Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Carry On

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

90 reviews

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much! And the audiobook had the best narration I've ever heard! The narrator did an amazing job making every character sound completely distinct. I'm glad they kept this narrator for the rest of the series!

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mauripage's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was definitely an enjoyable read! I loved how it gave me lgbtq Harry Potter vibes (due to its focus on mages and magic) and how extremely funny some of the characters were. The tone was lighthearted and unique, and I enjoyed that the author wasn’t shy to explicitly tell us when a POV was being changed by having their name on the bottom of the chapter number. The characters (all except one) were likable and the dynamics were cute. I love the romantic relationship with the main characters Simon and Baz. They were so cute!

Howver, I do have a few nuances with this novel. For one, the pacing. Though it got to the point, I feel like doing such took away from building upon the relationship between Simon and Baz and of course the world building,.

starting this story relationships are already set as the characters have known one another for seven plus years now. Simon, our ticking time bomb, our “chosen one”, and Baz, our cursed one, are destined to be enemies.

They Are destined to fight to the death and save the magical realm. The author talked so much aboir these destinies and the grips that came with it (neither one wanting to actually kill each other). And the conflicts that provided that fact. So why weren’t we able to even TEASE a bit of it? I feel like this book dragged when it came to setting execution to the world that was provided. The world building was so unique and fun, but we didn’t get too see too much of that. I feel as if the main “plot” was being swept under the rug a bit.

Now for the POV Switches- most of the characters held strong in their tone of voice and I enjoyed their point of view! However, the POV in one of the main characters of the story, Agatha, was absolutely grating to get through.

Her character was a nuscience the entire book, and her personality was a little hard to swallow. In this first book Agatha seems so selfish and self entitled. She’s the character that years for a “normal life” and likes to mind her business, but in being complicit makes me loath her even more.

She doesn’t have a backbone, always follows the rules and the currents that sweep her, and is a bit two faced. She wants a destiny for herself she chooses, which is understandable when dating the “Chosen One”, but to not have the backbone to fight for injustice but also wanting to keep others safe? She’s an irony in itself. She did not grow at all by the end of the book.

Also, the ending was so underwhelming and the big bad plot twist villain was hardly a plot twist, anyone could have seen it from a mile away. All in all this book was good for what’s it for, and I’d definitely read it again. Also! This is a series with two more books on the way to my front doorstep as we speak so I won’t hold off on this series yet as things could change!

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halaagmod's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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robin_hood's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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reinik's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you liked Harry Potter (especially if you liked Harry/Draco fanfic) you will probably really enjoy this. You've got a UK magical school, a "chosen one" who is more impulse than strategy, a best friend who is a super competent and intelligent girl, a rival who's family is elitist about bloodlines, a headmaster with dubious intent towards the "chosen one," and an animal-loving figure who lives on the grounds of the magic school who treats the "chosen one" like family. The main characters are older and more diverse, the magic system works differently, and there is some great humor along with the action and drama. (For anyone who has had Harry Potter soured for them after J. K. Rowling's words and actions in recent years, this may be a nice alternative that scratches the itch for a similar story and world.)

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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The only thing stopping me from really liking this book is that one of the main characters is an unapologetic bigot and this is never addressed or treated with the seriousness it should be.

SO, on to my more in-depth thoughts on the book. I thought the beginning was fairly strong. I really liked Simon’s POV and while the world-building could be a bit of an info dump, I didn’t fully mind it and thought Simon’s inner monologue made it rather funny. I thought Simon’s break from the traditional chosen one of selflessness and martyrdom was a nice change, I like that he wanted to be selfish and have his own life. I liked the women characters in the book for the most part, but it didn’t feel like the book could quite decide if being fem was a good thing or something to be shamed. The relationships felt realistic and I enjoyed getting into their dynamics. As for our other leading man, Baz, I thought his POV was hilarious. He’s so wildly dramatic is was fun to listen to. He’s funny and sarcastic, but more aware of his feelings and (mostly) how to handle them as opposed to Simon, which was a nice change. I thought the foreshadowing of the book was extremely well done and none of the twist were particularly dissatisfying and I thought every one made sense.

While the world building isn’t really something you can look at too hard, I don’t mind it, especially when it lends to interesting dynamics between characters and (sometimes) nuances in their world views and the conflicts happening. It made me wish the nuance could be carried into more things and when it wasn’t it fell short. A handful of things in the book were presented as shades of grey, but others were stark black and white with no variation in between and that felt like a bit of a let down.

