Reviews

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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leona's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

ciuli's review against another edition

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4.0

Edit: may 5th, 2024

This is my nth time rereading this book, as I've said before, it's my comfort read and I will always get back to reading it again every other year.
God, I had missed Simon and Baz so much! I just love these characters with my whole heart.

I listened to the audio book this time and I deeply recommend it to anyone who might be interested in this book and who likes audio books. The voice actor did an amazing job, it portrayed the emotions and the literal voices of the characters so well! I can't tell you how many times I found myself snorting out loud lmao

I would also like to add something to my original review. When I first read this book I was much younger so some stuff that I noticed now went completely over my head, like Agatha. Agatha is such a relatable character, honestly! Like, this girl just wants to finish high school and spend times with her friends without having to worry about magical wars, can you blame her?
I cracked up so bad when she mentioned tape, like she was so fed up with all the magic stuff and she just went "why can't they just use tape?!?", it was so relatable I laughed at it for 5 minutes

*******

4/5

This is my second time reading this book and yes, I dropped one star from my original rating and I'll explain you why.

Let me begin by saying, that my dropping one star does not mean that I don't like this book anymore, that I don't care deeply for these characters or anything else. I LOVE this book. I can easily say that it's my favorite fantasy YA novel.
However, while I was reading it again I noticed a few things that I didn't really focus on when I binged it the first time around.

As I said in one of my notes while I was reading, this book is a comfy read for me. Any time I need a book to cheer me up, to make me feel at home, I think of this book.

My feelings are mostly character-driven, because I think it's the characters that really make this book, not actually the plot. You can't help but care for Simon, for Baz and even for Penelope, even if I slightly dislike her. However, I noticed a few character traits that made me look back and think "is this actually happening?!".
Let's take for example when they need to go home for Christmas holidays. I mean. Penelope knows that Simon will be staying at Watford by himself if no one invites him home, and she just doesn't seem to care at all?! I mean, are you for real girl?! This is supposed to be your best friend we're talking about! And she just goes "see ya" because her mother told doesn't trust Simon. She doesn't even try to defend him, she just goes along with it. I'm not saying that she should put Simon before her family, or that her family is wrong or anything. But she could at least offered to stay with him at Watford for a while, invite him home for Christmas, and then go back to Watford. It's not like she was never going to meet her family again, while Simon would have been on his own.

The second thing that irked me a little be involved both Baz and Penelope, and it's when they unveil the truth and they just push it on Simon, without even caring about how he might be feeling. They tell him that he's the one causing the holes, that it's his fault (with this same tact) and don't even realize that he's probably already thinking about how to kill himself so that he can save everyone else. They just push the truth on him and expect him to accept it without reacting. What were they expecting, really?

Anyway, this is just my feelings on these parts, but it's not the only reason why I dropped a star. The other reason is the slow pace at the beginning of the book. I didn't care about it the first time because I basically read the book in one day, but I really did notice it now that I took it slower. Baz comes back after 200 pages. 200. That's half the book and that's just too much time spent on nonsense. Because nothing really happens in the first half, it's just world building, not even character building.

But I repeat, this does not mean that I do not love this book and that I won't read it again in a month or so. I don't think I could ever get tired of Simon and Baz.

heyimarty's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

ollieoxnfree's review against another edition

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5.0

It’s like a weird, grown up version of Harry Potter. Where Ron is the chosen one and Harry is a yummy rich boy villain who's hot for Ron. But they don't get along very well. And Hermione is way funnier with the confidence she deserves and not so pretentious. The ghosts are better, the villain isn't so transparent, and the mystery is just as fun. Oh and Harry is a Vampire and cross about not being the chosen one, though I think that isn’t the real reason he’s cross. There's a lot that is similar as far as the magical structure to hogwarts, but it is very much a wonderful story in its own right. It does seem a bit like fan fiction in a way, especially in the beginning when the author is setting up the world building and magical system, but it is so much more. I won’t say that those that loved the Potter books will love this as it is not for children, or written so universally for all audiences. There's quite a bit of cursing and snogging. I can’t imagine a kind of person that wouldn’t enjoy it, unless you’re homophobic and in that case, get over yourself. The narrator was just amazing, completely on point. He has a deep voice so the female characters were not perfect but honestly he did such a good with the acting that it wasn’t much noticeable. I loved how much it was brought up that being normal is worth doing, and being special isn’t for everyone. It was across the board a wonderful listen.