This was pretty damn shitty. 
 When the plot leaked online, I was horrified. This convoluted mess of a plot and characterizations was going to be the 8th book? I panicked for a day, and then concluded that it had to be a hoax. Jo would never approve something like this. They leaked a horrible, messy clusterfuck to throw off the masses so everyone would be thrilled with the actual storyline. 
 Then I picked up my copy at midnight on the 31st. 
 Nope. Not a hoax. 
 The thing is, it's not a bad story. It's bad in comparison to how beautifully and masterfully constructed the original 7 were. Honestly, it seemed like the two co-authors didn't understand much about the characters at all. Ron was a complete disaster. He resembled his movie counterpart more than his book one. Also, why is he running the Weasley joke shop now? Why? What the hell happened to George? How the hell did Ron, who never played a prank during Hogwarts, look at that joke shop and think that was a solid idea for him? I'm still very confused. Hermione was...fine. I'm stoked she is the Minister of Magic. But what happened to all of that crap Jo has said on the record about Ron and Hermione not working out and needing lots of couple therapy? If that was a serious concern, wouldn't that have had a mention somewhere? 
 Then there's Harry. Harry was an asshole. You're trying to tell me that this man, who was abused, starved, and unloved as a child, would look at one of his sons and say he regretted having him? Bull. Shit. You're telling me his scar hurts after twenty years, and he can still speak Parseltongue even though he doesn't have any part of Voldemort in him anymore , and everyone was just like "Oh, hey, Voldemort's back, totally with you Harry." 
 HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO ANYONE? 
 We haven't even touched the continuity clusterfuck that is the Time Turner fiasco or Delphi. Let's erase part of book 5, and Jo's previous statement about purposefully destroying the Time Turners, and throw in an illicit love child for good measure. There's nothing else we can do here to make this a legitimate narrative. 
 Scorpius was the best part of the whole play, by far. I loved him. I loved his sass, his compassion, and his friendship with Albus. I could have done without everything else. There was too much character assassination and inconsistencies. This was just one giant fanfic. 
 I'm really disappointed. I think it's time to put Harry's story to rest before more of it gets butchered. 
 After finishing: 
 Yeah. I know. Two stars for a Harry Potter book. An in-depth review will go up later, but I'm underwhelmed. 
 Pre-Release: 
 STOP. EVERYTHING.