M.L. Rio – Got Meghan's Blog

Hello!

In my post last Wednesday, I mentioned I had finished TWO series this summer. The first was the original Harry Potter books and The Road of Valhalla by Melanie Karsak. I was very proud of myself, but I knew I wasn’t exactly done, done with Harry Potter unless I read “The Cursed Child” playscript. So, I waited two days to allow myself to digest everything that went on in “The Deathly Hallows” and finally wrote out my review in my other journal (I also put my reviews of “Order of the Phoenix” and “Half-Blood Prince” in there!) and began reading the eBook that night.

The official playscript of the original West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

The playscript for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was originally released as a ‘special rehearsal edition’ alongside the opening of Jack Thorne’s play in London’s West End in summer 2016. Based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, the play opened to rapturous reviews from theatregoers and critics alike, while the official playscript became an immediate global bestseller.

This definitive and final playscript updates the ‘special rehearsal edition’ with the conclusive and final dialogue from the play, which has subtly changed since its rehearsals, as well as a conversation piece between director John Tiffany and writer Jack Thorne, who share stories and insights about reading playscripts. This edition also includes useful background information including the Potter family tree and a timeline of events from the Wizarding World prior to the beginning of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

taken from Goodreads.

I’ve seen a lot of mix criticism; it was mainly over the fact that this story isn’t written in the normal format. Technically, it wasn’t even J.K. writing the actual book! it was mainly John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. Honestly, I understand why the hardcore lovers of the series would be worried over the different style. it didn’t have some of the things we are so used to seeing with these characters, but it also made sense to create it in the way that actors, producers, etc see it for the play.

One of the main things I said in the beginning of reading this story was I was absolutely thrilled I read M.I. Rio’s “If We Were Villains” because the dialogue sections was written in the same way, and it was very easy to read and visualize what was going on at the same time. I also had another thought as you continue to read the various scenes, they released some inner thoughts from Harry and Albus but not as many as you would in the regular way, but instead of missing it, I actually preferred it this way, which threw me for a loop because I usually love the narrator and their thoughts, so the fact that it was there but in small quantities, did not bother me one bit!

Only time will tell, ladies and gentlemen, only time will tell.

Now, let’s discuss the characters and the overall plot.

Honestly, as I was finishing “Death Hallows,” I was curious on how much information we get of the last scenes where Harry and his friends are grown up with families, because I was really wondering about what happened and where Harry, Ron and Hermione do after the Wizarding Wars. I was thrilled that we got a bigger view into their lives. We follow their children’s life in a matter of three years, and it was so cool to see Albus and Scoripus (who is the son of Draco Malfoy) become best friends, as they go off on this adventure together.

Despite the fact that James, Albus, and Lily Potter knowing the story of how their parents, Aunt Hermione, and Uncle Ron survived the wars and the demise of Lord Voldemort, they have to continue on their journey to Hogwarts, and are placed in their respected houses. However, when Albus turns 13 years old, his dad has a visitor come to their house, Amos Diggory and his niece Delphi. Amos is an old man, but he still feels the loss of his son after the Triwizard Tournament, and he comes to discuss it with Harry, after the Ministry searches for any surviving time-travel necklaces, and ultimately destroy them from changing the past and ensuring the return of Voldemort.

The story itself is actually sweet, but there are some dark moments, especially towards the end of the book. I only cried a few times but for the most part I did okay getting through it in one piece. It was funny though; I saw a few lines that were featured in the other books. Every mention of Sirius Black, Dumbledore, and Snape pretty much released the floodgates, as I’m sure everyone would get teary-eyed during the second time jump too! Again, I wasn’t even expecting that to happen, and it hurt the most!

For anyone who hasn’t checked this book out, I highly suggest reading “If We Were Villains” first so you can get familiar with how to read plays and scripts. I will admit, I wasn’t much of a fan of that book, but apparently it was a blessing in a disguise in the end.

Have you read “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts One & Two” yet? If you have, what were your thoughts about it? Let me know in the comments below!

Hello!

June was a surprisingly good month for my books. I thought I would be about to get through three to four books, but I guess I was reading a lot faster than I originally thought and I managed to finally hit 25 books as we neared the end of it.

When “If We Were Villains” first came out, I was unsure if I’d really be interested in it. I was intrigued by the suspenseful mood but having a big chunk of it built around Shakespeare made me worry since I’ve always had trouble understanding the meaning of what everyone was saying, like most would, but then again, I’m always searching for something like Victoria Helen Stone’s “Jane Doe” and I will admit this book isn’t anywhere near in that direction, but I liked it just as much though.

Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.

taken from Goodreads.

As the reader, you get to hear both the events that happened in 1999 to a group of students. Four boys and three girls, as they study theatre in college. Everything starts up like it does every day, but then they get their individual requirements for the Halloween show and something changes within the group itself. One character ends up dead and everyone is trying to go on about life, while in the back of their minds, they try to solve who actually killed their friend.

It was just us—the seven of us and the trees and the sky and the lake and the moon and, of course, Shakespeare.

Honestly, it’s a very cliche of “who done it” style of book but I will say it also had a very unique layout. The fact that the author included many Shakespeare references throughout was interesting to me! I got to see how the characters live and breathed William Shakespeare’s plays on a daily basis. You could see each of them act out various characters – sadly I was more focused on how these people would bring them to life as if I could see the show in front of me, and this was a wonderful display of elements. I still had some issues with the dialogue of that time’s way of speaking. I made it through in one piece, but I doubt I will read anything like that for a while. Thanks to this book, I have put both “Macbeth” and “King Lear” on my TBR list!

My true issue was once you made it passed the events that happen after Halloween, everything became very boring, it didn’t pick back up under the final Act, which for a while I wondered if it was worth finishing because it was that bad for me! As I suffered through this section, I tried to figure out who could play each of the characters…

I started hunting when I first started reading but I was thinking of various other actors, and I went with Jamie Campbell Bower as Alexander, Camila Mendes as Filippa, Emilia Clarke as Wren and Sam Claflin as our main Oliver, although I did end up changing my mind toward the end of the story, but I don’t know who the person I saw at that point. Honestly, this was a difficult thing to do because I rarely see a person’s actual face when creating the character’s features, so I could have all of the descriptions an author can give me, and I could still have problems forming them.

Have you read “If We Were Villains” by M.L. Rio yet? If you have, what were your thoughts on it? I’d also like to know who you saw for the important characters down in the comments too.