Finally, there were a handful of more problematic things that made me dislike the book and kinda cemented for me that I wouldn’t be continuing the series, which is disappointing because I think the books have a lot of potential. To start with, Baz and his family are horribly bigoted and this is never addressed. It’s mentioned a few times, but this never gives Simon pause in making out with Baz nor does he bring it up as a sort of “hey this is a really shitty way of thinking and I want to see it change because I’m not going to date a bigot.” It’s largely swept under the rug by the end of the book unless Baz wants to angst about being a vampire. Furthermore on the topic of Simon and Baz’s relationship, I hated the way Simon’s sexuality was treated. Every character seems to drive home he HAS to either be straight or gay as if sexuality isn’t a spectrum and there aren’t other sexualities out there that he could be. As someone who themself is queer and is attracted to multiple genders, it was upsetting to read about these characters ignoring that and insisting Simon must be one or the other. Finally, there’s the book’s inconsistent treatment of femininity. It was strange to me the only opening feminine character was often depicted as a mean girl who did very little to help or care for her friends and it was never clear if Penny’s blatantly misogynistic views on felinity and women who want to be feminine were being supported by the author. Perhaps some of these are remedied in the later books, but they just left a sour taste in my mouth for the first one and have deterred me from continuing the series.

Overall, I think the book was just okay, but was held back by a handful of iffy writing decisions and the seeming pushing of some questionable views.

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letiross's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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dallas_'s review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

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crufts's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

18-year-old Simon Snow is a student in his final year at Watford, a school for British teens with magical abilities. But Simon isn't just anyone; he's the Chosen One of the magical world, singled out by a prophecy to defeat the evil and mysterious Insidious Humdrum.

For seven years, Simon has battled the Humdrum and its legions of dangerous monsters, while reluctantly sharing a dorm room with his nemesis Baz (Basilton Pitch). But this year, something's wrong. The Humdrum's reach is spreading further and further, and Baz has gone missing. Can Simon live up to the prophecies, find Baz, and stop the Humdrum before it's too late?

For context, Carry On is the epic-length fanfiction written by the protagonist of another book by Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl. The protagonist of Fangirl (Cath) writes Carry On as her imagined final volume to the end of the "real" Simon Snow series, which at the time was unfinished. I mention this to explain why Carry On jumps straight into Simon's final year at school.

The opening chapters of Carry On are rather slow-paced, as Simon spends a lot of time reflecting on his past seven years of schooling, effectively giving the reader the necessary exposition to bring them up to speed.

This was helpful to establish that despite some parallels drawn during Fangirl, the magical worldbuilding and character dynamics are significantly different to that of the Harry Potter series. Simon is not really a Harry Potter analogue at all; he's more of a generic Chosen One analogue who just happens to go to a magic school, as clarified in the author's closing notes.
This was refreshing and interesting. Without going into spoilers, characters like the Best Friend, the Girlfriend, the Wise Mentor Figure, and the Big Bad were all significantly different and created different dynamics to the Harry Potter series.

The other distinguishing quality was the use of first-person point-of-view, with the POV switching between many different characters. At times I found these rapid back-and-forth switches a tad disorienting. However, it was also intriguing to see the inner thoughts of the characters, and it made characters like

Agatha

more sympathetic.

By the 25% mark of the book, the inciting incident had been planted and I was keen to see how the rest of the story would turn out. I was enjoying watching the characters interact and seeing the magic system play out, and generally having fun following the progression of the mystery.

Some parts of the text were a little bulky, with a lot of navel-gazing and extraneous detail. Fortunately, if you read through these parts without paying close attention, you won't miss anything important. All points in the book that are actually important have attention clearly drawn to them.

Much of this bulky text was the exposition of the seven-year backstory. I couldn't help but feel that something was lost by jumping straight into this "final book" (well, the final fanfiction) of the Simon Snow series. To ensure that events made sense, the author had to frequently call back to events that would have happened in the "previous books". This was a little frustrating, but given that this is supposed to be Cath's "final book" fanfiction, I'm not sure how else it could be done.

On that note, I didn't notice much of Cath's influence on the writing. I was expecting to see some kind of hint that this was a story written by Cath, specifically, containing all the elements that she would want in a fanfiction.
But the text reads like it was written by a neutral, professional third party. And apart from the

Simon/Baz

relationship, there didn't seem to be any overt author appeal in the way that fanfictions often have. Arguably, this was a necessary stylistic choice to make the book palatable to people who haven't read Fangirl.

The ending of the novel was dramatic, exciting, and made logical sense. There was plenty of character development in supporting characters like

Agatha and Baz

, which was great.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel and would recommend it as an entertaining take on the Chosen One trope.

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