Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/01/2016 *Starred Review* The much-anticipated return of Harry Potter is here at last, in the form of a rehearsal script for the play (a finalized script will be published later), conceived by Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. Set 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the spotlight shines on a new set of wizard friends, Albus Potter (Harry and Ginny’s youngest) and Scorpius Malfoy (Draco’s son). A strained relationship between Harry and Albus comes to a head at the start of the young Slytherin’s (yes, Slytherin!) fourth year at Hogwarts, prompting Albus’ rash decision to go back in time and tamper with events at the Triwizard Tournament over 20 years ago. With a stolen Time-Turner, he and Scorpius return to the fateful tournament, but quickly learn that even slight changes to the past have enormous consequences. Only occasionally indulgent, the story explores new character relationships and several alternate (and alarming) futures once the Time-Turner comes into play. Series fans can breathe easy knowing this play has been respectfully and lovingly wrought. Tensions thrum, spells fly, and Slytherins finally have their day in the sun—but at center stage, as always in the Potterverse, is the overriding importance of love and friendship, especially in the face of danger. Really, readers need only be concerned with how to get to London to see it performed. Floo powder, perhaps?HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Have you not heard of this Potter chap? - Copyright 2016 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2016 Playwright Thorne and director Tiffany (who previously collaborated on Hope and Let the Right One In) worked with J.K. Rowling to extend the "Harry Potter" universe with an eighth "installment" in the form of the script from the new West End production. The book starts where the last chapter of Deathly Hallows left off—19 years after the main events of the series—with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all saying goodbye to their children as they leave for Hogwarts. As Albus, Harry and Ginny's youngest son, attends Hogwarts, he is plagued by the Potter legacy—something he never wanted—and, as he's sorted into Slytherin, is terrible at Quidditch, and constantly compared to his famous father, he becomes reclusive and angsty. His sole friend is Scorpius Malfoy, the only son of Draco Malfoy—prompting further separation from his father. When Albus hatches a plot to go back in time to save the life of Cedric Diggory—what Albus views as the biggest mistake his father made—time becomes distorted and Harry is left to examine his own life, his relationship with his son, and how love can sometimes be much more complicated than it seems. This is an interesting extension of the "Harry Potter" universe, but readers should go into it knowing that it's its own beast. Rowling didn't write it (much to the fury and vitriol of many fans), and it is in script form, so it loses some of the magic that won over millions of readers back when it all began. However, many of the themes that made the original series great are still in abundance—love and friendship conquering all, facing your flaws and accepting them—so that it simultaneously still feels like a "Harry Potter" tale while remaining its own story. VERDICT It is unlikely that the script will create new Potter followers, owing to its format (reading a script vs. reading a novel is a whole other ballgame), but it's a well-crafted and enjoyable read.—Tyler Hixson, School Library Journal - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.