Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

I am overwhelmed.

I consider myself a big Harry Potter fan. I grew up with Harry, started reading these books when I was eleven, and it was the first series that started my love for reading. I can pinpoint it on The Prisoner of Azkaban. I had an assignment due, I needed to finish it, but I was so desperate to read this book that I couldn't stop. My mother eventually had to trade me chapters for pages. I wrote a page of my assignment, I got to read a chapter.

She found it funny that she had a child where the punishment involved not letting me read something.

My love for Harry grew and grew after that. I went to the midnight movie premieres, the midnight release parties, the Harry Potter set tour in England, and most recently the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I own every pop, I wear Harry Potter t-shirts, and so forth. I love me some Harry Potter.

So when this was announced, I was excited. However, I didn't let myself get too excited. I learned early on it was a play - NOT A BOOK - and that was disheartening. I didn't want to a screenplay, I wanted pages of pages of magical imagery. So while I was hopeful, I wasn't as excited as I'd been in years past. Maybe that was to my benefit.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place about twenty-two years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry is a father to three children: James, Albus, and Lily. While James and Lily are relatively happy children, Harry's middle child struggles with his identity. Named after two famous wizards, he bears a weight on his shoulder, trying to live up to the standards of not only his namesakes, but his own father. Unable to emotionally connect with his dad, they fight often.

After being sorted in Slytherin House, a first for any Potter, Albus struggles to make friends and fit in. While he finds a best friend in Scorpius, Draco Malfoy's only child, this only makes life for Albus more difficult. Rumors have circulated for years that Voldemort had a child, a dark heir that will one day rise and Scorpius has always been the victim of that title. Bullied and outcast, the two of them rely on the other and want things to change.

Meanwhile, Harry is struggling himself. Outside of issues with his son, a string of dark wizards of continued to cause problems with the Ministry. When they uncover a time-turner, an item that should have been destroyed back when he was just a boy at Hogwarts himself, they're not quite sure what to do with it. Albus eventually learns about its existence and decides to change the past. Scorpius, though hesitant, joins him in this endeavor, and together they try to save Cedric Diggory, a boy who died on the night Voldemort came back to power.

However, by changing one thing, they change everything.

I didn't know the synopsis of this play before I read it. I just knew it was about Harry as an adult and his children. I found it more enjoyable that way, since I didn't expect half the things that happened. I didn't expect to see characters that died in previous books and to see timelines of what could have beens. By changing only five minutes of the past, we got see a world had He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named won the war and it's a world we wouldn't want to live in.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The scene that got me the most, though, involved Scorpius, Hermione, Ron, and Severus Snape. I always thought Snape died bravely (and full of guilt - I still think he was a bad guy, but was trying to make up for it), but we never got to hear his thoughts about how he felt dying for a cause. We only ever knew him as a professor, as a traitor, and as a hero. We didn't get the in-betweens. We heard stories from Dumbledore and others about how he felt, but never from himself. In Cursed Child we got to hear his thoughts:

Snape: One person. All it takes is one person. I couldn't save Harry for Lily. So now I give my allegiance to the cause she believed in. And it's possible - that along the way I started believing in it myself.

Yeah, I got all misty-eyed.

End of major spoilers!

Another thing I loved about this was we got to see Harry struggle with parenting. As an orphan, he lacked the fundamentals most of us are lucky to receive: a home, safety, comfort, parental love. He didn't have any of that. He was abused, neglected, and unwanted. So now he's trying to give that to his children when he doesn't necessarily know how. He isn't perfect - and his son is realizing that.

This play answers a lot of questions we had after the seventh book. I was happy to finally have that bit of closure. I think people just need to go into this knowing it's a PLAY, and NOT A BOOK. If you set yourself up for disappointment, you're bound to get what you want. I went in with low expectations and left happy.

Look at this is a little bit of extra magic!

Review: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Okay, let me tell you a little story.

So back in college I was dating this guy. He is, without a doubt, one of the nicest, most kind guys I've ever had in my life. My friends liked him, my parents loved him, and he was totally someone I could have married in the long run.

