Rainbow Rowell
Fantasy Young Adult
Paperback, 517 pages
6th October 2015 by MacMillan
Goodreads Ratings: 4.27/5
My Rating : 4/5
Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.
That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.
Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters
THIS IS A SUPER LONG REVIEW
If you have read Fangirl, you must have known where Carry On comes
from. But just to make things clear, I’m gonna explain. This is going to be a
bit twisted and this twistery is called Metafiction. Carry On is a story about
Simon Snow and Baz where these two characters comes from the book Fangirl. In
Fangirl, Simon is the hero of a series of children’s adventure novels written
by Gemma T. Leslie (she is totally fictional) and he is also the subject of Cath’s
famous fanfictions. (Cath is the leading character in Fangirl). Rainbow Rowell,
being the awesome person that she is, decided to bring Simon and his friends to
life and now here we are.
You don’t have to read Fangirl to understand Carry On, anyway. The
Simon&Baz in Carry On is nothing like Fangirl’s Simon&Baz because this
time, it is all about Rainbow Rowell. Not Gemma. And certainly not Cath. Or
maybe this is Rowell’s fanfiction of Gemma’s story. That could be it too, come
to think of it. BUT YOU SHOULD READ FANGIRL ANYWAY IF YOU HAVENT YET BECAUSE OF
THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS LEVI. You can find my review on Fangirl HERE.
Carry On starts right off at
Simon Snow’s 8th and Final Year at Watford, a magic school in
England. Slowly the readers are introduced to various characters (Baz, Agatha,
Penelope, The Mage, etc.) and the whole setting starts to take place. There are
a few tidbits and stories from Simon’s past 7 years and adventures in school to
help you understand better.
This book is told from various POV. It has more than 5 POVs
if I am not mistaken. My favourite POV would be of Baz. I swear to God his mind
is SO ADORABLE LIKE I CANT EVEN KIND OF ADORABLE. I imagine Baz would be some
sort of a Draco-ish guy. Cold, sarcastic and he sneers a lot. (Although towards
the end he’s nothing like Draco). Imagine Draco Malfoy with the whole cold
demeanor but with a really cute thoughts inside. Isnt that just adorable?
“For a moment -- not even a moment, a split second -- I imagine him saying, 'The truth is, I'm desperately attracted to you.' And then I imagine myself spitting in his face. and then I imagine licking it off his cheek and kissing him. (Because I'm disturbed. Ask Anyone.)” - Baz
NOW DO U GET ME?!?1?1!?1?!!!!1
Carry on has quite a slow start. The world building takes up
150+ pages which may bore you but hold on. Everything will be worth the wait, I
assure you. Also, within this pages, ypu’ll notice the striking resemblance it
has with Harry Potter. It made me feel like I was reading a fanfiction rather
than an original story. (THERE WAS EVEN A SCENE FROM TWILIGHT INSIDE LMAO) But the
similarities end somewhere in the middle and you will start to see the magickal
(no, this is not a typo.) that is Carry On.
I know nothing about Simon’s world to be honest. The only reason I badly
want to read this book is solely because of Simon&Baz and nothing else. (I have
a HUGE knack for gay romance tehee) ((I honestly don’t know why girls are so
into slash fiction. Maybe it’s the same reason as why guys love lesbian porn. Idk
idk.)) (((WHICH REMINDS ME: CARRY ON IS A GAY-THEMED FICTION. Simon and Baz are
both very good looking guys who falls in love with each other. Thought I should
give a heads up in case if you were wondering or in case youre a homophobic))) BUT
OH MY GOD THE ROMANCE. I SWEAR TO GOD ROWELL DEFINITELY EXCELS IN WRITING THE
ROMANCE DEPARTMENT.
Simon and Baz is just urgh. Annoyingly cute is the best way to describe
them I gotta say. (I’m sure Penelope would agree with me on this one). The
sexual tension is so strong it’s a wonder why Simon and Baz don’t realize it
themselves. There were a lot of kissing and innocent touching that got me
squealing so hard. If you don’t know yet, I am now a hardcore shipper of them
both. OH OH AND BAZ IS TOTALLY MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER. THERES NO COMPETITION AT
ALL. Baz is totally bae but he isn’t anyone’s bae. Simon holds him alone, there
should be no one else.
“The whole prophecy is bollocks," I say. "'And one will come to end us. And one will bring his fall.' Did I also bring my own fall?""No," Baz says. "That was me. Obviously.""How did you bring my fall? I stopped the Humdrum myself."Baz looks back at his phone, bored. "Fell in love, didn't you?”
GOD DAMN IT, BAZ. /fans self/
Romance apart, the whole adventure part came out as a surprise for me
as I was not expecting it at all but I enjoyed it! The spells used in this book
is ridiculous but so freaking funny!!! The spells goes from “Up, Up and Away”
(levitating/accio spell) to “Have a break, Have a Kit Kat” (breaking
things/give something a rest kinda spell lmao). I CRACKED UP A LOT! Oh, Mrs.
Rowell, you funny, funny thing.
*SPOILER DISCUSSION*
1) So Rowell jumped straight to Simon’s final year in school
with VERY LITTLE tidbits of the past 7 years. Simon’s adventures in the past 7
years were plainly described that I was left wondering ‘what actually happened?’
Its like 2 people telling stories to each other and suddenly you jumped in
mid-conversation, totally clueless, but these two people just continue the
conversation from where they left off without feeling you in the details. Do
you get me?
2) I can’t imagine Simon with wings and tail. I honestly cant. Since he
lost his magic, hes not considered as a magician anymore. But with the
additional wings and tail, what is Simon exactly? Is he a monster? He certainly
isn’t a Normal.
3) I LOVE the epilogue. I love how besides everything, Rowell cares
about her characters. I love how Rowell decides that these characters of hers
can decide what to do with themselves. How they can break stereotypes if they
want to. Its incredible and its very refreshing.
4) I don’t get the deal with Simon’s creation/birth. Does it involve dark
magic?
5) The prophecy. Lol where does that even came from?
*SPOILERS END*
I somehow feel like theres a huge patch in the story that I miss. A lot
of things left me confused and it bugs me since the plot holes kinda ruined my reading
experience.
All in all, Carry On has the perfect amount of adorableness, amazing
characters, thrilling magical adventures and every bit of Rainbow Rowell that you
can ask for.
(COME BACK HERE ONCE YOU’VE READ THE BOOK SO YOU CAN READ THE SPOILER
SECTION AND DISCUSS IT WITH ME, I BEG YOU.)
“At Watford, Magic is just
the air we breathe. It's not what separates us from each other; it's what keeps
us together.”
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