Book Review: Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow
What do you do when you fall for your worst enemy? What if you're sure he's out to kill you?
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher Information: Macmillan | October 08, 2015
Format: Paperback; First Edition
Genre/s: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy
Page Count: 528
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
BOOK SUMMARY (as seen at the back)
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.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
When I first saw Carry On displayed at our local bookstore, I almost cried. I knew of it because I previously read Fangirl and wanted to know more about the characters Cath wrote about. (A drarry inspiration also gave this book plus points for me.) I loved the cover of the book, loved the size of the book. I just loved it. Fangirl didn’t really give anything away for Carry On but the snippets were enough to give me enough hype for this book. (Enough to make me buy three so far.)
WHAT HAPPENED?
Simon Snow returns for his final year at Watford, a magical school in England. During this time, Simon learns to accept his reality of being the most powerful magician alive. As the Chosen One, he’s set to defeat the Insidious Humdrum, a magic-eating monster that has been running around England. He meets a surprising ally in Basilton Grimm-Pitch, his roommate and antagonist, as they uncover the mysteries of Watford and Baz’ deceased mother, the previous headmistress of Watford, and truth behind the Insidious Humdrum.
THE CORE
This is a cute love story but also a book about desire, the consequence of it, and the power of simply letting go.
WHERE IS HERE?
The book is set in present-time (contemporary) featuring Watford and its surrounding magical communities. The World of Mages is simply a distinction of the magickal community compared to the non-magic community. The setting is very stereotypical England which various magic folk - numpties, dragons, etc.
As the magical boarding school is not a new concept, and because the story is set in present time, it’s fairly easy to imagine the setting of Carry On. The border concept is Harry Potter meets Camp Half-Blood – or at least that was how I saw it.
WHO ARE YOU?
Simon Snow/Oliver Salisbury is the main protagonist of Carry On. As Chosen One, he affords to win battles that comes with his power with very little effort, but it seems that his naivety closely compensates for it. He appears to be very confused or lost at times, and sometimes obsessive towards his belief that Baz is a vampire and that he is out to kill him [Simon]. I think this makes him hard to like for some people. It can be frustrating to get to know someone who is naive and oblivious and seems lost all the time. But he’s also a person with a big cross to carry. Imagine being so powerful but be unable to control your magic. Imagine a monster equally powerful that is always out to get you. Imagine putting the very few people who actually cares for you at risk just by being the Chosen One. He’s the most powerful magician but he also seems powerless in a lot of areas.
Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch is Simon’s renowned nemesis. He is cocky but smart, as his aunt puts him. He shares an antagonistic relationship with Simon that shifts within the course of the story. He is also very, very gay.
The Mage (Davy) is the headmaster of Watford, the head of the World of Mages (Hence, the title “The” Mage) and is the only one Simon shares a familial relationship with. He was the one who got Simon from the world of Normals when he “set off” his magic and introduced him to the World of Mages. He endorsed Simon as his heir so Simon can attend Watford.
Penelope Bunce is Simon’s best friend. She is immensely intelligent, always top of their class. She is also the brains of her and Simon’s duo when they’re off saving the world.
EVERYTHING AT ONCE
Carry On is a very easy read, language-wise. It’s written simply, targeted towards a younger audience and is fairly easy to understand. It may be hard to follow for some as the way the book is presented is like you’ve been reading it a while and that it needed to catch you up to what had happened before. (Think recaps in first episodes of sequel seasons of any story-driven TV series.)
The book also showcases multiple POVs that gives you a glimpse of other perspectives involved in the books many arcs. The central arc is of Simon’s battle with the Humdrum. The secondary arc is of the war between the Old Families (Baz’s Family included) and The Mage. The tertiary arc is the mystery behind the death of Natasha Grimm-Pitch (Baz’s mom). These arcs tie together at one point but plenty are left unsaid and unanswered in the arcs apart from the central arc. (Did they target the Headmistress or the babies in the nursery? Does Simon figure out who his parents are eventually? Does he not experience any sense of loss from not knowing who they are?) The different POVs gives the reader snippets of what is happening to the people involved in these arcs.
The book features a refreshing take on the whole “Chosen One” trope - Simon being a mess of a magician despite being the most powerful one alive. Most of the time, I would wonder how a chosen one is chosen and this book gives us an angle that makes a lot of sense – that he has a lot of power means there’s a point in the universe that lost a lot of power as well. How people make magic in this world is not new to me. The whole putting magic into your words is reminiscent of Lark’s magic in Amy Harmon’s The Bird and the Sword. It places magic as a skill, a power that not all have, but also tying it with words and phrases that are common. It makes sense. It feels closer than how fiction usually feels.
Rainbow Rowell said that this book is what she felt that she somewhat owed to her characters in Cath’s (Fangirl) fanfiction so it’s understandable that the book widely focused on the development of Simon and Baz’ relationship. That’s not to excuse where the book lacks, but shows why it has been written as it has.
ALL THAT I AM; ALL THAT YOU WERE
This corner of the review is for me and my spazzing over this book (and ask the others, I have SPAZZED). I love this book so much. I consider Simon and Baz my sons. Simon, my unlabelled little child and Baz, my gay son. I love them both. I love their relationship and how it got to that point. I love this book because it’s a gay one. I love this book because, yes they are two males who happened to fall in love. IT JUST HAPPENED. And that that’s not the only interesting part of their characters.
Carry On is a love story. It’s a coming-of-age love story where the conflict is anchored from a deeper and far darker past. I personally believe that this has been executed wonderfully.
My only issue with the book is how some details seem so unnecessary. The mystery of Natasha Grimm-Pitch felt very staged and mostly a token to reach from [Simon+Baz = Enemies] to [Simon+Baz = Friends, and so on]. This is a disservice to Natasha’s character, like she died only to bring her son closer to his long-time crush.
I also would have done without Agatha (Simon’s ex-girlfriend and Penelope’s other friend). She seemed to only be present to stir some drama in the group’s dynamic and doesn’t service the plot to move forward at all. (I would say she’s a bottleneck - but maybe that was the point.)
As far as the other arcs go, there’s not a lot of closure in this book. But in spite of these shortcomings, Carry On is still an entertaining and refreshing book to read. (Especially to those who love YA and Magic.)
THE FINAL SCORE
3.5 out of 5 stars. This book is a personal favorite of mine, but I did find that there were elements that were lacking and some characters and sub-plots that strayed too far from the central arc (and it quite unnecessary in my opinion). While we had closure from the central arc, there wasn’t a lot of closure with the other arcs.
If you have books you want me to review, let me know! Thank you for reading. :)
(Posted as Claude @ thebookaholics.net)