One night we were lying on his bed and watching TV. Both of us jokingly kept stealing the remote and changing the channel. It was a little game that still makes me laugh when I think about it. He leaned over the bed to grab something and I took my chance to steal the remote back. He saw my hand out of the corner of my eye reach for the remote and jerked back, intending to stop me. Unfortunately I was lying directly behind him and BAM! His head met my eye.

And holy hell did that hurt. I thought my eye was going to explode.

Immediately he freaked out: "I'm so sorry, baby! Oh my God, I didn't mean to - I didn't even know your head was right there! Jesus, you can have the remote! Put on whatever you want - I'm so fucking sorry!"

I ended up laughing because it was clearly an accident. He didn't lose his temper, didn't mean me harm, and certainly didn't do it on purpose. He looked ready to cry - something I had never seen and didn't want to - so I assured him it was totally okay. I'd live. Milked it a little bit and he totally ordered me a pizza. He felt guilty the rest of the night, but I was over it before he even said sorry.

The next morning, however, was not a good one. I woke up to a mighty fine shiner - one that was hard to even hide with make-up. I was still living at my parents' house so when I got up to explain what happened, my father saw my face before I had a chance to open my mouth. Now, my daddy is the best man I know and I've never seen him lay a hand on anyone. However, he jumped out of his favorite chair and stormed towards the door, saying he was going to kill my boyfriend. My mother stared at me with so much anger, I could hardly recognize her. She was so angry on my behalf that she wouldn't listen to me try to explain anything.

I calmed down them down, explained the truth of the situation, and eventually they believed me. They weren't happy, but they realized it was an accident. However, my father said something that stuck with me: "You don't have to protect him, you know?"

So why is this story relevant to this book?

It Ends with Us tackles a subject matter of domestic violence in a way I haven't seen it handled yet. It's felt like, to me, this type of thing has always been seen as either black or white. The abuse is so over the top that the character leaves immediately or they stay until the inevitable thing happens.

This book was a slow burn.

It Ends with Us follows Lily Bloom, a girl from a rough childhood. Growing up in a small town, she lived with her violent father and battered mother. She understood what her father was doing was wrong, wanted to help, but she couldn't help a woman that didn't want to help herself. Her mother never left. Meanwhile, she fell in love with the homeless boy in the area. He was kicked out of his home and living in an abandoned house and she wanted to help him as best as she could. Before she knew it, their bond was forged greater than steel and she loved Atlas with everything in her.

Now, years later, she's dealing with her father's death and trying to find her place in the world. How does she move on after living in an abusive household? In comes Ryle, a brilliant neurosurgeon that's hell bent on not having a relationship. He's too smart, too driven, to be distracted by lady business.

Too bad for him Lily is exactly what he ends up needing.

They fall in love - hard - and before long everything is perfect. Until it isn't.

The summary is very cursory and doesn't tell you much. I think that helped me experience this on a deep level. This book hurt to read it. It made me mad, sad, and everything in between.

I didn't know how to feel half the time.

"How could she love him after what he did to her? How could she contemplate taking him back?" 

It's sad that those are the first thoughts that run through our minds when someone is abused. Shouldn't there be more distaste in our mouths for the abusers than for those who continue to love the abusers?

And that right there is the crux of this book. This ran through my head throughout the book - the first part - because I feel confident that I would leave the second someone hit me. However, I never have been hit. The above instance with my boyfriend was just an accident, but my family immediately jumped to my defense ready to defend me. Ready to help me. Ready to protect me. I come from a family where hitting wasn't okay and was told that if I ever got in a fighting situation that I should run. Violence isn't the answer and pride isn't worth letting someone hurt me.

I think the reason we tend to focus more on the people that stay is because we feel closer to the victim than the abuser. We don't think of ourselves as villains, but we could see ourselves as the victim and we know we would walk away.

But would we?

