Review: Carry On

Carry On
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: October 6th, 2015
522 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

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.

Carry On started out as a fan fiction Cath is writing in Rainbow's book, Fangirl, We all figured it would be just that - fan fiction - until the glorious day Rainbow announced she was writing it and publishing it. We met Simon Snow and his vampire roommate Baz as they migrated the wizarding world and passing classes. It was pretty much Harry Potter but with some guy on guy action and the snippets we got were wonderfully written and intriguing so I was really excited to pick this one up when it hit shelves. I can't say I wasn't flabbergasted since this book is pretty much Harry Potter. But this one stands on its own to me and I enjoyed every minute of it, though I'd still love a Fangirl sequel too.

Simon Snow has just started his final year at the Watford School of Magicks and it's already off to a rough start. His roommate, Baz, hasn't shown up yet and he's being visited by a couple of ghosts. Not to mention he still hasn't perfected his magic and is pretty sure he isn't the real chosen one. Most wizards have life figured out before they graduate. but Simon has no idea what will happen next, he mostly just really wants Baz back.

This story intrigued me from start to finish. There was a lot of action, some spooky moments, and the love between Simon and Baz was magnificent. I love a good story where two people who supposedly hate each other realize just the opposite and fall in love. These two have such a fun relationship. They bicker all the time, Simon is scared to go near Baz's bed yet can't get enough of him. There were scenes that I remembered from Fangirl that made me smile. I love that Rainbow incorporated what we already knew about this series and this fan fiction and turned it into something real. The characters leaped off the pages and even though they bore similarities to real characters from the Harry Potter series, they still held up as their own people.

I love a good magic slash ghost slash love story and Simon and Baz delivered on all fronts. I love that Simon was able to find out who he really could be and that him and Baz were able to realixe their love for each other. They certainly had some swoon worthy moments and Rainbow knows how to write a good kissing scene for sure. I had a lot of fun reading this and it made me want to reread Fangirl so badly but I haven't really found the time to do that yet. Hopefully soon because I miss Cath and Levi as much as I'm sure I'll miss Simon and Baz soon. I'm not going to lie, I've been fangirling over this since it was announced and even though I'm finished it and have many books since it, I'm still all fluttery about these two, just like I still am with Cath and Levi.

“You have to pretend you get an endgame. You have to carry on like you will; otherwise, you can't carry on at all.”