padma also get married!<
PLEASE BE JOKING, WHAT IS THIS
Never read it myself either, but Hermoine also apparently becomes an evil professor.
I can't believe I'm saying this about a Harry Potter story, but that was in an alternate timeline. Hermione is Minister in the "normal" timeline, and married to Ron.
ACK
Even within this clearly non-canon story, that isn't canon. It's a brief messed up timeline that gets immediately fixed. What's actually annoying is that this happens purely because Hermione doesn't go to the Yule Ball with Krum. Apparently that means that Ron never gets jealous so they never end up together.
Which is fucked, in it's implications
I guess the thought process is that they never really admit that they have a thing for eachother because they never have a push that makes it obvious. But I think it's ridiculous that they'd literally never figure it out since they spend so much time together
Yeah she gets all horrible because Ron doesn't end up with her! It's terrible.
That comment was a little misleading. The story is basically Albus and Scorpius going back in time and fucking things up. At one point they visit an alternate timeline where Ron and Padma are married. It's shit, but Ron and Hermione are still a happy couple by the end.
How he spoke to Minerva McGonagall. How. Dare. You.
The guy who crucio'd amycus carrow for spitting on McGonagall would N E V E R
N E V E R ! ! ! He was one of her damn children.
THIS. I GOT SO MAD WHEN I READ THAT BIT THAT I ALMOST THREW MY WHOLE DAMN LAPTOP ACROSS THE ROOM INTO THE WALL (I read it online because I couldn’t be bothered to spend my money to buy it)
Madlass
What did he say to McGonagall? I think I am sort of ready to learn, I think.
Here's the context for the lines (that I think is what the commenter is talking about) that makes things worse - >!Harry wants to keep his son Albus away from Scorpius Malfoy, because without much of any proof, he believes Scorpius is evil and has cursed Albus. His idea is to make McGonagall use the Marauder's Map to track Albus, a huge breach of privacy. McGonagall tries to be reasonable, Harry isn't.!< The lines in question: >!"With the greatest respect, Minerva - you don't have children - you don't understand"!< and right after >!"This map will reveal to you where my son is at all times - I expect you to use it. And if I hear you don't, then I will come down on this school as hard as I can using the full force of the Ministry - is that understood?"!<. God I'd nearly managed to forget all this...
Oh my god I had completely forgotten about this crap and I regret reading your comment my goodness
I regret writing my comment, if that helps. Had to dig out the precise scenario and lines when the only thing that I remembered from this was "senseless time travel, impossible couple, secret child".
What the f*ck? I think this is worse than "I wish you weren't my son", worse than the time turning plot, this is the worst spoiler ever. Harry would never say something like that to McGonagall, ever, it just doesn't make any sense. The only think that sort of makes sense, in my opinion, is Albus being a Slytherin. That could be interesting, and it could actually be canon. I can see Albus struggling to keep up with his family's reputation, everybody's expectations etc. I can see him wanting to differentiate himself, to make something of his own, and I can see why he would be frustrated with his family and why he would feel inferior and bitter. This could lead him to Slytherin, and to Malfoy, BUT it could be written in a better way, with respect to the characters. You can have a dramatic and interesting family conflict without the "I wish you weren't my son". It's such a pity that they had an good idea initially but they ruined it.
This version of Harry really leans into jock-marries-high-school-sweetheart-and-becomes-a-cop-on-a-power-trip, huh?
Harry is extremely lucky he didn't get kicked out. Like, literally picked up and kicked by McGonagall.
I think the only thing that stopped her was the shock of it. Although later she gets to do some great malicious compliance to his demand (>!Scorpius and Albus hide using the Cloak, she knows they're there due to the map, but because she didn't "see" them, she ignores it!<).
Never read it and now I’m definitely never reading it. Please tell me you’re joking?
