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> Genre: Fantasy > The front seat is for people who’ve never been kidnapped by bloody numpties.

The front seat is for people who’ve never been kidnapped by bloody numpties.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

February 1, 2019 by esme 4 Comments

Oh what fun!  This was such a delightful read during the grim darkness of winter. I have read a few books by Rainbow Rowell that I really loved and one that didn’t work for me. When Carry On popped up at the library, I was looking for something frothy and fun and escapist, and I had no expectation about the story. I could not have chosen a better book.

Simon Snow, a 17 year old boy, is the most powerful wizard ever, but he is like a magical puppy, in that he flops everywhere and has very little control over his magic or other aspects of his life. He has a tragic backstory that doesn’t seem to weigh too heavily on him, although he is lonely and quite underfed when away from school. All in all, this book starts like a stereotype. However, Rowell’s delightful way of skipping through all of the back story and bringing us to the current ‘big bad’- the Insidious Humdrum – is so surprising. We don’t have chapters-long exposition on to hold a wand or other technical details to bog down the story – because, in the end, what Simon is really angsty about is his gorgeous, unpleasant roommate, Baz, who is missing. Simon roams about the grounds and mopes here and there and reminisces about how he followed his roommate everywhere the past year, trying to uncover his wicked ways. The story really picks up when Baz reappears, having been kidnapped by numpties (such lovely names for terrible or not-so-terrible creatures). Ultimately the story is about Simon and Baz discovering ways to overcome their differences to uncover secrets and save the world, along with Simon’s friend Penny.

The uncertainty, teenagerisms, and kissing were great. The spells were charming. For example, ‘U can’t touch this’ creates a barrier and ‘Clean as a whistle’ obviates the need for showers. This book is an addendum, in a way, to Rowell’s book Fangirl. I did not read Fangirl, but definitely plan to and it isn’t necessary to have that background to enjoy this story. Rowell is a terrific writer and took a very familiar (perhaps overused) setting and character set and created something really wonderful and unexpected.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: #fantasy, #rainbowrowell, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, humor, magic, vampires, Young Adult

esme's CBR11 Review No:3 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: #fantasy, #rainbowrowell, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, humor, magic, vampires, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments

About esme

CBR13 participantCBR11 participantCBR  9

Loves to read. Loves to travel. Doesn't get to do either enough. View esme's reviews»

Comments

  1. lowercasesee says

    February 1, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    I forgot to mention the spells when I did my review! I love love LOVED the creativity in those.

    Reply
  2. emmalita says

    February 1, 2019 at 5:21 pm

    The quote you use as the title is one of my favorites from the book.

    Reply
  3. Malin says

    February 1, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    This is still my favourite of all of Rowell’s books. The sequel, Wayward Son, is my most anticipated release of 2019.

    Reply
  4. esme says

    February 4, 2019 at 9:47 am

    I didn’t realize there was a sequel! Thanks for that intel!

    Reply

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