Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald by J.K. Rowling

Hardcover, 272 pages
Release Date: November 16,2018
Published by: Arthur A. Levine Books
Read from: November 30, 2018
Fantastic Beast the Original Screenplay, #2
Source: Library
TW: N/A
For fans of: Action, Harry Potter, Fantasy, YA

     J.K. Rowling’s five-film Fantastic Beasts adventure series continues with the original screenplay for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
     At the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald was captured in New York with the help of Newt Scamander. But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escapes custody and sets about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.
      In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists Newt, his former Hogwarts student, who agrees to help once again, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
     This second original screenplay from J.K. Rowling, illustrated with stunning line art from MinaLima, expands on earlier events that helped shape the wizarding world, with some surprising nods to the Harry Potter stories that will delight fans of both the books and films.

*MY THOUGHTS*

     After the first one I was really excited to read this one and see the movie. But even though I loved that one so much, this one just didn't seem to be for me. It seemed like it wasn't staying on topic and was trying to be just another Harry Potter story. 
     Griendelwald was captured, but being the powerful wizard he is, he escaped. And now witches and wizards across the world were in danger. Dumbledore enlists the help of Newt Scamander to get him to bring him in. But Grindelwald has already sunk his ideas into many people's heads and his plan to rise up over the non-magical beings is still being carried out.
     Although this was part of the Harry Potter world, it wasn't for me. I think it was because the characters... Like I get that it was about the Crimes of Grindlewald, but its also called Fantastic Beasts... But there was little to no focus on them. It seemed like they were an after-thought everytime they came up. And the ending with the beasts was a bit anticlimactic. I just felt like I was cheated from looking at all the beasts.
      I also didn't care for all the back stories of everyone. Without them there wouldn't have even been a plot. It went really slow and seemed like it was just trying to be a Harry Potter prequel and wasn't really their own story. The only reason I didn't really hate it was because I knew there would be 3 or 4 more parts to this story. Hopefully it won't move as slow as this one.
     But overall, its still Harry Potter. Which means I was still impressed with the way Rowling was able to tie everything together. Seeing how all these movies will come together and then how they will correlate to the Harry Potter series will be interesting.
     This wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't terrible either. Definitely not what I was expecting, but still about my favorite series EVER. I know you won't always like everything about something, (have y'all read the Order of the Phoenix?!) and this was one of those times. Hopefully I'll like the other ones just a bit more!

Overall, I give this

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