I am an avid reader and have read over 5,000 books in my life, from varius fields, mainly foreign literature. I am very sorry to say that I agree with the most negative critic reviews and readers' reviews. $19 dollars is way too much for J.K. Rowling's book that is a total failure; not only that the plot drags for almost 2 thirds of the book, but there is no message of hope, not even one character that would be close to being likeable, the foul language is suffocating the writing and the sordid reality of the book exceeds even the sordid reality around us. I donated this book to my community library to spare people their money. Hopefully, as the writer herself admitted, she will go back to write books for children, as her talent is undisputably huge.