(Review) Carry On

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell 

Publication Date: October 6, 2015

Pages: 529 (kindle)

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars 

Goodreads Synopsis: 
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.

My Review: 

So, confession time: when I read Fangirl I totally skipped over the Simon/Baz stuff because I was so into Cath's life. I loved that she wrote fanfiction, but it just didn't interest me as part of the story. 

Well, here we are now, aren't we? 

I was pretty excited when I heard that this book was coming out simply because I love Rainbow's words.

This story, like the synopsis says, is pretty much the same Rainbow, but with magic.

I've read a few reviews that didn't like the 'simpleness' of the the magic, but I don't think that's the focus of the Simon and Baz story.

Simon Snow is the Chosen One of the magickal world and Baz, his roommate for all of his days at Watford, is basically his mortal enemy. It's great because they live with each other, are enemies, and are completely obsessed with each other.

C'mon guys. Everyone else knows. 

When school starts and Baz doesn't show up Simon starts freaking out because he just knows that Baz and the old families are up to no good. That's always Simon's thoughts when it comes to Baz, though. He always thinks his roommate is plotting evil. 

That's mostly the case when it comes to Baz but Simon can be pretty paranoid too. It's a good thing he has his best friend Penelope to watch his back and make sure he doesn't do anything completely stupid. 

Like fall in love with his vampire enemy. 

I really enjoyed this story and its characters a lot. Simon is equal parts surly and sarcastic (like another magical boy we know), Penelope is smart and takes care of her own, Baz is sassy and brave in so many ways. 

The magical part of the story was easy to follow. It wasn't a completely immersed universe and that was kind of interesting. The characters have knowledge of the magical and the Normal world (swearing, music, books, etc...) and I think it makes the story a little more fun. 

Simon and his friends' missions are to defeat the Humdrum, find out who killed Baz's mom, and learn just what The Mage is all about. I love that they come together in a truce to do these things and, of course, all of the things that happen after it. 

The relationship between Simon and Baz is sweet. They both start to open up and trust each other in a way that they probably had no idea even existed. Baz is pretty open about his sexuality and Simon is kind of thick about stuff like that, so hearing his perspective is entertaining to say the least. It's funny that they both realize their feelings for each other might have been based on something completely different. 

Rainbow fleshes the relationships and story out so neatly that toward the end I knew pretty much what was coming. The only thing I didn't like was that Simon didn't find out about his parents. Hopefully, that was an implied plot point. I liked hearing from Lucy, but would have liked for Simon to know that he was the "rosebud boy" from the Visit. 

So, Simon and Baz's story was a good one. Maybe I'll go back through Fangirl and read it again.