Goldilox and the Three Weres: Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On
(Simon Snow #1)
Rainbow Rowell
Release: October 6, 2015
Goodreads Amazon

A #1 New York Times-bestseller
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.

Carry On - The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

Review:
You know those books that you know you'll love but you try to pick it up a few times only not to be in the mood for it? That was my experience with Carry On. I've had this book on my shelf since it came out in 2015 and I've tried to read it several times. I never got past Chapter 3 because either I wasn't in the mood for that type of book or I was too busy to commit to it. And after finally finishing it, I want to go kick my past self.

I freaking loved this book so much! It had everything I love! A chosen one trope, lots of witty banter, an enemies to lovers romance, magic, vampires, and intrigue! I totally didn’t see some of the twists coming and it totally made me feel nostalgic for Harry Potter. . This was the queer Chosen One at a magic school fantasy that I've been wanting in my life for years.

One of my favorite things aside from the magic system is the school and the World of Mages itself. The school is set up like an exclusive boarding school and the magicians live entirely among the Normals (aka non-magic folks). They kind of have to because their ability to do magic is entirely dependent on words and their skill with human language. The magic system is utterly brilliant! I loved the how the spells could be phrases from just about anything as long as it was a well-used one. And I loved how sometimes powerful spells lose their potency because the phrase they're based on has gone out of style.

It's easy to see the parallels to Harry Potter, but it’s all just a bit off. And that off-ness is what makes it feel fresh and contemporary and somehow way more real. These magical teens have cellphones (at home) and they know pop music and films. It was refreshing to see how plugged into normal everyday life they are even though they're at a school of magic. I absolutely adored how Rainbow Rowell dropped so many pop culture references and made them relevant to the story. I loved seeing the characters use quotes from things like Star Wars and Queen lyrics to power their spells. It was glorious!

The book is set up as if it’s the last chapter in a long series. It feels like you’ve dropped into the story with no bearings, but skillful writing fills us all in on the essential facts of the characters' last six years at Watford. I never thought it got too info dumpy at any point to catch us up. Everything flowed very organically and it was wonderful. It did start off a bit slowly but it not so much that it hurt my love of the story. There are some things about the school I would love to know more about like the Roommate Anathema and the Crucible but overall I was happy how things tied to together by the end.
As much as I loved the worldbuilding, I adored the characters even more! Simon starts out as a typical Chosen One who is pointed at a problem to hack it to death. Sometimes quite literally. He is the most powerful magician of all-time and he sucks at doing magic even though he loves it. I loved how his character developed throughout the story to be something more than a stereotype by the end. Simon was great but his best friend, Penelope, was everything! She's super smart without being pretentious. I loved her so much! But even Penny doesn't hold up to my favorite character in this book. That spot belongs to one Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch or Baz. He's snarky and a bit pretentious and is clearly the character meant to resemble Draco the most. Except he has a heart and you can't help but love him. He might possibly be a vampire but he is first and foremost, unapologetically queer. I loved the banter and back between him and Simon and his nerding out with Penny. His character arc from when he shows up till the end is just as glorious if not more so than Simon's.
I could rave about the characters all day but I want to say something about the romance in this book. It's the thing that is right at the center of this story. My best friend and I used to discuss how great it would be if J.K. Rowling had actually included queer characters in her series instead of retconning her characters' sexualities noncanonically. Rainbow Rowell gave me what I'd always wanted in a chosen one story and it was everything I wanted. The romance between Simon and Baz is a classic enemies-to-friends-to lovers story and it had all the same beats as some of my favorite Drarry fanfiction from my teen years. It was well written and a perfect slow burn. I need more books like this in my life.