CBR Square: Yellow
After the events of Carry On, Simon Snow has saved the day! And lost his magic, spending his days like any student who suddenly has no job, no plan, and no life meaning; sleeping on the couch. So, he’s wallowing, but he has good reason to wallow.
When his best friend, Penny, uses visiting his ex, Agatha, as an excuse to road trip across the country, Simon and his vampire boyfriend Baz set off for America together. Somehow no one understands American geography so they decide to start in Chicago to visit Penny’s soon to be ex boyfriend (there are some communication issues there) and then see Agatha on the way, who lives in California.
This book has vampires, and Vegas, and a nice car. There’s a lot of angst too. Simon is convinced that Baz is only with him out of pity, which is completely stupid but understandable. During the road trip they come across Shepherd, a supposedly normal guy who knows a lot about magic because he’s fascinated with it. Penny is highly annoyed by him, and basically ditches him for his vehicle. I thought that was hilarious, and really brought into perspective her complete lack of concern for people who don’t use magic, except for her best friend, Simon. It’s interesting that Shepherd keeps catching up to the group even though they keep spelling him to forget them.
There’s a plot about vampires living it up in Vegas designed to make Simon jealous, and a group of vampires trying to get magic too disguised as a New Age cult that have Agatha. I really enjoyed that Agatha and Penny get a chance to shine, they are very minor characters in Carry On. We’re left on a cliffhanger because it’s a trilogy, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.