Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Publication Date: October 6, 2015

Page Count: 522

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.

Rating: 5/5 beautiful, amazing, wonderful stars!

So, you might say that I'm just a tad obsessed with this book. (I may or may not be listening to a Snowbaz themed playlist on 8tracks while writing this...) It was just so amazing!! Okay, I'm going to start with talking about the characters before this turns into a fangirling session. So, without further adieu, let's discuss the lead character,

Simon Snow: Simon has to be the absolute cutest main character I've had the pleasure to read about lately! I loved how Ms. Rowell made him, and I quote, "the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen." To be honest, it made him a whole lot more relatable! He struggled to control his extremely powerful magic and be who he was 'supposed' to be, and these flaws gave a lot of depth to his character. Simon was just such an all-around cute and sweet character that it was a pleasure to read from his perspective! (He does have a bit of a mouth on him though.. ;))

Now let's talk about Simon's roommate, nemesis, and then... Something else...

Baz: My love for Baz is boundless. (Kind of like Simon's ;)) Okay, seriously though, I just loved him! He had such a sassy, sarcastic attitude, and a great sense of drama! (Open Sesame, anyone?) The author's development of his character throughout the story is absolutely brilliant. Rainbow Rowell gave you his identity first through the eyes of other characters, setting the mood for a broody, evil nemesis, but when you get to read through his POV, you see who he really is... And to be honest, my heart kind of broke for him. Multiple times, actually. *sigh* I just really love Baz, okay?!

Okay, moving on to,

Penelope Bunce: Okay, Penelope is a total boss. Penelope is rather like Hermione in many aspects, however, as she is Simon's only friend, her boss-ness shines through more. I loved how she took everything to do with Simon in stride, as long as she believed it was the best thing for him. And her magic skills though! Penelope was extremely intelligent and she's definitely one of my favorite supporting characters of all time!

And I suppose that I should now talk about,

Agatha Wellbelove: I'll be straight up honest with you guys--I didn't like Agatha. And no, it's not because she 'got in the way of my ship,' (SHE DIDN'T, HA!) it's because she just annoyed me! I found her to be very self-centered and whiny. She did add a good aspect to the story, and I can appreciate that, but, just... No. I think I did like her a bit when reading the epilogue... Just a bit. (Sorry Agatha lovers, it's just my personal opinion!)

And, finally,

Snowbaz: What? I can't talk about a relationship? I was going to anyway, but in the plot or something.. But I decided to put it here!

I was pleasantly surprised with Simon and Baz's relationship. I shouldn't have been, Ms. Rowell always creates the best relationships! Honestly though, I saw the progression, (definitely not Insta-love) and the way they supported each other... Let me just say, these two put the phrase, 'my better half,' to shame. They were there for each other when it was needed and brought out the best (and worst) in one another. And, let's face it, their relationship was freaking cute, none of this, ahem, 'purely physical' stuff.. Just cuteness! *heart eyes*

Writing: Rainbow Rowell has done it again! A couple months ago I started reading her books, and I'm already dying to read Attachments and Landline! Her cute, fluffy, addictive style of writing has already added her both to my favorite authors and auto-buy authors list.

Plot: Everything about this book was perfect. I found it wonderfully paced, intriguing, magical, and yet, Ms. Rowell still managed to give it that cutesy, contemporary feel! She really made it feel like the 8th book in a well-developed series by weaving in plenty of backstory. I couldn't help being sucked into the wonderfully magical storyline and root for the amazing characters, which is what has this book my favorite of 2015 so far.

I recommend this book to EVERYONE. But, especially if you enjoyed Fangirl and/or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.