"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."
-- Summary via Goodreads
Review by: anonymous
5/5 Stars
Mutual Pining: The Book
(It’s really Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, but shhhhh)
If I were ever asked to summarize Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, I think I could do it in four words: “Mutual Pining: The Book”. This description is not particularly because there was an overabundance of mutual pining in this book; there was actually quite the perfect amount. It’s more because never in a million years have I seen mutual pining so well executed. They say the mark of a good author is when the reader (you) wants to shake a character by the shoulders for their (stupid) decisions, as opposed to shaking the author by the shoulders for their characters' (stupid) decisions. This book, Carry On, makes you want to shake the characters by the shoulders so much that your head could quite literally explode. Carry On makes you want to slam your head on the table while shaking in both fury and suspense (“please kiss already” will become your motto while reading this book). Carry On makes you want to punch Agatha throughout the first half of the book (and maybe even throughout the whole book) for all the (kind of) stupid things she does throughout. There’s a whole bunch of other things Carry On makes you want to do, and not all of them are rage-induced (I promise). Almost every character makes you excited to see them, and each word leaves you wanting more. Each mention of Baz makes you all the more excited to see him (because they make him sound just as snarky as the main character, and he is, having two snarky main characters makes this book even better), and every word out of Simon makes you wish he had good parents. Overall, the characters are deep, and are filled to the brim with personality. Overall, the book was the perfect amount of dramatic and angsty (backed by the overarching love of two of the main characters). The ending of this book leaves you feeling like everyone got what they deserved (and quite happy for the hopelessly-in-love couple who plagues you with their mutual pining throughout a good chunk of the book), and it makes sure to let the reader see the happy ending each character gets. Not everything becomes perfect by the end of the book, but it gets better, and that’s what matters.