Carry On Review + Why Simon/Baz Belong Together

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Published by St. Martin’s Grifin on October 6th 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, Fantasy
Pages: 522
Format: Hardcover

LINKS: Good Reads | Amazon | Indigo | Book Depository

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.

First Line:

I walk to the bus station by myself.

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Review

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is a fantasy/contemporary about a young magician that literally sucks at magic but happens to be the chosen one! With a cool concept, interesting magic system and great characters this book takes you on a wild ride.

The world building is a bit heavy with this book since it is a standalone and has to throw in 17 years of Simon’s life into 500 + pages. But aside from that Rowell did well with the concept and making it her own. There is also the unique magic system she created. Casting spells using certain phrases like “Open Sesame,” or “I Wish I Could Fly.” I thought that was rather cool and interesting. Some of the spells had me giggling and others had me face palming over the awkwardness of it all.

Simon and Baz were such rich characters in terms of being 3-dimensional and relative. Simon is a klutz, he sucks at controlling his magic, and fumbles through relationships like any other teenage boy out there. Baz is sophisticated and poised. He may be hiding major secrets and likes to keep to himself because of it, but there was just so much that pulls you in with intrigue.

Now comes the hard part, what I didn’t quite enjoy about the story. We’ll start with the writing. I hated and quite found it annoying all the parentheses that were used in the story. I felt it repetitive and redundant. One or two every now and then is fine, but when it is used 11 times in one chapter (see chapter 2) it just started to get under my skin.

I didn’t like the actual plot itself. I thought it was messy and not that well played out. And don’t get me started on all the POV changes. Don’t get me wrong, I love multiple POV’s in books, but only when it is written well. Unfortunately for Carry On, it was not. I thought it was all over the place and a lot of chapters weren’t really needed.

So I over all liked the book, maybe not as much as others, but still enjoyable none the less.

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Why Simon/Baz Belong Together

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT UP AHEAD.

Probably one of the only saving graces of this book is the relationship between Simon and Baz! I was completely enamored by these two that is was borderline creepy how much I wanted them to end up together in the end. And here is why:

Simon is completely lost without Baz and vice versa

All Simon could think about in the beginning half of the book was where Baz was. His whole living revolved around Baz’s whereabouts.

As for Baz he has been harboring feelings for Simon since they started school together 7 years prior. He lives and breathes Simon day and night.

Their banter is life

They can’t help but be mean to each other. And because of this, it made for an enjoyable dialogue between the two.

That kiss though

I think I might have actually squealed when it happened. There was such a build up to that scene that I was on the edge of my seat praying it would happen!

Chemistry was perfect

They are complete opposites in almost every way. So I guess the saying “opposites attract” is perfect for Simon and Baz.

As much as they would never admit it, they need each other. One is like anchor for the other and vice versa. They live and breath each other and it is completely adorable!

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Ok, that’s it. Let me know what you guys thought of Carry On by Rainbow Rowell! I would love to hear your opinions as well!

Until next time,

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Rainbow Rowell writes books. Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS and LANDLINE). Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK and FANGIRL). But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they’re screwing up. And people who fall in love.

When she’s not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things.

She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.