Review for Carry On by Rainbow Rowell!
Quick View Review
Characters: ***** (5/5)
Plot: ***** (5/5)
Writing Quality: ***** (5/5)
Amazon Rating: **** (4.5/5)
Full Review
Simon Snow is the Chosen One. But unlike Harry Potter, he’s definitely not a natural. Most of the time he can’t figure out how to work his wand and his magic just doesn’t want to listen.
Not only does Simon have to deal with the pressure of living up to the ancient prophecies, but he has to constantly worry about his nemesis, Baz. Well, so he thought, but his roommate doesn’t seem to be showing up, which is driving Simon absolutely INSANE.
Never mind that there’s a magic-sucking monster going around wearing Simon’s face. And that’s not to mention that his girlfriend just broke up with him and he hasn’t spoken to his mentor in forever.
Overall, Simon’s got quite a lot on his plate, and he has no idea what to do about it.
Okay, before I started this book, I thought it would be impossible NOT to compare Carry On to Harry Potter, but I actually think Rainbow Rowell did an absolutely amazing job of creating a completely unique world where the two stories themselves were not comparable. The characters, however, were a different story.
I really enjoyed the differences between Simon and Harry; however, many parallels were present. Both grew up in non-magical families, both were orphans and didn’t have a truly permanent home, both became best friends with magical geniuses (Penelope and Hermione), and both had a nemesis at school. Since I loved Harry Potter, I couldn’t not love Simon, and I absolutely fell in love with the romance between him and Baz. I mean, it was just perfect!
Baz was by far my favorite character. I loved the layers of his personality, and although I didn’t quite understand the point of him being a vampire and found that slightly confusing, I thought he was the perfect villain and was absolutely up there with my favorites (although he didn’t beat Sebastian from The Mortal Instruments… I’m pretty sure that’s impossible).
The plot was pure genius. As I said before, Rowell managed to create a magickal world (yes, that was on purpose) that somehow reminded me almost nothing of the world J.K. Rowling created. (insert applause sound here)
And that leaves the writing quality. As usual, Rainbow Rowell never fails to disappoint and her writing was just as magickal as the other parts of this wow-worthy book. Descriptive where needed and emphasis on just the right parts, it truly doesn’t get much better.
Overall, this book went above and beyond what I expected, which is no news considering Rainbow Rowell wrote it. She is now officially one of my automatic buys at bookstores, and I’m completely ashamed to say that I have yet to read all of her novels. This book, I think, should be read by all Harry Potter fans, as Rowell created the perfect balance of parallel and separate.
Make sure to come back next Wednesday for a new review!
Happy reading!
Jordan