I think this book brings up valid points that everyone - men and women - should consider and think about. I hope people read this with an open mind, and listen to Lily as she goes on this journey. It's messy and sad and messed up and not fun and happy and anger and everything in between.

That's not to say this book only touches on that subject matter because it goes even deeper.

Major spoilers! Proceed with caution!

Atlas, Atlas, Atlas.

Reading about him as a teenager HURT! He gets kicked out of his house, made to feel like he's nothing, and then he meets Lily who changes his life. She literally changes everything about it. She shows him kindness when there was none and friendship when he desperately needed someone. He was ashamed and embarrassed and it hurt me so much to read about him.

This moment: "Being so sick and not having a bathroom or a bed or a house or a mother."

When you're stripped bare of things that make us modern humans, what are you? Ugh, this made me cry.

And then this fucking happened: "He said the first night he went to that old house, he wasn't there because he needed a place to stay. He went there to kill himself."

"'You saved my life, Lily,' he said to me. 'And you weren't even trying.'"

How do you respond to that? That would be one of the scariest, most amazing, most heartbreaking compliments I think a person could ever receive. That you were so influential on a person that you kept them from taking their own life. That you gave them a reason to stay.

Then Atlas goes on to say: "'In the future...if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again...fall in love with me.'"

Dammit, Atlas.

I fell in love with this character. And he's fucking good enough. He is. You are, Atlas!

End spoilers!

That right there is why I loved that book.

You'll fall in love, you'll hate, and you'll feel. Because that's what book will do to you. Colleen Hoover explains after the book ends how important and personal it is for her - and that's effing brave.

I think people should read this book.

Final rating: 5 stars

Review: A SEAL for Christmas by Jennifer Lowery

If I had seen the cover before I read this, I would not have read this.

What is that?!

This is part of an Anthology called SEALs of Winter: A Military Romance Super Bundle. This particular story followed Flash Fire by Elle Kennedy, the only reason I got the anthology. Despite the ridiculous cover, the first page sucked me in.

Cloe Carter is intent on getting through Christmas without thinking about her family. The first year alone has been hard enough but the anniversary of their deaths has her losing it. Determined to get to the grocery store and go home as her hustling on her bike. Too bad for her that a man runs a red light, hitting her in the crosswalk.

Enraged, the man proceeds to get out of the car, yelling about how she was in the street on a yellow light. For a moment she thinks the man might hit her, but a hero made of braun and muscle comes to her aid.

Our hero? A Navy SEAL by the name of Donovan Demarco.

Naturally, like most stupid romance books, Donovan insists on making sure she gets home safely and proceeds to stay the night in order to take care of her. Before long, they realize that each other is the person destined for them. Unfortunately, Cloe starts to get threatening phone calls. Someone is out to hurt her, but Donovan refuses to let that happen.

This was by no means a brilliant story, but I was entertained. This was mindless reading if you're in the mood for a romance about SEALs, short and sweet.

But oh that cover. I will never get over this cover.

Review: Flash Fire by Elle Kennedy

More Cash? Yes please!

This was a short novella that lets us know exactly where everyone in the original series is and gives us an intense moment between Cash and Jen.

Cash McCoy, badass Navy SEAL and resident good ol' boy of San Diego, is ready to propose to his girlfriend, Jen. Despite her brother being his LT, and her father being the most intimidating man on the planet, he spent the last three years loving her. With the help his friends, fellow SEALs Dylan and Seth, he picks out the most gorgeous ring, prepared to propose when he gets home.

Jen, however, has other plans. With her career at its peak, she's finally get the chance she's been waiting for - to go international and take pictures of places and people that matter. Knowing Cash won't be happy with her, she butters him up first, offering him a little something something before dropping the bond.

He takes the bait, knowing full well what she's doing, before asking her what she's done. When she tells him her plans, he doesn't respond the way she hopes. In fact, he flat out tells her she's not going, starting a fight that neither of them wants to own up to.

Before either of them know it, Jenn is off to Central America, taking photos of a war zone while Cash is stationed back at home.

