JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has got negative reviews, with fans criticising the flimsy plot and characters. However, this is not the first time fan expectations over book sequels have been crushed.It was one of the biggest, most awaited books of all time, which quickly turned into the biggest disappointment. Though Go Set a Watchman had a record-breaking first week on shelves, selling over 1.1 million copies in the United States , this Harper Lee sequel to the classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) was not popular with readers. Angry fans criticised Lee’s treatment of the original novel and its seminal character, Atticus Finch, while critics termed it as a “mess that will forever change the way we read a masterpiece”.The book cover (Image: Amazon)Catch-22, released in 1961, is considered a literary classic. Its sequel, published more than 30 years after the original, is most certainly not. Though Joseph Heller’s Closing Time caught up with Catch-22’s protagonist Captain Yossarian as he lives in New York City , with similar themes to its predecessor and Heller’s trademark black humour, it was a crushing anti-climax. Fans were disheartened to find that the young man who railed against society, ended up being a part of it. The book was panned by critics, all of whom felt it didn’t even come close to matching the excellence of Heller’s first novel.The book cover (Image: Amazon)The Divergent trilogy made Veronica Roth a bestselling author, until the third installment, Allegiant was released. Though it came out in 2013, only a year after the second book in the series, it had fans line up outside book stores for hours. However, fans and critics were less than thrilled with the novel, which followed protagonist Tris through yet another dystopian adventure. Divergent and Insurgent were well-liked, but Allegiant was heavily criticised for its treatment of characters and what many perceived to be a haphazard ending. Fans took to social media to bash the book, crying foul over the fact that it was a weak end to a promising series.The book cover (Image: Amazon)Dan Brown’s knack of writing taut pageturners had readers thrilled at the announcement of a follow-up to the sensational Da Vinci Code (2003) and Robert Langdon’s adventures. However, The Lost Symbol just did not sit well with fans and critics. With coincidenceheavy plotlines and a particularly criticised run in with the Freemasons, the thriller had few supporters.The book cover (Image: Amazon)It was with great anticipation that Inheritance, the fourth book in the originally planned Inheritance Trilogy was released in 2011, three years after Brisingr. Christopher Paolini’ trilogy, though hugely popular, had always drawn flak from critics. Inheritance drew much more criticism, saying that the story was poorly written. What’s more, there was the allegation that the plotlines were derived from other sources like JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Critics also found many geographic similarities between Paolini’s Alagaësia and Tolkien’s Middle-earth.The book cover (Image: Amazon)