Review- Carry On

Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Series: Simon Snow #1

Pages: 517

3 Stars

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 starts 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 – The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story – but far, far more monsters.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit I nearly DNF’d this book. I had previously read Fangirl and this is the ‘fan fiction’ written within that novel. It is also a facsimile for Harry Potter. I found that the nods to Harry Potter were often a little snidey in nature and that attitude got boring quickly. The writing is quite juvenile even though my copy is marked ‘For Mature Readers’. Also, I have to say “Holy number of charaters perspectives, Batman!” There are so many perspectives, that while it did make the book move a little faster pacing wise, you kept having to think, “who is this person again?” when encountering the more obscure characters.

Before I DNF’d I was told to wait until Baz arrived and they were right. As soon as Baz entered our story it became a fun read. He was by far the best, most well-rounded character, very witty with a slight flare for the dramatic which played into the bad boy malfoy-esq nature the character was supposed to portray.

This is a super sweet saccharine read, with a predictable plot but that doesn’t stop it from being a page turner. If you have read Fangirl you know one of the main plot events and you are just urging it to appear and when it does its such sweet and lovely moment.

One thing I was surprised about is that this is a Christmas book! Most of the main plot takes place over the Christmas season and that makes it the perfect light read to pick up this time of year. It is light and fluffy and cute as all hell, which you can snuggle up with and just be guided through a nice story. There is nothing wrong with a solid 3 star fluffy fantasy, especially on a long cold night.