Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

FORD’S SIMON SNOW BINGE READ BOOK 2 OF 4:

✅ Fangirl (the meta introduction to Simon Snow)

✅ Carry On (Simon Snow #1)

🟧 Wayward Son (Simon Snow #2)

🟥 Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3 - releases July 6, 2021)

So in our book club, there are people who love Fangirl more than Simon Snow and vice versa. (Sky loves Simon Snow, meh on Fangirl.) I think I can confidently say, I’m in the former category. Simon Snow was fine, but it wasn’t diverting. I only wanted to binge read the kissing bits. The rest of it was meh. If we hadn’t been omniscient readers, if we didn’t have Lucy telling us what was going on and if we had learned as Simon, Baz, Penny, and Agatha were learning, that might have made it more compelling. But I knew the end from so early on. Also, the first half of the book was so heavy, there could have been some editing.

Simon Snow is “The Chosen One,” a boy who is prophesized to save the World of Mages from The Humdrum. But the Humdrum looks like him. And his mentor, The Mage, is never around. And his roommate Baz is missing (which must be part of a plot to kill Simon, obviously). And Simon cannot control his power. What is A Chosen One supposed to do?

This book is multi-POV, but mostly Simon’s. I did like how it would switch POV’s mid-chapter, mid-action even if it was just for a sentence, that was delightful and refreshing.

Now, Sky talks about the brilliance of book 2, Wayward Son. It’s a “what happens after The Chosen One has done their job and they have rid evil from the world or whatever.” So I’m going to keep going, read Wayward Son, and see if it converts me fully into the Cult of Simon Snow. -Ford