Nothing will go wrong though, right?

The cliches were here in spades - it was easy from the start to tell that Cash wouldn't like her going to a war zone and that something would happen to her there. The military aspect was more present here than any of the other books, but the drama was a little eye-rolling.

However, I loved Cash and loved seeing all the boys. We got to see bits of Claire, still happy with her relationship with Dylan and Aiden. We got to see Miranda and the twins. We learned that Carson and Holly are content with their beautiful baby boy.

I had more fun reading about the couples than about Jen's situation, who I thought was rather pigheaded and stupid to go there. Not to mention, she didn't even discuss it with Cash. It was more of - hey, I'm doing this. You don't like it? Well, suck an egg.

However, when they weren't fighting, their relationship was very sweet. Oh Cash - the sensitive one. Adorable.

Final rating: 3 stars

Review: The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

"'I'm not a hockey fan.'....Logan stares at me. 'You couldn't have told me this before I asked you? What are we even doing here, Grace? I can never marry you now --- it would be blasphemous.'"

And that's how I knew I really liked this book.

While I had a few issues with this one that I didn't with the first, I still greatly enjoyed it. Elle Kennedy is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Much like The Deal, The Mistake is a hockey romance between a couple that is trying to overcome their pasts. However, unlike Garrett, John Logan isn't always as quick to make the girl know how much she means to him.

Logan, star defender of the Briar University hockey team, had no interest in a relationship until he met his best friend's girlfriend, Hannah. While he loves Garrett ("I'm comfortable enough with my heater status to say that if I did play for the other team? I wouldn't just fuck Garrett Graham, I'd marry him"), and would never consider moving in on his girlfriend, he can't help the crush his heart has been nursing for months. When his friend, Tucker, calls him out on it, Logan realizes he needs to move on from it.

Grace is a Briar freshman that doesn't know who she is. After meeting her best friend in the first grade, she quickly learned she would forever be the quiet one while Ramona was the star. They went to the same college, had the same dorm, and even shared the same friends, despite Grace having nothing in common with them. The one thing she does know about herself: she finds hockey star Logan to be the hottest boy on campus.

After an awkward interaction with Hannah, Logan decides to get out of the house. He meant to meet up with some friends, but he quickly realizes he's knocked on the wrong door when petite Grace answers.

Realizing his night is a bust, he decides to hang out with Grace. As an action-movie lover, she's got Die Hard 2 playing and gummy bears on hand - what more could he need? Well, perhaps an intense make-out will help make the evening an A+ night.

While their relationship continues to grow, Logan starts to feel extreme guilt. With Hannah still on his mind, he feels like he's leading Grace, a very nice girl, on far too much. Dead set ready to break it off, he heads to her dorm - and is immediately groped by Grace. His bottom head doesn't catch up with his top half and things get a little out of hand. When she admits to her virgin status, ready for to hand it over to him, he owns up to everything, going so far as to confess to his feelings for Hannah.

Embarrassed, humiliated, and hurt, she kicks him to the curb. However, Hannah shortly kicks some sense into Logan, making him realize he just let go of perhaps the only relationship he's ever truly wanted.

I'm going to go backwards here and start with what I didn't like.

Cons:

1. A good chunk of the book is dedicated to Grace ignoring Logan, claiming to be over him when it's clear she's not. Now, I know the guy pulled a dick move, but the drama lasted too long. A couple chapters would have sufficed yet she it drags on.

2. The shittiness that is Ramona. There is bad friend and then there is just plain evil. Ramona essentially breaks every version of girl/guy/friend code and texts her bestie's man behind her back. I think if you're going to go for someone a friend has dated, you have to consider a couple things - how long was their relationship and how close are the two of you. If they only dated once or twice, I think if you discuss it with the friend, then there is the potential to make a move. And you never move in on someone's ex if it's a risk to the friendship. Ramona, the best friend, is a grade A tool bag. I HATED her character and felt no sympathy for her and, yet, Logan and Grace do? Nah.

