It’s a rare sight to see people in lines for a book these days. Movies and video games are known to hype people in the same way, but when is the last time someone stood in a line to read a book? I suppose that’s the power of the Harry Potter books. As I stood in line at midnight waiting to grab a copy and go home to read, I was thinking something I presume none of the others were thinking: “I bet this book won’t live up to the hype” (yes, I’m aware that it’s not a book, and it’s a play script, but they marketed and produced it to look like a book, so that’s what I will refer to it as) I had a gut feeling either this would be the Phantom Menace of the franchise or the Force Awakens. Either everyone will hate it or love it and few in between. Full disclosure: I’m not a Potterhead. I enjoy the books and like some of the movies but I’m not a huge fan. So when I woke up the next morning, I expected only a good story and i was pleased to start the book with much promise.

We get some rather great characters added to the universe with the brilliant Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. They each have great backstories and easily became favorites of mine while reading about them. Rowling didn’t write this play but it’s easy to see she had a hand in them as characters, alongside with them, she must’ve given a rough sketch for the return of Harry and his wife Ginny. I actually found Harry more interesting in this than any of the other books. He had more mature and inner conflict and things that challenged his usual “I’m nice and loved by many people” personality. And Ginny has become far more than just the younger sister who had a crush on Harry and has grown into a mother that wants to protect her kids and family and has the passion and power to back that. We get a bit of Hermione but not much to judge or talk about at length. What was the big disappointment was their shoehorning in of old cast. Some characters like Ron are only in the book because fans wanted to see him again. But his role is dull and unimportant. He does end up serving a deus ex machina piece of dialogue but that’s it. Even with his small role, he tends to do things that seem quite uncharacteristic of him but he’s not alone in that inconsistency. Many of the people, new, old and returning (and even some unexpected but unneeded) just don’t act as they would’ve if written by the creator.

And the plot of this book can be described as not only a mess of a Harry Potter story but a mess of any kind of story. I like to keep things fair and tempered but the plot of this book is utterly insane. I won’t reveal what the main drive of the plot is but it kicks off very early. It’s a fast paced book and that only speeds up the insanity. Repetitive, convoluted and actually contains things in it that contradict the canon of the previous stories and laws established earlier in the series. No one can deny that it retreads a lot of ground of the other books, and often retreads itself in an attempt to have a repeating motif. In the end though, the biggest insult is that it has no impact on the world. Not much is different about the Wizarding World after this book and so much should be. Many of the issues introduced are never resolved and it feels empty with a much deserved emotional impact and a much needed memory of closure.

If not for the 2 new characters, this would’ve been a hard read. It was nice to return to the Wizarding World, but not this way. I love the idea of focusing on Harry not knowing how to deal with a teen son and looking at him as a parent. But that’s what it needed in this book. More emotion, more character, and less story. Seeing as this might be the final book, it’s a sad way to leave.

With all that being said, I cannot deny that while reading this, I read it all in one sitting and couldn’t stop. It made me feel welcomed back into the world and made me feel at home, even in a series I’m not for or against. Despite the criticisms, I still was inspired by this book to want to go back and reread the 7 original books. Perhaps thats a plus and perhaps that’s the saving grace. It satisfies some of what fans want by giving them what they miss. Like it or hate it, i read it all at once. And that’s something few books can do.