The one who >!says "i wish you werent my son" is actually Harry, imagine Harry who grew up with dead parents and being raised by the Dursleys saying something like that, the audacity!<
He would never. I can’t believe that
The whole thing isn't believable. Trolly witch throwing pastry bombs and wielding claws while saying some dumb shit about how she's never allowed anyone to escape the train. Cedric becoming a Death Eater because he was mad that he looked stupid in front of everyone in the third task. Did they even read the books? Did JK read the Cursed Child script? They BUTCHERED her works and she slaps a canon sticker on it.
Its so fucking out of character that its character assassination
I didn't even remember the 2nd spoiler you mentioned. I've worked very hard to forget i ever read that book. I don't know what's a worse ending to a series, the cursed child or the last season of game of thrones
Curse child and it’s not even close. (And I’m not calling Game of Thrones good when I say that)
Hey, I'm kinda new to reddit, so could someone please tell me how I censor words like in this comment?
When you are writing a comment, there is a little icon of an exclamation point below the typing section, click on it and what you type next will be hidden as a >!spoiler!<.
Thank you!
You're welcome : )
Does it not work on mobiles? 😭
What??! I read it and swore it off but I don’t remember these things (not surprising, I have a bad memory). Oh no, part of me wants to read it again now.
The fuck is that second spoiler? Is that real?
Yes. I don’t know if you read it or not so I’ll just explain how that happened. >!Albus (Harry’s son) and Scorpius (Draco’s son) use time turners and go back in time to try and reverse Cedric’s death because Voldemort’s daughter manipulated them into doing it or something. Instead they end up embarrassing him in the second task, which makes Ced get angry so for whatever reason he joins the fricking DEATH EATERS, kills Neville and makes it so that Voldemort doesn’t die since Neville killed the snake.!<
Which is EVEN MORE stupid because if that was the only change, then harry STILL CANT DIE and voldemort wouldn't have won
THIS!!! ITS SO STUPID I ALMOST THREW MY WHOLE LAPTOP
Fr! Like seriously, I could understand it if say idk harry wasn't master of the elder wand, and he didn't sacrifice himself... for some reason? But Jesus christ, it feels like they just did not read the books and wanted to make a fanfic after watching the 1st movie
That's some terrible writing right there.
WE DO NOT SPEAK ITS NAME!!
You know which-book. Book which must not be named. The dark lord this book is dreadful.
The Cursed Book
There is no Cursed Child in Ba Sing Se
Nope. Not touching it. Wiki told me everything I needed to know.
Is it worth even reading the wiki out of pure curiosity?
No.
Just to know what all the references are about. Delphini Riddle, can't believe he's have a daughter. Eek.
Lol, I thought I was being pranked when I read the story line. I went to multiple sites to confirm... I then decided Cursed Child didn't exist, and have had no desire to read it.
I did it the exact same way, I don’t wanna bother with it. It’s worse than scrubs season 9
I didn't even bother to finish it. It's not included in my HP bookcase, it's in some box in the garage lol.
I gave it to goodwill
How could you be so cruel?
So the next person that feels the need to read it wont have to pay out the big bucks for so much disappointment.
I bought the book and was genuinely excited to read it. I started reading it and it just felt so off. I come to know that Albus is a loner guy with no friends. Just doesn't sit right with me i believe Hagrid and Neville would help him. Then comes the big kicker Harry saying that he wishes that he wasn't his son. I probably have done nothing as fast as shutting the book on the spot it felt like someone went into my memories and tried poisoning it. Been such a disappointing thing. Couldn't have been worse.
I refuse. I think it’s so far off canon I don’t consider it. - Voldemort having a kid? He never would have had a romantic relationship. Remember what Dumbledore said *”Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, nor do I believe that he has ever wanted one."*. He would never want nor need a romantic relationship or an heir. - Harry being a bad Father? Absolute joke. Harry would strive to be the best Father he could considering his childhood. - Time travel suddenly a-okay way back in time? Doesn’t work. Yeah I haven’t read it, won’t read it, I heard the play is awesome but I won’t see it because I will never consider it canon.
