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keiramoran's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
chrys_marin's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed it, it had the feeling of the old Harry Potter books. The main characters can be quite annoying at times, but the ending redeems this by tying up the story in a very satisfying way. The format is different from the original books as it is written as a play, but you soon forget and it makes it a very fast read. I think Harry Potter fans will not be disappointed.
mandeekay's review against another edition
2.0
I was hoping to like this more than I did despite everything I heard before reading it. For the most part I thought it was a lazy cash grab that read like fan fiction. There were a few good moments, but overall it was just ok.
SPOILERS:
Pros:
-The opening was quite nice. I enjoyed the feeling of nostalgia up until the kids got on the train
-I really liked how Draco's character turned out. I thought he had some of the best lines and felt the most accurate in terms of how the original characters would have turned out as an adult
-Even though he had absolutely terrible dialogue, I enjoyed Scorpious.
-There were a few tender moments that were nice. Most noticeably the interactions with Scorpious and Snape and Albus describing Harry's parents to Harry.
Cons:
-The plot was so bad. The time turner story line is super lazy. It made the plot super clunky, and of course filled with plot holes.
-The dialogue was terrible. Hardly any of it sounded natural, especially anything coming from Albus and Scorpious.
-Ron was just a caricature of himself.
-There is absolutely no way that even in an alternate universe Hermione would give up her ambitions because her and Ron don't get together. Hermione is too strong for that. And even if she did become a teacher, she would have done so because she loved school. Sure, she would likely be an incredible teacher with a stern side (like McGonagall), but no way she'd be how she was depicted in the alternate reality. It was completely unfaithful to her real character.
-Rose had an awful personality in most of her scenes and reminded me of how Draco was as a kid with his entitlement obsession. To be fair, this is because she hardly had any time in the play and the time she had was spent being more obsessed with status and who will be the right type of friend.
-The Delphi twist was really bad. Really, really bad.
I have more cons, but those were some of the main things that irked me. Overall it was a disappointment. Most definitely the least magical of anything from the Harry Potter series.
SPOILERS:
Pros:
-The opening was quite nice. I enjoyed the feeling of nostalgia up until the kids got on the train
-I really liked how Draco's character turned out. I thought he had some of the best lines and felt the most accurate in terms of how the original characters would have turned out as an adult
-Even though he had absolutely terrible dialogue, I enjoyed Scorpious.
-There were a few tender moments that were nice. Most noticeably the interactions with Scorpious and Snape and Albus describing Harry's parents to Harry.
Cons:
-The plot was so bad. The time turner story line is super lazy. It made the plot super clunky, and of course filled with plot holes.
-The dialogue was terrible. Hardly any of it sounded natural, especially anything coming from Albus and Scorpious.
-Ron was just a caricature of himself.
-There is absolutely no way that even in an alternate universe Hermione would give up her ambitions because her and Ron don't get together. Hermione is too strong for that. And even if she did become a teacher, she would have done so because she loved school. Sure, she would likely be an incredible teacher with a stern side (like McGonagall), but no way she'd be how she was depicted in the alternate reality. It was completely unfaithful to her real character.
-Rose had an awful personality in most of her scenes and reminded me of how Draco was as a kid with his entitlement obsession. To be fair, this is because she hardly had any time in the play and the time she had was spent being more obsessed with status and who will be the right type of friend.
-The Delphi twist was really bad. Really, really bad.
I have more cons, but those were some of the main things that irked me. Overall it was a disappointment. Most definitely the least magical of anything from the Harry Potter series.
jrhoffer1913's review against another edition
4.0
Good read
Nice to revisit the harry potter characters and good story. Just don't expect it to be another book like the originals.
Nice to revisit the harry potter characters and good story. Just don't expect it to be another book like the originals.
spacejerky's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
blackv's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
acesarrows's review against another edition
4.0
This is difficult to rate and review, because just reading the screenplay will not give you the full breadth of this - honestly, I feel like flying to London and selling my future first-born to get tickets to this, just so I can get the whole experience.
As a screenplay I would give this 2.5 stars. It's not that great on paper. There are far too many scene changes to truly allow you to get into each scene and into each character. There are not enough stage directions to truly figure out what's going on. Unlike Shaw or Ibsen or Miller, this play does not have long sections of exposition and discussion that take place in one place - these characters have many many many really short scenes, with brief lines, and with people flying willy nilly around the place.
For the story itself I would give it 3.5 stars - it took me a long time to get into this story - until Act 3, actually. I think less focus on the magic and more focus on the characters and their stories would not have been amiss.
So, why 4 stars? Because I did love the story, and the characters. I really loved the idea of revisiting this world, and I especially loved that this focused on fathers and sons. We know that Harry lost all of his father figures as a child, so how can he relate to his child? (Did he marry Ginny just so he could also count Arthur as a father?) The parallel focus on Scorpius and Draco as another, different, yet equally fraught, relationship between a father and his son was a wonderful touch. As were the few scenes with Dumbledore and Harry.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this world from a true 3rd person narrative, instead of the usual 3rd person singular we had through books 1-7. This allows you to see Harry, and everyone else, with new eyes and I think brings more depth to the characters.
I think seeing this on stage would have fixed most of the niggles I have with the text version of this tale. So much of this depends on the actors chosen to play the characters, the scene changes, the direction, facial expressions, body language, and how silences are portrayed. Although, it'd be great to get a full novel out of this too :)
And - 5 golden snitches to Scorpius. Who clearly is the best character in this entire play. With Draco coming in as a close second.
As a screenplay I would give this 2.5 stars. It's not that great on paper. There are far too many scene changes to truly allow you to get into each scene and into each character. There are not enough stage directions to truly figure out what's going on. Unlike Shaw or Ibsen or Miller, this play does not have long sections of exposition and discussion that take place in one place - these characters have many many many really short scenes, with brief lines, and with people flying willy nilly around the place.
For the story itself I would give it 3.5 stars - it took me a long time to get into this story - until Act 3, actually. I think less focus on the magic and more focus on the characters and their stories would not have been amiss.
So, why 4 stars? Because I did love the story, and the characters. I really loved the idea of revisiting this world, and I especially loved that this focused on fathers and sons. We know that Harry lost all of his father figures as a child, so how can he relate to his child? (Did he marry Ginny just so he could also count Arthur as a father?) The parallel focus on Scorpius and Draco as another, different, yet equally fraught, relationship between a father and his son was a wonderful touch. As were the few scenes with Dumbledore and Harry.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this world from a true 3rd person narrative, instead of the usual 3rd person singular we had through books 1-7. This allows you to see Harry, and everyone else, with new eyes and I think brings more depth to the characters.
I think seeing this on stage would have fixed most of the niggles I have with the text version of this tale. So much of this depends on the actors chosen to play the characters, the scene changes, the direction, facial expressions, body language, and how silences are portrayed. Although, it'd be great to get a full novel out of this too :)
And - 5 golden snitches to Scorpius. Who clearly is the best character in this entire play. With Draco coming in as a close second.
susandelgado's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
x4lisx's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0