Carry On

DNF @ 7% (aka page 34) with extreme prejudice.

I've seen this book cover and book everywhere, especially on LGBT book lists and recommendations. I thought it was a book with good LGBT representation! Boy, was I wrong.

The first thing I noticed was that its universe is almost identical to that of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Except with different names and labels. Spells have different phrases, the muggles are called Normals, Hogwarts is now called Watford, etc. But Simon Snow is still the Chosen One, spells are still cast by wands, Simon is still an orphan, he's still friends with someone on the grounds who tends the animals, school is still "the safest place for him", etc. etc. etc.

Thirty-four pages in, I closed the book and went to show more google. Is this a shameless rip-off of Harry Potter? I'm not even a huge HP fan, nor have I even read all the books, but this is extremely obvious.

Here's what I learned (and why I dropped the book):

Rainbow Rowell (the author if Carry On), previously wrote something called Fangirl. Fangirl is about, you guessed it: Fangirls. Straight women who write slash aka gay fanfiction of their favorite straight (and usually white) characters in any given media. These fangirls are usually treated with mock and scorn by most people. Me included ... because I'm not straight, and most of these women are fetishizing gay men and using them for their own and usually sexual enjoyment. Aka treating gay men as only tools for their own enjoyment, and not as people themselves. Which is why canon gay representation is ignored by them in favor of their "fav white (straight) boys", the likes you've probably heard of: Destiel, Sterek, Johnlock, Stucky, etc.

That book sought to say "fangirls writing fanfic of slash is a legitimate hobby!".

And yet . . . every character (even the side characters) was straight. There were NO non-straight characters in the book. At All. So the ONLY gay characters were in fiction. For the straight characters to ship for her own enjoyment. And they weren't even gay in canon.

The worst part of it is?
The characters she was shipping and writing about were from the Harry Potter universe: Harry and Draco. The actual fic she was writing was This Book: Carry On.

This actual book is a slash fanfiction published.

A gay fetishization fanfiction published. show less

I have to start by saying that while I have read FANGIRL it was a long time ago. I didn't remember much about Simon, Baz, Penny and Agatha from that book. For me that story was about Cath and Levi. I also felt that Simon as a Chosen One was eerily similar to another Chosen One of book, movie and theme park fame. However, as I read further and got to know him, I grew to really like Simon Snow.

I liked that this story was told from multiple viewpoints. Seeing how each of their views of each other changed through the course of this book was fascinating. Simon's struggles with his magic and Baz's struggles with his new life and with his growing attraction to his enemy Simon were perfectly clear when viewed through their own eyes and in show more their own voices.

Everyone's belief that Simon was the answer to a long-held prophecy put great pressure on him. Especially when his own magic was immense but not at all in his control. His hero - the Mage - was a person of mystery. Seeing him through the eyes of those who knew him when he was young and the eyes of someone who loved him helped paint the picture of a man in the grip of an obsession that could destroy the whole magical world.

I liked the romance between Baz and Simon too. It grew steadily throughout the story and came to a satisfying conclusion. I also liked Simon's relationship with his friend Penny.

I might recommend reading FANGIRL before reading this one because I'm sure there were nuances that I missed. But it was a great epic fantasy and romance with achingly real characters and stands quite well on its own. show less

Simon Snow, The Chosen One, is excited to start his final year of the magical boarding school Watford, but he's also a little distracted. His nemesis/roommate Baz is nowhere to be found. Where is he?? Simon is obsessed with finding out. Meanwhile, The Insidious Humdrum is still creating magical dead-zones all over England. The Mage, head of the school and Simon's mentor, is fighting the Humdrum but also antagonizing the parents of his students by searching their property. Simon receives a very important message meant for Baz, and when Baz eventually turns up Simon is so relieved that he decides to put aside his rivalry and help Baz solve a decade-old mystery.

Simon and Baz are squishily cute. I thought the overall plot was kind of show more lackluster but I loved all of the characters and very much especially Simon and Baz.
This book is a Harry Potter pastiche with little improvements made here and there - diversity of characters, a more defined system of magic, and small logical corrections to the magical world. It's a spin-off from Rowell's previous book [Fangirl], about a young woman who writes fanfic about Simon Snow. In the end, this book's appeal is also its greatest weakness - it cannot stand up on its own and can only exist in the shadow of Harry Potter. Prior knowledge of the Harry Potter world and the plot progression of its 7 books carry a lot of the weight of understanding Simon's first 7 years at school, which are just barely mentioned. My understanding of and empathy for Simon is entirely the result of my love for Harry Potter, and is not really earned by this book itself. This doesn't make it any less of a FUN book to read! I greatly enjoyed it, but I would never recommend it to someone who hasn't read Harry Potter over and over and over again. show less

Simon Snow has entered his eighth and final year at the Watford School of Magicks and the entire World of Mages is falling to pieces around him. The Old Families are continuing to push against the boundaries that have been set by the Mage, the Insidious Humdrum is still sucking magic from the very atmosphere, and worst of all, Simon's roommate, Baz, is nowhere to be found at the start of term which means he's probably seriously plotting Simon's demise. As Simon and his best friend, Penelope, work to figure out just how they can possibly defeat the Humdrum they end up allied with people they never would have expected.