More on the Voldemort point. He would not have even considered *needing* an heir because he thought his plan was foolproof. There was no way someone would find out he had made a Horcrux, much less *seven* of them. To him his plan was so fool proof he wouldn’t have even considered needed an heir.
Re-introducing time turners was just a lazy way to ride the coattails of the original series. Even if its not Harry Potter, if you put the sentence "some time turners were secretly not destroyed" to pretty much any book or movie you can make a second version quite easily, just kinda uncreative and cheap IMO. Like it would have been useful to know that time turners still exist *before* Voldemort came back, killed ppl, battle of Hogwarts etc right?
[удалено]
Idea vs execution. I agree Harry probably would be a mediocre father at best but it was done atrocioisly in the story
Oh absolutely, very bad execution on the Cursed Child
It is so much harder in a script format to get across this type of storyline, because we have no insight (apart from brief stage directions) into Harry's internal narrative, which we are privy to throughout the series. I was reasonably impressed by how it came across in the stage show, Harry's actor definitely managed to act out the outburst of emotion and immediate regret well. But just reading the raw text is so different.
Also, zero percent chance that Bellatrix (obsessed with Voldemort, sensitive to anyone else earning his favour, generally too unstable to be strategic) would not have IMMEDIATELY started lording either a romantic relationship or a pregnancy over all the other death eaters. You’re telling me that the person who can’t get through a private conversation with Narcissa and Severus without letting his snide comments about her contributions from inside Azkaban slide would be exercising restraint and being discreet? Nah.
I can definitely see Voldemort considering procreating to have an heir after Harry started destroying the Horcruxes because he could feel it. That doesn’t need to involve love or romance or anything. But I don’t see him actually going through with it. Voldey with that new body probably don’t work the same as a normal male… Harry striving to be the best father and succeeding are very different. I could definitely see Harry struggling to be the father that Albus needed. That was the only part of this story that actually felt real. Time travel is cool but time travel in Potter never made sense. And this story totally disregards the actual canon about time travel and the Time Turners.
>Harry striving to be the best father and succeeding are very different. I could definitely see Harry struggling to be the father that Albus needed. That was the only part of this story that actually felt real. I agree with seeing him struggle to be the best dad but "I wish you weren't my son" is a level above that which I don't see Harry ever saying no matter how hard he struggles.
Voldemort wanted to be immortal and beloved he would live forever, why would he leave an heir, also the timeline with Bellatrix doesnt add up since she should have been pregnant during the Malfoy Manor chapter and couldn't have done all the crazy stunts she did.
i read it and now i use the knowledge of what happened to convince others not to read it
I read it and I then promptly re-wrote the whole thing so that my head canon supersedes the original in my memory.
After all I've heard about it I have no interest in reading it. I don't know if 'avoid' is the right word for me though. I don't 'avoid' it any more than any other book I have no interest in reading.
I got sooooo excited when I first got it, not knowing anything about it. And then I was disappointed with the sheer and utter trashiness that I just presented to myself. I literally never read it anymore, and it is kept safely away from all my other books.
Avoid reading what?
I hate time travel plots. There's just now way a time travel plot ever makes sense to me. It's also why I prefer Infinity War over Endgame
I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending The Cursed Child doesn’t exist.
Read the spoilers online and decided it’s not worth my time reading.
I dont like reading scripts--this is terrible to admit because I work in theatre--so, no.
I have read it twice, once when it first came out and once in audio book format (once you get used to the stage directions being weird, it's actually a better experience). I won't be reading it again. The whole thing is odd and screams fanfic. I know it is, but like others have said there were SO MANY BETTER fanfics than this, it seems completely out of touch with the world JK created, not to mention how the characters are all wrong.
I haven't read it. Is it really that bad as everyone says?
Yes. Stay away.
Honestly, I feel like you should read it just to make your own mind up. But if you feel like you've read too many opinions and might not be able to put that aside then it's best not too.