3. Sidney Crosby. Don't EVER mention Sidney Crosby. Ever. No. Just no.

Pros:

1. The comedy. I loved loved LOVED how funny this was. I laughed aloud as I read it. Like I giggled. A book that can make me have a reaction - whether it's crying, laughing, etc. - is a book that makes me happy.

2. The realism. This book delves deeply into the ugly side of alcoholism and how it affects families. I can say firsthand that it was handled well. Substance abuse is ugly and painful and hurtful and plain sucks.

"My mom says it's genetic, and I know Dad's side of the family has ah history of depression as well as alcoholism. And fuck, maybe that's it. Maybe those really are the reasons he can't stop drinking. But a part of me still can't fully accept that. He had a good childhood, damn it. He had a wife who loved him, two sons who did whatever they could to please him. Why couldn't that be enough for him?"

Ugly, but very real.

3. The hockey! The first book didn't dive into much hockey, but this one did. It discussed the downsides to the draft and harsh realities the players trying to make it go through. It talked about the game and made real life comparisons. The lingo was properly used! As a hockey fan, it made me happy.

4. This quote: "Thousands of screaming hockey fans fill the seats, an endless sea of faces, a blur of black and yellow occasionally broken up by the white and turquoise of the Sharks fans who happen to be in attendance."

The Sharks reference made up for the Crosby one!

Now, it's on to Dean's book. Let's do this!

Final Rating: 4 stars

Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Okay, there are a lot of mixed reviews about this book. People either love it or they hate it.

Well, I happened to LOVE it!

Basically if you substitute her adorableness with yoga pants and dirty hair then it's totally me!

The Deal is a hockey romance that centers (pun unintended) around Hannah, a music student that comes from a rough past and is eager to leave it all behind. While she is content with most of her life, she has yet to find someone that makes her heart race. She certainly has someone in mind: Justin Kohl, the star of the football team, Hemingway lover, and all around perfect guy.

Too bad he doesn't know she exists.

Garrett Graham, however, knows she exists. Well, kind of. As the captain of the Briar University hockey team, he knows he needs to pass his ethics class and it just so happens, Hannah is the key to that. After seeing her perfect grade on the midterm, he begs her to help him study. Uninterested, she quickly rebuffs his requests, but Garrett isn't one to be deterred.

Essentially, he annoys the hell out of her until she agrees. Well, and he offers to help her score a date with Justin Kohl.

As they start to study together, they get to know one another and form a pretty awesome friendship. They watch shows together, they hang out, they eat dinner together - it was interesting to actually read about the friendship instead of the author just saying 'hey, they're epic friends.' Their friendship eventually progresses to feelings, though neither will acknowledge them right away.

Now the whole thing about the rape was obviously a point of contention for most of the readers. I can agree it's an overused trope, but it was handled in a way I haven't seen. I am frustrated because most people that were upset over it either didn't finish it or didn't read it all. This wasn't about her becoming desirable for a boy - she wanted to overcome it for herself. She even says: "With Devon, my sex issues were made a hundred times worse because of that pressure, because the sex part was tangled up with the love part. With Garrett, it can be just about the sex. Trying to put the pieces of my sexuality back together without worrying about disappointing someone I love."

Furthermore, the book discusses how people with this issue are often treated like they're made of glass. Garrett, on the other hand, doesn't do this.

"I'm not a fragile piece of china to him. I'm just...me."

I also love that the sex in this book is about having fun! Sheesh, do we need another book of romantic sappy bullshit where it's about a penis going in and out and in and out? At least this book - because it is a romance - is about having fun with each other. I am firm believer that if you can't laugh during sex then you're not doing it right.

For instance: "'It's okay. There's only one boo-boo I want you to kiss, and you sound too distracted for that.' He pauses. 'I'm talking about my dick, by the way.'"

I genuinely laughed out loud reading this. Garrett and Hannah are funny! They bicker and they make fun of each other and they're sarcastic and then they have sex in between. It was pretty hilarious.

