Book Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On
by Rainbow Rowell

(Finished reading: 4/9/19)

4.5/5 stars.

Hilarious, witty, heart-warming.

Carry On is a spin off based on the Simon Snow stories and fan fiction created by Rainbow Rowell in Fangirl. The story follows Simon Snow, the chosen one, who is hopeless at magic and spells despite the prophecy stating he will save the World of Mages. When Simon's roommate and arch-nemesis Baz fails to turn up to school on the first day to torment Simon, Simon becomes increasingly concerned. Especially considering that his mentor, the Mage himself, has become very distant and his girlfriend isn't speaking to him either. This is not the start of his final year at Watford School of Magicks that he expected before he inevitably must save the world.

After reading Fangirl many years ago, I was reluctant to read Carry On because I really disliked the Simon Snow extracts in Fangirl. I found them really difficult to get through and skimmed through them to get back to the main story. So when I found out that Carry On was a novel exclusively about Simon Snow I thought that there was no way I would enjoy that. But oh, how I was wrong. So very wrong. Carry On is written in Rainbow Rowell's hilarious and quirky voice but pokes fun at the ridiculous chosen one trope that is so prevalent in young adult fiction. It's funny, character-driven and romantic but also intelligent and imaginative. It is nothing I expected it to be but everything I needed it to be.

The characters are 100% what make this story the absurd masterpiece that it is. The story is told through the voices of more or less all of the characters at some point in the novel. I really liked this format because not only did we get to know a character in their own voice, but we got to know them through their peers' perceptions of them. Baz was definitely hands down my favourite character of the bunch. I loved his dark wit, sarcastic humour and that his character was so consistently Baz-like in every situation. In fact, I don't think I fully started enjoying the book until we encounter Baz and then I immediately knew I was in for a treat. His character is so complex and deep and we really do see all the sides of Baz throughout the book: his cold dark exterior, his emotional turmoil for his mother, his softness and vulnerability for Simon, but also his certainty about who he is. In contrast, Simon is very much uncertain about everything in his life. His confusion and mixed emotions are what really drives the story forward. Rainbow Rowell really succeeds in creating this really ironic character that's had his whole life planned out for him and yet he's the most uncertain about who he is out of all the characters. We're presented with a chosen one whose reluctant to be the chosen one. I think this is what makes the book such a great one because a lot of young people can relate to Simon's struggle of not knowing himself. (Side note: I also really loved Agatha, who we all expected to be the reluctant friend who eventually decides to join forces but instead turns out to be the one running away all "oh hell no". Again, bending and twisting the tropes of this genre.)

Carry On is basically the Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy/Twilight fanfic we didn't know we needed but we all deserve. I'm a sucker for a romance that blossoms from enemies to lovers and this story just made me want to squeal and smile. I loved the hilarious rapport between Simon and Baz throughout the book and it makes their relationship so much more loveable and hilarious. It was so refreshing to read a mainstream young adult novel that focuses on a male/male romance that's crafted in such a natural and organic way. For a kind of ridiculous book, the romance felt so real and pure. It didn't feel forced like the terrible reputation of a lot of gay fanfiction, it felt well-crafted and very necessary in the story. Despite the slightly absurd magical setting, it all boils down to a story about friendship and love in a high-school environment.

Having said this, the absurd magic and world building was actually one of my favourite parts of the book. In the World of Mages, the magic manifests in language. So mages use cliches, nursery rhymes, song lyrics and movie quotes in order to produce certain spells in order to do certain things. This resulted in hilarious moments when the characters must cast certain nonsense spells in life-threatening situations. More advanced spells also require advanced understanding of language, for example, one of the spells requires knowledge of the great vowel shift of the 1600s. As a book lover and lover of language, this magical system fascinated me. I loved the idea that a magical school teaches magic through English lessons. Rainbow Rowell also presents magic not only as a super cool and fun literary device but also as a lifestyle for these characters. She talks of magic as a religion, but also as something that mages can see and smell in the air. I found this really interesting as this isn't often explored in this genre of fantasy and yet it makes the magic feel so much more real because it is part of life itself in their world. It makes sense to me why Rainbow Rowell chose to use language as the magic system, because in our world, language is our magic. As humans we seem to breathe language. It is a huge part of who we are and how we live. It gives us power and it takes it away. This is what magic is to the characters in this story: it's life itself.

The only thing that really let the story down for me is the plot. It started out great, we get all these different themes and threads running through the story and I was excited to see how they all were connected and resolved. But the ending confused me. It wasn't a bad ending, it just didn't answer all my questions and then we're left with these huge gaps that are never returned to. Having read other Rainbow Rowell books, I know that her stories are very much character driven and not particularly plot driven. Which is fine, because in a lot of contemporary romance/fiction this really doesn't matter. But Carry On isn't just a contemporary romance, it's a fantasy/chosen-one novel that develops more complex plot points that need to be resolved in order for the story to make sense. This was frustrating because many of the threads were already developed but they just didn't all add up to form one story. Fortunately, I love character-driven novels so the weak plot didn't ruin the whole book for me. But I can understand that a lot of people would not enjoy this book because of the plot. It's just a shame that the plot and characters couldn't be equally as good. Having said this, Rainbow Rowell is releasing Wayward Son which is a sequel to Carry On towards the end of this month. So I'm really hoping that the sequel will tie up some loose ends that let down the plot in Carry On. Either way, I'm excited to read Wayward Son because I already miss Simon and Baz so much and I'm excited to revisit them very soon!

Overall, I adored reading Carry On so much. It gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling which made me never want to put it down.  The characters are so rich and colourful, the world is familiar yet fresh, and Rainbow Rowell's writing is so hilariously real and comforting. My only regret is that I wished I had picked it up sooner!!