There are some books I can’t hold back a review for much longer. I need to get my thoughts straight, and I need to tell the world how much I enjoyed the book. Contrary to my belief Carry On is one of those books. I did not expect to like this book. I went in thinking that I would get bored, and that’s one of the reasons it took me so long to pick it up. A story like Harry Potter isn’t something that excites me to read, but the hype sure is contagious! Now if I could talk to my past-self, I would recommend her to pick it up as soon as possible because she was not going to be bored.

Author: Rainbow Rowell Pages: 528 Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ+ Publication: 6th October 2015

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Synopsis:

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here — it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

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This book is why I read YA. Why I read romance. And why I love reading. It has been a while since I felt butterflies in my stomach with expectation, waiting for something to happen, and never wanting the story to end. The building up tension between characters is like blood in my veins and when the kiss finally happens is an explosion of excitement, a smile on my face that I can’t shake off. A book that can deliver all these feelings has to be good! Even though there are a lot of things I don’t care about and don’t like in the story, I look past them and focus on the emotions, and all the enjoyment it brought me.

Despite loving the relationship between Simon and Baz and desperately needing more of it in my life, I don’t think it has a good start-off point. Simon is clearly obsessed with Baz, and it’s not in a romantic way. And Baz is the kid that keeps pulling the cute girl braids and makes fun of her. I grew up hearing this type of story and never fully understood what kind of love is that. Just because we are used to these stories, it doesn’t mean they are good and can be acceptable. Baz is mean to Simon. If you love someone so much how can you be mean and watch them suffer??

And Simon unhealthy obsession isn’t a good thing either. He acted more like a 12-year-old girl constantly thinking about their crush. And it was… boring. In the beginning, I wasn’t enjoying this book that much. The only perspective was Simon’s, and I was getting tired of the same old “where is Baz?”, “He hasn’t come today either?”, “Is he okay?”, “Is he plotting something against me?”. I get it, Simon! You hate Baz, he hates you, he wants to kill you, he’s a vampire even if no one believes you, bla bla bla… The moment Baz perspective came into the story, it became so much better. From that moment on, I couldn’t put the book down. He is by far my favourite character, and it feels so good to find again a story I can love and a character I can’t forget.

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I never thought this was going to be such a captivating book for me. I was expecting not to like it as much as everyone else. I don’t read fantasy, I’ve never watched all the Harry Potter movies or read the books, fighting monsters isn’t my thing, and magic for me is about illusion and trickery, not some sparkly dust and a wand. I was not supposed to enjoy this book as much as I did. But again, Rowell has some kind of mystic power that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. The same thing happened with Fangirl. I didn’t like Cath, but by the end, I was ready to reread the book again.

But the romance… oh the romance… it was EVERYTHING! I couldn’t get enough of Simon and Baz together. I was always waiting for the next moment they would be alone, the next touch, the next kiss. I wanted more and more. The story had its flaws, but it was entertaining AF! And sometimes that’s all that matters.

Why did I have to fall so bad for this book??? WHY??? My life was fine why would Baz and his temper and Simon with is sassiness came ruining my life?? And here I was thinking this was going to be a three-star book and I would be kind of bored when all the big and epic battle started. Damn you, Rowell!! You did it again. Now I need to go consume any form of fan art and fan fiction I can find to settle my weeping heart and probably buy Wayward Son.

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