An hilarious and original take on the Chosen One | Carry On

Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Published: October 6th 2015 by St. Martin's Griffin

Goodreads summary: Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he'll be safe. Simon can't even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can't stop worrying about the evil git. Plus, there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you're the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.

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.

REVIEW

For your information, I finished this book November 4^th and I’m writing my review November 22^nd and… I didn’t take notes while reading the book so I might not be as precise as I wanted to be… Sometimes I regret decisions my past-self took but well that’s a challenge!

When I first heard about this book, I didn’t know if I would read it or no. I enjoyed Fangirl but that was all, I think it was a 3 stars for me, you know? I wasn’t sure I cared enough about the fanfiction parts of the book to read another book based on that fanfiction. And then, the book came out, and people raved about it. Because of that, I gave this book a try and I don’t regret it at all.

(Behold while I jump in the lake of my emotions)

Like many readers, a part of me was scared it would be a shallow copy of Harry Potter, but it’s not. Yes, at first I kept comparing everyone to Harry Potter characters, but then I got to know the characters and they really existed in my head. Like in her previous books, Rainbow Rowell wrote realistic characters that I loved reading about, because they weren’t perfect. Simon Snow is the perfect example of that, because he is THE CHOSEN ONE, but he can’t control his magic and makes mistakes all the time. Because of that, it was easier to read about him. My favourite character must have been Penelope who was so strong and independent. I liked Baz but I won’t fangirl like a… fangirl? (Such a poor choice of words, Lucie). However, I have to say I’m not satisfied about Agatha. She seemed to be the character doomed to make mistakes all along and that you had to hate her. I found she didn’t have a real chance to be in the book.

I really enjoyed the world building and the magic system in this book, for example the fact that they could create spells. It was SO cool. I know some people felt confused at the beginning, because the world is thrown at us like we had read the previous books in the series (when they don’t exist). To be honest, I was a little confused and I think I would appreciate this book more if I reread it someday. But Rainbow Rowell intended to make this book as if it was the conclusion to an epic series, so I understand why she did it that way. Moreover, I think if I had knew the world beforehand, I would have guessed the plot twists, so it wouldn’t have been as fun.

I felt the first part of the book dragged a little bit, because it just felt like Simon was moping because Baz wasn’t there. It was clearly to show there would be a romance between them and it was kind of irritating, because I found Simon to be more worried about him than his potential plans, when he has been is nemesis for seven years. It was awkward, in my opinion. It made me feel like the story resolved a lot around Baz… But it also reminded me how Harry was obsessed with Drago in The Half-Blood Prince. However, the romance between Simon and Baz was SO CUTE AND ADORABLE I just want to hug them. Just like in her previous books, Rainbow made my heart warmer because of the romance.

Still, the plot of this book was amazing. It was about eliminating the villain in this world, but also a quest to the truth for some characters’ past. It was full of mystery, action, plot twists and I really liked that aspect. The ending was unusual but I really liked it because of that, even if a part of it is kind of weird, you’ll understand what I’m talking about if you read it.

Final Thoughts:

This book was hilarious and so much more than a parody of Harry Potter. The characters were realistic and I was able to relate to them. The romance was swoony-worthy, like with Rainbow's other books, you'll love it. It was her first fantasy book and I think she did it well, the plot was truly amazing. GO READ IT.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Did you ship Simon/Baz to the moon and back? Did you think Agatha didn't have a chance to shine in this book?