My favorite scene had me cracking up to the point where I scared my cat. It's a scene where Hannah ventures into a locker room, prepared to throw down a fight. However, unlike movies that make a men's locker room seem like something sexy (A Cinderella Story, Varsity Blues, etc.), this basically says how that's a bunch of crap.

"Penises! Sweet Jesus. Penises everywhere. Horror slams into me as I register what I'm seeing. Oh God. I've stumbled into a penis convention. Big penises and small penises and fat penises and penis-shape penises. It doesn't matter which direction I move my head because where I look I see penises."

As for the hockey aspects, I had to let some stuff slide. It's not so much that she was wrong, but there was hardly any true hockey details in the book. I'm a hockey junkie (GO SHARKS!) so I know my hockey and I'm fine with how it was portrayed. I'd rather have it be limited than wrong. However, since there are more books, I hope she discusses more of the hockey in the future.

I feel like I could go on and on about this book, but I just am eager to read the next one. It's fun, it was hilarious, and despite what a lot have this listed under, there is no cheating in this.

So excited for Logan's book!

Final rating: 5 stars!

Review: Promise Me by Barbie Bohrman

Was I supposed to like anyone in this book?

I'm trying to properly put my feelings into words, but I keep getting angry.

So I started reading this last year because I was going to a book festival. I stopped for some reason and realized yesterday I never finished it. So I finished it.

Promise Me starts off with the typical girl gets cheated on by her boyfriend and best friend (did everyone have an awful best friend in high school? My bff from high school is still one of my besties now. Never understand this trope). The town's bad boy sees her during this awful time and despite his reputation, proves to be absolutely swoon worthy. He's basically Ryan Gosling at this point. She takes this with her, remembers him fondly, and spends ten years obsessing over him.

Like a crazy person.

Don't get me wrong, I had crushes in high school. But it's been ten years for me, too, and I have hardly given them much thought over the years. It's called growing up. Obsessing over the glory days is sad and doesn't fit someone who is supposedly so successful.

That's right, Sabrina is now successful in Miami, living like Friends with her best friend Julia. Working towards being a Head Art Curator, she's happy with her life. Then the dreaded ten year reunion invitation shows up. Should she go? Will Tyler be there? What if her ex Chris is there?

"'STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! JUST GO!'"

Well, with those words of wisdom, Julia, who can say no?! And yes, they were written in all caps in the book.

So she decides to go, mostly with the hopes of seeing Tyler again. In her best LBD, she sets off to deal with her ex-boyfriend, ex-best friend, and the man that stole her heart with all his rebel ways. Well, what do we figure out at the reunion?

Chris and Lisa got married, though she's insecure and he claims to still miss Sabrina. Tyler was never really that bad, and is all good now. And that Sabrina is living out a bad version of Romy and Michele.

Actually, if her character said that, I might have some respect for her. Mostly she said how Lisa was mean and she wanted to bone Tyler.

As you can probably guess, Tyler and her hit it off and start a very dysfunctional, long distance relationship.

So here is the thing: I had no respect for any of the characters in this book. It wasn't enjoyable because of this. Sabrina let everyone walk all over her - Lisa, her mom, Tyler, her best friend, her boss, etc. Grow a backbone, sweetheart. Her inner thoughts revealed how she would be upset when her mom would bring up Lisa or how she was insecure about Tyler, but she never voiced any of these issues. She was annoying as hell.

Lisa and Julia were both so over the top that they clearly were pure fiction. Sometimes you can tell when an author draws from real life people, but these were cliched friends taken from Mean Girls.

And Tyler...

Spoiler alert

Please tell me how anyone can like him after he cheats on her in an act of revenge for something she didn't even do. He knows she's got a problem with cheating - he was literally there to witness her be cheated on in her youth - and that's how he gets back at her? Yeah, real lovable guy.

End spoiler.

Aside from the plot, the writing was generic. Not filled with spelling and grammar mistakes, but you can tell it's self-published. All the OH MY GOD ALL CAPS kind of gave it away.

Final rating: 1 star