Harry-Potter-and-the-Cursed-Child-artwork Harry Potter and the Cursed Child pt. 1 & 2 is the 8th story in the Harry Potter storyline. While this story does continue Harry and Friends story, it is a different format than the previous stories. Book 8 is still in written form, but is in script form instead of novel form. I was wary of reading a 300 page script that was originally written for the stage and how that would play out. After a few minutes of reading it became easier to follow along and see who was speaking and the setting they were in. In some ways it was a quicker read than one of the novels, as due to the format the story couldn't get bogged down (for better or for worse) in the details of what people were wearing, what the room looked like, etc. It was a quick read that covered a lot of ground in such a few pages.

This book felt like a Harry Potter story from the beginning, it brought me right back into the Potterverse and there was no looking back. That is one thing I liked about the story, is that there wasn't much time spent on rehashing the past stories. This book added upon what we already knew and expanded the Harry Potter story real well. I'm interested in seeing how the play turns out and if it as entertaining as the book.

Without giving away a major plot point, there were some 'flash backs' and some 'flash forwards' that could have been long and drawn out. But they weren't and they added an extra dimension to what we already know about the story. It was good to revisit characters who are no longer with us, but the story wasn't too reliant on them. This story was able to stand on it's own and created it's own history with enjoyable new characters.

I'm not sure where they are going with this book, if it's a start of a new series or if it's just a quick visit back to the Wizarding World. I like they J.K. Rowling is willing to try new ways to tell stories in the world she has created, so as to keep the stories and mediums fresh and interesting. I do hope that at least a couple of more stories are told with these new characters and that these characters are allowed to have new adventures.

If you enjoyed reading the Harry Potter novels or watching the movies, but were apprehensive about the new story format, don't worry as it worked well enough. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a good investment of time to jump back into Harry's life and see what he's up to nowadays. I recommend giving it a read.