Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

May 2, 2016 Coming of Age, Fantasy, Humor, Vampires, Young Adult Fiction 12

Hello Bookworms,

I’ve told you how much I love Rainbow Rowell before, right? In case you missed my reviews of Attachments, Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, and Landline, you can check them out here, here, here, and here. After devouring Landline much too quickly, I decided I’d wait on reading Rowell’s next release. Instead of begging the publisher for an advanced copy, I put myself on a seemingly endless library wait list so that by the time I read it, the wait for the next book wouldn’t seem as long. I probably won’t do that again because it kind of sucked, but I thought I should try it. The good news is that the library wait list eventually ended and I got to read Carry On!

carryonCarry On is the story of Simon Snow. Yes, THAT Simon Snow. The one Cath and Wren were totally enthralled with in Fangirl? Of course, it’s the fan fiction version of Simon Snow, not “canon” (which doesn’t actually exist. Wow. This is harder to explain than I thought it would be.) Okay, so. You don’t HAVE to have read Fangirl to enjoy Carry On because I think it can stand alone, but you should read both regardless because they’re delicious. Back to Simon. He’s a magician who attends a magical boarding school and he just wants to get through his final year without any of the life threatening shenanigans that have plagued his school career up to this point.

Unfortunately, his mentor wants him to hide out in the mountains, his roommate is missing, and his girlfriend just broke up with him. Ghosts are coming out of the woodwork, vampires are a thing, and don’t get me started on the super villain. Suffice it to say that our dear Simon probably isn’t going to get his wish for an uneventful school year.

I love Rainbow Rowell. This book was such a playful take on Harry Potter-esque stories, what with the punny spells and such. Plus, it’s a bit of a swoony love story. It’s not a spoiler for those who have read Fangirl, but it becomes apparent quite early on in Carry On that Simon and his roommate/potential vampire Baz have some serious sexual tension happening. Which means, yes, there are boys falling for other boys. Which is, in my opinion, pretty awesome. Even if the dudes in question are magicians/potential vampires, it’s nice to see some LGBT representation in YA literature.

Talk to me, Bookworms! If you were to write fan fiction, what would be your fandom of choice?

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12 Responses to “Carry On by Rainbow Rowell”

  1. Megan M.

    Veronica Mars fan fiction! I love, love, love Veronica Mars. And in MY headcanon, she’d end up with “Deputy” Leo, because I’m sorry, but no one should end up with a guy whose main expression of love is beating people up to defend your honor and ending up in jail. It seems like the height of romance when you’re a teen, but that shit cannot be cute at thirty.

    I liked Carry On a lot. Simon’s story made me really sad, though. It’s implied that he’ll be told some major information in the future, but I felt like that would make him feel very, very bad once he learned it. My favorite character turned out to be Agatha, which I didn’t think would be the case at all when the story started.

    Reply

  2. thatashgirl

    I love the idea of this despite the fact that I found it a bit of a distraction when reading Fangirl.

    Reply

  4. Jenny @ Reading the End

    DO YOU listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour? I ask because they had a guest on recently who said that she finally had a readalike for Fangirl, which I found hugely implausible, but anyway she said The Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia. She said it was wonderful and reminded her of Fangirl. FYI.

    Also, my most important question about this book: Did you love Agatha? (I did.)

    Reply

    • Words For Worms

      I’m not much for podcasts. Actually, I think yours is the only one I’ve ever listened to. I’ll have to check out The Bellweather Rhapsody. I feel the WORST because I didn’t love Agatha. I didn’t hate her, but I didn’t love her either. I preferred Penelope.

      Reply

  6. Leah

    I really enjoyed Fangirl, and I’m pretty excited that a Simon Snow book actually exists now. I’m going to have to get this from the library at some point.

    Reply

Talk to me, Bookworms!

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