Yes
I dont read it unless I want to read out Moaning Myrtle's parts because it's fun
I was *so* excited for Cursed Child. I got that book hardback, preordered, the lot. I started reading immediately. An hour or two later, my heart deflated, I put it down and never picked it up again. I don't remmeber specifically where I stopped, but I just realised that it *wasn't good* and it *wasn't getting better* I've never been so dissapointed by a book before.
What are you talking about? I've never heard of this "Cursed Child" you speak of. It simply does not exist. (/s)
I luckily heard how strange it was before deciding to not to buy/read it despite being a huge Harry Potter fan. I plan on keeping it that way (don’t need more stress in life lol).
I feel like this is a popular opinion. I read it the once because you sort-of have to, but wouldn't want to read it again. It's not canon to me and that's where I'm happy to leave it. I still want to go see the play however as apparently it's excellent performed!
Never read it and never will because Harry Potter ended with the deathly Hallows for me.
I don't avoid it, I just ignore its existence.
My friend read it and I told her to tell me the highlights.
Very short convo then? Coz there really weren't any...
Read it once, thankfully my mind repressed most of it naturally, so I don’t have to work too hard to forget it now. I’m genuinely surprised (again) when I see some of the details people mention on here. I only remember some of the more basic plot points. My copy lives in the garage now.
I haven't read it because of the many negative reviews online. Shamefully though, I did read the summary on Wikipedia.
I didn’t read it and have no plans to.
I don’t read fan-fiction.
I wish I would’ve
I read it. It was bad. There are "unofficial" fan-created works available that are much, much better.
Never read it...probably never will. Seems to be universally panned.
I have never read it and never think about its existence
I did read it. 4 hours wasted
I pretend it doesn’t exist
I read it once. Cursed myself for reading that bullcrap of a book and then purged it from my brain. I'll never touch that book again!
I haven't read any of the books
Guess I'm the minority.. I didn't hate it.
Do you think it fits as canon?
Same here.
People here treat this book like it's some hideous creature that's puking some weird liquid if you speak out it's name. But Hagrid has tought us that everyone and everything deserves to be loved by someone. I won't say that the book is good or bad, it just exists and some people actually like it. That's totally fine.
>That's totally fine. I don't know if I misanderstood anything, but did anyone here say anything about it **not** being okay to like the book? Also, it's totally fine to dislike the book as well, IMHO.
I'm nuking my account due to Reddit's unfair API changes and the lies and harassment aimed at the community by the CEO and admins. Good Reddit alternative: [Squabbles](https://squabbles.io/) -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
I don’t read fan fiction, and cursed child is bad fan fiction
Read it once, that's it. It's on my shelf with the other books but with the spine to the inside of the bookcase so nobody sees what it is.
Cursed Child? There was never any story with that title
I never did after reading the plot in the Wikipedia
Never have never will. Even those fantastic beast movies are just a cash grab. The original story is where it’s at.
I got as far as the Trolly Witch running about outside the train and I closed the book and have never went back to it.
I read it and feel very sad. Things like Harry being rude to Mcgonagall, Cedric will become death ether if he didn't die because of humiliation and stuff.. It really doesn't sit right with me. Though one thing that I like might be Snape scene. It was heartwarming.
I’ve gotten it for Christmas Not once but twice by the same person after I’d already told them I had no interest in reading it. That person was my dad
one time. I would describe it as a really long nightmare I was trapped in.
I tried reading it i wasn't aware of anything about it, i just thought 8thHP book awesome!!, But it turned out to be a play and reading a script that long is near impossible (for me), so i just read a detailed summary of it. It is horrible and as you say totally unnecessary. 10/10 wouldn't recommend it. Its not even fully written by JK. As a standalone thing, it is fine some would say it's good on its own and fun. But if you try to connect it with rules laid down by previous 7 books you are gonna be disappointed.
Read it, hated it, ignore it.