Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was written by J.K. Rowling.  It is the eighth story in the series.  This book reads like a play.  It was a little difficult to get into at first because of that, but after a few pages, the reading went much smoother.

This book takes place nineteen years after the last book left off.  Many things have changed, but not the old trios friendship.

Harry and Ginny (Ron's sister) are married with three children.   Ron and Hermione are married with one daughter.  Harry Potter and Hermione now work for the Ministry of Magic.

The book starts out at the train station.  Harry's middle child, Albus, is starting his first year at Hogwarts.  Albus worries he will be placed in Slytherin.  Once he arrives at school, to his surprise and everyone else's, the hat places him in Slytherin.  It also places Scorpius, Malfoy's son, in Slytherin.  Albus and Scorpius become best friends.  There are rumors that Scorpius is really Voldemort's son and not Malfoy's.

The years go by and Albus is nothing like his father, Harry Potter.  He can't seem to get the spells right.  He dislikes his Father because he will always be in his shadow.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic, finds a time turner.  They hide it to keep it from getting into the wrong hands.

Rumors of the time turner get around.  Cedric's father comes to Harry Potter pleading to get to use the time turner to go back and save his son.  Albus overhears this and wonders why Harry does not want to help.

Albus decides to take things into his own hands.  With Scorpius's help, they steal the time turner from Hermione's office and go back in time to right a wrong that Harry made and save Cedrick.  Things do not go as planned.  Albus and Scorpius only make things worse.

They go back in time again to fix their mistake, but make things even worst than before.  In this new realm, Albus doesn't exist and Ron and Hermione are not married and Voldemort rules their world.

Now it is up to Scorpius to save the world.  He does fix everything.  Everything goes back to normal, but a girl that they have befriended, Delphi, wants the time turner and has her own evil plans for it.

She gets ahold of the time turner and takes all three of them back in time to the day Harry Potters parents were killed.  We find out that she is Lord Voldemort's daughter and she is trying to save her father and make him the ruler again.

Albus and Scorpius send a message to Harry in the future to come save them.  Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Malfoy come upon another time turner and go back to save the boys.

There is a big battle between the wizards, Voldemort and Delphi.  Our heroes end up winning the battle without changing their future.  Things are corrected and everything is good in their world again when they arrive back in their present and Harry and Scorpius form a bond.

I thought this was a great book!  I can't wait to see the movie to see how similar it is to the book.  It was a very easy read.  I recommend Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Book Review: The Weekenders by Mary Kay Andrews

Mary Kay Andrews is a New York Times Bestselling author of Beach Town.  The Weekenders is her most recent novel.

Riley Griggs and her daughter, Maggy, are returning to Belle Isle, North Carolina for the Summer as she always does, but this Summer will be different than any other.  Her husband is supposed to meet them on the ferry, but he does not show up.  This was the weekend they were going to tell their daughter that they were getting a divorce.   

Riley and her daughter make their way to their house on the island to find that all the locks have been changed and a foreclosure notice was left on the front door.  Riley is fuming!  First her husband did not show up, then the foreclosure that she knew nothing about.  

Riley and Maggy stay with Riley's mother, Evelyn,  while she figures out what to do next, but the next morning, they get a visit from the sheriff to let them know that Wendell Griggs, Riley's husband, was found dead in the water by the dock with a pretty bad blow to the back of his head.  

Over time, we come to find out that Wendell had blackmailed Riley's family members into giving him money for the business that Riley's father had handed down to him.  He was planning to transform the island from a sanctuary to a vacation destination, which a lot of people were against.  

Over time, a lot of secrets come out about islanders dealings with Wendell and an old flame pops back into the picture for Riley.  

Throughout the story, Riley is trying to figure out who killed Wendell and what happened to their finances.  In the end, I was surprised to find out who killed him and you will be too!

This is one of those books that I couldn't put down.  It was an easy and fascinating read.  I really enjoyed the characters and the plot.  I thought someone else might have been the killer up until the very end.  I highly recommend this book!