Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


A Most Entertaining Magical Road Trip, But Missing the Runzas

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

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The Simon Snow books are fan fiction of fan fiction, from a fan fiction about fan fiction (or something like that), meaning that they are both adherents to and parodies of the Chosen One genre of fantasy story. They do this very well, and are very entertaining reads. In addition to clearly having fun with tropes and stereotypes, Wayward Son in particular adds what could almost be called a brand of emotional realism to the character and story types. In stories like Harry Potter (which […]

“This will end in flames”

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

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Simon Snow won. But he also lost. A lot. And now he’s lying on a couch barely living and his best friend is worried about him. His boyfriend wonders what’s going on in their relationship and everyone is walking on eggshells a bit. So Penelope decides they all need a holiday. In America! What better way to brush off the cobwebs and escape their normal (but never Normal) lives than a road trip across the U.S. of A? It starts out grand of course, these […]

Another One!

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

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After my friend got me a copy of Carry On for my birthday, I read it immediately, and naturally I loved it. It had all my favourite tropes: magic, vampires, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, and-they-were-roommates, spoofing on the concept of a chosen-one, etc etc. I loved the characters and how it didn’t take itself too seriously, while still having a strong heart and emotions within it. This follow-up novel took hold of me with my love for these characters once again, but story-wise it certainly takes a dip: […]

I have had Carry On Wayward Son stuck in my head for days

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Jackpot by Nic Stone

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(4 stars) Wayward Son (Simon Snow #2) by Rainbow Rowell I was pretty excited for this one, and it mostly held up to the weight of my expectations. It’s hard not to draw parallels between Rowell’s characters and J.K. Rowling’s, but they’re certainly there. I do love some Penelope Bunce (because I love me some Hermione Granger), and she gets a chance to shine here. “But it was a mistake thinking of that as an end. There is no end. Bad things happen, and then […]

We agree to disagree (Bingo Blackout!)

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

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#CBR11 Bingo: Two heads are better than one (would also work for Illustrated or Youths!) For two months of the year, all through high school, Deja and Josiah are best friends, while working at the local Pumpkin Patch extraordinaire. For four years, from the start of September until Halloween, they’ve been dutifully serving customers in the Succotash hut, and sharing pretty much everything with one another for those two months. Once they go back to school, they don’t really interact. This year is different. Deja and […]

3 Heads are Definitely Better Than 2

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Please enjoy our joint effort in unpacking the amazing Carry On! Ale: I very much enjoy that Rainbow Rowell did the most meta thing ever and basically wrote a fan-fic about her own characters that were characters in a fan-fic created by her own characters. I’m still wrapping my own brain around that sentence. But I think it’s a testament to her craft that she had characters that were so nuanced from Fangirl that she could expand them into another two books (note from faintingviolet – […]



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