BOOK TALK: carry on by rainbow rowell

Hello, cuties!

Recently for my English class, we had to read a book that featured a 'clash of cultures' theme. For my book, I chose Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. I actually squealed when I saw it sitting on the library shelf. I have been waiting for this. 

NON SPOILERS: 

Carry On is a story of both adventure and romance. Simon Snow is the greatest Mage to ever exist, and with the help of his adoptive(??) father and his friends, must defeat the Insidious Humdrum. 

Simon's roommate, Basilton Pitch, happens to be his nemesis. And at the beginning of their final year at Watford School for Mages, Baz is nowhere to be found. Simon and his friend Penelope believe that he is plotting against Simon, or assisting the Insidious Humdrum. 

That's all I can supply you with. Sorry. 

SPOILERS: 

I LOVED this book. I was so excited to read this book when I found out that it was both about wizards and LGBT+ characters. 

Basilton Pitch was by far my favorite character. The way that Baz thought about Simon was so cute from the very beginning, and for my English project I got to write an essay on similarities between Baz and I - am I not a queer vampire? 

Penelope was a close second. She is a talented magician, and Simon's very best friend. She is very narrow-minded when it comes to the future up until her final year at Watford. She's at the top of the class, and she plans to follow in her parents' footsteps. Penelope is reliable and quick-thinking, and keeps Simon and Baz out of trouble countless times. 

I do feel like the beginning was quite slow. I wasn't instantly into the novel, so if you're disinterested with the first 50 pages, please keep reading! It gets better!! 

I also read on a lot of other blogs and review sights that people were annoyed by how similar Carry On was to Harry Potter. 

Similarities I found: "chosen one" troupe, wizards, wizard school, nemesis. 

Personally, I think that all of these are fairly common cliches. I am a big Harry Potter fan, and there are a lot of differences. Draco and Harry never fell in love. Harry never lost his magic. The magic worked differently, even. Harry Potter is such a well-known book that it has set a precedent for all other wizard novels, and that makes it hard for writers with new wizard ideas to publish those. {End Rant}. 

Back to the positive. I am an absolute sucker for romance, and this book spoke to that bit of me(much like Rowell's other novels). Simon and Baz were a slow-burn kind of romance, hitting a crescendo in the last 50 pages of the book when Penelope finally saw them as a couple. It wasn't too fast, but it happened, and it was perfect. 

In the end, the story with the Humdrum and the Mage ends up being so complicated that it's hard to summarize it. Basically, the Humdrum is Simon, the Mage is kind of evil, and Simon will lose his magic(and grow wings and a tail?). 

If you plan on reading Carry On, I have a few warnings for you: 

- do not read if you can't stand gay relationships

- do not read if you can't stand kissing(a lot)

- do no fall in love with the mage!! please!!

- penelope is the independent woman feminist character, please appreciate her

Thank you for reading! What did you think of Carry On by Rainbow Rowell?