Tag Archives: Drama

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (review by Anika B. ’18)

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Harry Potter and the Cursed ChildHarry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

By the operationalization of the star rating system, five stars means Harry Potter. Although this book, or play rather, was faced with high expectations, it was everything I hoped it to be and more. This story takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and it follows the adventures of Harry and Ginny’s son, Albus, and Draco Malfoy’s son Scorpius. Plagued by troubled relationships with their respective fathers, Albus and Scorpius use a stolen time turner to prevent the death of Cedric Diggory, leading to huge complications.

Due to its structure as a play, the book lacked J.K. Rowling’s signature descriptions, but the dialogue was very smooth and well written. The plot was brilliantly delivered, and there was never a dull moment. The new characters were well developed and the dynamic relationships held the perfect degree of depth. Finally, by taking readers back in time, the book referred to moments from the earlier Harry Potter books in ways that would have made any Potter fan feel nostalgic.

Once I picked up the book, I could not put it down. Although Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was not a traditional Harry Potter book, it did not disappoint.

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Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead (review by Andrew R. ’17)

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Astonish MeAstonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A ballerina smuggles a celebrated Russian dancer away from his Soviet handlers and into the United States, where they have a tempestuous love affair; later, said ballerina raises a dance prodigy who himself experiences some painful romance, while all the while minor characters around them (the neighbors, the owner of the ballet company, more haughty defectors from the USSR) fall in and out of their own miniature romantic dramas. As a novel primarily focused on the way dance shapes the lives of those who dedicate their souls to it, Astonish Me sometimes seems to be taking place onstage, what with its preoccupation with beauty and drama and tangled romantic threads, rather than in the Cold War-era society it tries to recreate. That said, though, Shipstead pulls off the intertwining love triangles at the novel’s center with impressive success, and the resolution brought about in the last few chapters feels satisfying without coming off as too neat or too overblown. Fans of ballet, and probably of the domestic drama as a genre, are certain to appreciate this book, but to the wider population the tendency of Astonish Me to prioritize aesthetics over real character development might not be entirely appealing.

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The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (review by Tiffany Z. ’17)

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The GoldfinchThe Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Something has to give in the life of young Theodore Decker, who, at the novel’s opening, has but one reliable companion: his mother, artistic and compassionate, reverent toward the Renaissance masters yet never condescending to her apartment’s two doormen. In one trick of Fate, this bulwark is ripped away, and Theodore finds a new anchor thrown into his arms: Carol Fabritius’ masterpiece painting, The Goldfinch. Throughout his turbulent life, from his troubled stay with sometime friend Andy Barbour, to thrilling (if alcohol-filled) teenage years alongside the passionate intellectual Boris Pavlikovsky, to evenings sealing sketchy deals on antique furniture in order to clear his associate’s debts, the painting remains the undercurrent of Theodore’s life. When the disparate storylines eventually converge, it is Fabritius’ Goldfinch that unifies them. Tartt’s artistic language enlivens the novel, from the smallest details of Sheraton furniture to the greatest messages about the art of life. She exposes the elusive art of living to one’s fullest and the beautifully bizarre twists that life reveals to those who explore it. While some critics might argue that this intricate work is nothing but a series of crude brushstrokes upon close inspection, The Goldfinch will no doubt strike a chord with anyone who appreciates the beauty and mystery of art.

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Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood (review by Elizabeth S. ’16)

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Cat's EyeCat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cat’s Eye details the life of stream-of-consciousness narrator Elaine as she reflects as an aged artist on her years growing up in the time after World War II in Toronto. Elaine has recently returned to Toronto in order to manage a retrospective gallery of her own critically acclaimed work. She reconnects with specters from her past, like the phantom Cordelia who tormented her as a child, whom she now sees and hears everywhere she goes even though she is long gone. Atwood captures Elaine’s apathetic, passerby-like thoughts and describes her world in the most visceral way, making her writing a true joy to behold as it brings the story to life. Atwood also uses Elaine as a lens through which she can explore her own judgments and thoughts about growing up as a girl through elementary, middle, high school, and university, finding love, hate, strength, and weakness in all of these events that seem so cataclysmic when undergone for the first time. Cat’s Eye is a true masterpiece, recommended to anyone for a more adult spin on a coming of age story.

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Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland (review by Elisabeth S. ’16)

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Girlfriend in a ComaGirlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Girlfriend in a Coma is an excessively thought-provoking look at the world in the present and the future. The book details the lives of a group of high school friends whose lives fall apart after one of them, Karen, goes into a coma for 17 years without any explanation. Karen’s boyfriend Richard is left with a letter she wrote the day before about disturbing visions of the future she had been having. Well written to an extreme (and quotable to an extreme), this novel is filled with wry wisdom through the various POV characters’ thoughts, especially Karen’s perspective, because she can note exactly how the world changed between when she went to sleep and when she woke up, and the changes are not always positive. Another highlight is Jared, the other protagonist who also happens to be dead. Towards the end, the novel has an apocalyptic twist that eventually serves to comment on the general condition of adults at the turn of the century. Overall, though the novel was excellent, I would caution against it for readers who get bored easily with the mundanities of life. – Elisabeth S. ’16

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I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (review by Elisabeth S. 17)

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I Am the MessengerI Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I Am the Messenger is an idiosyncratic, heartwarming novel that is, in most stores, marketed wrongly in the young adult section–this is a novel that should be read and cherished by adolescents and adults alike for its brilliance and quiet, universal lessons. Ed Kennedy is a young cabdriver with no real aspirations and a muted existence in his apartment with his loyal, omnivorous dog The Doorman and his few friends he plays cards with every now and then. After managing to stall a bank robbery by chance, he is sent the first card in the mail, an ace of diamonds, from an unknown benefactor. The card contains three addresses, three messages that he has to send. And thus, he becomes “the messenger,” and the reader is taken for a thrill ride through the Australian suburbs. Full of love, laughter, and ironic life lessons, I I Am the Messenger refuses to be put down after being picked up. Ed Kennedy’s wry voice serves as an excellently readable narrator for the story, and the reader also gets to see Ed develop as he experiences each message that he delivers in his own way. This book is highly recommended for readers of all genres and all ages teen and up. – Elisabeth S. ‘16

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