When I read Fangirl for the first time a couple years ago, I was fascinated by the glimpses into the world of Simon Snow show more and its delightful magic. So, of course, I was beyond excited when I learned that Rainbow Rowell was going to write an entire novel just about Simon. I'm pleased to report the novel didn't disappoint. The system of magic is fascinating - I love the concept that common phrases and cliches are the most powerful words. But the best part of the book, as with any Rowell novel, is the characters. I found the multiple perspectives a fantastic approach to the narrative and have to admit that sarcastic Baz is probably my favourite as he made me laugh the most. Highly recommended to Rowell fans and newbies alike, particularly those who have a fondness for stories with magic and kissing. show less

Such great fun. After re-reading the Harry Potter series this was like a breath of fresh air. It has a great sense of humor which is really lacking in HP, and a nice fast pace which is also lacking in HP. I loved the characters who all were very realistic and the pop culture references throughout made them even more relatable. The author's take on spells was really interesting--that phrases become spells as people use them more and more and imbue those phrases with meaning. My only minor quibble with the book was the chaning 1st person perspective because if i had to stop reading mid-chapter it would sometimes confuse me when I picked the book up again and couldn't remember who was narrating. I wish this really was just one in a series show more because I'm longing for more now that it's done. show less

Rainbow Rowell's previous novel Fangirl is about a girl who writes very popular fan fiction of the (fictional) Simon Snow books. Fangirl contained both excerpts from the Simon Snow books and from the fanfic the main character wrote about them. So many readers of Fangirl were so intrigued by the characters from the Simon Snow universe that Rowell decided to write, as she says in the Author Note to Carry On, "the story [she] felt [she] owed them [the characters]." Carry On is that story.

Carry On makes no reference, either in the narrative itself or in the jacket copy, to Fangirl, and I think it can probably be read without having read Fangirl first (though having read the previous book would almost certainly enhance the experience of show more Carry On). In Carry On, Simon Snow is in his final (eighth) year at the magickal school Watford. He is "the Chosen One," but he's bad at it, having more magic than anyone in living memory but also having little control over it. The Insidious Humdrum, a mysterious force that sucks all the magic out of any place it appears, seems to be gaining power, and a war is brewing between the Mage, the leader of the magickal people of Britain, and the old families, who do not like his interfering "new" ways of doing things. Meanwhile, Simon has split up with his long-time girlfriend and is increasingly obsessed with the well-being of his long-time enemy and roommate, Baz. From there, the story is an adventure/mystery (why didn't Baz show up for the beginning of term? where did the Humdrum come from? who were Simon's parents?) and a love story. (I won't spoil that love story, but if you've read Fangirl, you know. Also: slowest of slow burns. If you like that thing fanfic can be so good at where it spools out an inevitable pairing with exquisite character and developmental detail, Carry On is for you.)

I loved pretty much everything about this book (maaaybe the resolution to the actually plotty plot bits was a little bit thin), but the thing that surprised me was how fascinating the indirect commentary on fantasy stories about "chosen ones" was. Harry Potter is the most direct parallel, and watching how Rowell stirs up the HP elements and often (lovingly) criticizes them was an unexpected treat. You thought Harry was a little too well adjusted given his background and treatment? Simon is messed up. It's ridiculous to think that wizards and witches would have no clue how to use muggle technology? Mages use both technology and magic, and eschew "unnecessary" magic. The list goes on. The details of Rowell's world building are brilliant and self-consistent, but many of them tweak the workings of other stories of this ilk, too. (Possibly the most lovely, magnificent piece of world building here is that the spells are clichés that have gained power through repeated popular use. ("As you were" returns things to their previous state, "Come out, come out, wherever you are" is a revealing spell.) The words have gained the power to do things. Mmmm, speech act theory.) The meta aspect of the story is part of what made it such a wonderful read for me (though it was a squeeful, grin-like-a-silly-thing, clutch-the-book-to-my-chest read for other reasons too).

I hoped (without really thinking it would happen) that Rowell would write exactly this book when I read Fangirl, and I've been waiting for it with great anticipation ever since it was announced. Expectations: met. show less

4.75
Harry Potter + Lots of Fun Swearing + LGBT Romance
😍😍😍 FUNNNN BOOOOK This book is a way to revisit all of the Harry Pottery fun. This is another adorable book. Baz and Simon sent butterflies to my stomach. FEELINGS. Beyond my feelings for this lovely ship, I also find the plot intriguing and fascinating. Also, funny. It would still be a fun read without the relationship but it just multiplied my enjoyment. There were so many layers of excellence and honestly, the only reason that I didn’t give this book a full five stars is because it wasn’t the epitome of mind blowing. I know, that’s a bit of a high standard but I’m trying to be more critical of my reads and reserve five star ratings for the absolute best of the show more best of the best but this doesn’t degrade my opinion on this read. It was fun and intriguing and hilarious. show less