From the cover:
"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."
For those of you who have not read Fangirl, it goes hand-in-hand with this book (and is one of my favorite books of all time, but you know...this isn't a Fangirl review.). Fangirl is about fan fiction writer, Cath, who is a diehard fan of the Simon Snow series and...you ready for this?...wrote the fanfic that is Carry On. I mean, look, Rainbow Rowell says it shouldn't be considered a work of fanfic by Cath, but let's be real...that's what it is. And it's also pretty clearly inspired by Harry Potter, which makes this all so meta and cool.
Anyway. Let's talk about the book itself. For starters, I'm going to share a quote from right after Simon admits to Baz that he tries not to think about anything, because thinking about things you can't have or help is too painful.
"You're the most powerful magician alive - who's ever lived, probably. You can have anything you want. How is it pointless for you to think about that?"
Snow pushes up on both elbows and lets his head fall in my direction. "Because it doesn't matter. In the end, I just do what's expected of me. When the Humdrum comes after me, I fight him. When he sends dragons, I kill them. When you trick me into meeting a chimera, I go off. I don't get to choose or plan. I just take it as it comes. And someday, something will catch me unawares or be too big to fight, but I'll fight anyway. I'll fight until I can't anymore - what is there to think about?"
This book is so funny, and Simon is such a physical, act first and think later character that it can be easy to forget the weight and expectations that he carries around with him and start to believe that he really does go through life without thinking about anything going on. Really, Simon is just a kid who had impossible expectations placed on him at a young age and only wants to live a normal life. I want to squeeze him and tell him everything will be ok.
Another quote, this one from Baz after he and Simon have teamed up to solve their mystery.
"I didn't expect to mend any fences with all this...co-operating. I didn't expect to convince or convert Snow. But I thought we were making progress. Like, maybe when this was all over, he and I would still be standing on either side of the trench, but we wouldn't be spitting at each other. We wouldn't be spoiling for the fight. I know Simon and I will always be enemies...But I thought maybe we'd get to a point where we didn't want to be."
Baz is so cool and unruffled on the surface, and he seems not to feel or care about anything, but there is so much going on under the surface. And Rowell is so great at including little details throughout the book that give readers insight into who here characters are. I love it. At first blush, this book seems straightforward, fun, maybe a little lighthearted...but it's so much deeper than that. It's really a beautiful book!
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