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.”

Review: Fangirl

Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 10, 2013
Hardcover, 433 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . . But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.


Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.


For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

There are not enough words in the english language to explain how much I adored this book. Everything from the characters to the plot were unique and real. Cath is a lot like most of the people I know - scared about change and takes solace in reading and writing and escaping the real world. She's a fangirl. She loves Simon Snow and writes fan fiction after fan fiction about Simon and his nemesis, Baz, where she can create a world of her own within a world already made for her. Cath and her twin sister, Wren, used to write the fics together, but then college starts and everything changes. Wren decides she wants to branch out and not be roommates with Cath as promised. So she ends up on her own, not sure if she can handle everything that goes along with it. She isn't sure if her roommate, Reagan, even likes her, and Reagan's boyfriend, Levi, is annoying and always seems to be around. Classes start taking their tole and the only thing that keeps Cath going is her fan fiction and the anticipation of the final book in the Simon Snow series.

This is just a book following the first year of college for a girl who doesn't make friends easily. There is nothing special about Cath. She is not drop dead gorgeous, nor does she wear nice clothes and go out to parties. But even though this is an ordinary tale, it left me feeling like I'd just entered a magical world and didn't want to come back to reality. Rowell has a way with words and just as in Eleanor & Park, those words took normal lives and made them unforgettable. I related to Cath in more ways than one. The feelings Cath goes through are ones I've been feeling all my life. School is hard, especially when you need to go through it on your own, and sometimes making friends isn't as easy as they say it is. It's easy to hide behind a computer and a screen name and write about a world that you know people will love. Fan fiction is Cath's escape, and we all have one of those. 

The secondary characters are just as strong and likeable as Cath is. Wren goes through the change of being in college the opposite way of Cath, drinking and partying, which is a completely normal way to try and find your own identity. Cath makes friends with a guy in her writing class, Nick, who helps her venture out of her writing habits as they teach each other new skills. Then there's Levi. Levi is the perfect counterpart for Cath. He is friendly with everyone he meets and forces Cath to leave the shell she's put around herself. He enjoys her writing and lets her read to him. Their relationship starts out like most real relationships would - as friends. But there's no looking past the chemistry between these two and the moment they finally get together is a breath of fresh air. 

This book is not all fun and games though, it's realistic in many ways. Cath has a lot of mother issues and her father isn't very stable, especially with the girls at college. It's heartbreaking one page, then fills your heart right back up on the next. It captures the essence of college, of finding out who you really are, and how change can be a good thing. This will be the book of a generation, a book for girls who hide behind books until their brave enough to enter the real world. And, hey, it's not so bad most of the time, but I'll never leave my books behind. 

“She didn't have words for what Levi was. He was a cave painting. He was The Red Ballon. She lifted her heels and pulled him forward until his face was so close, she could look at only one of his eyes at a time. "You're magic," she said.” 

“Happily ever after, or even just together ever after, is not cheesy,” Wren said. “It’s the noblest, like, the most courageous thing two people can shoot for.”