Skip to main content

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Image
By

 To start this review I have an announcement, Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl is one of my go-to comfort reads. When I feel massively overwhelmed by things I love running to hang out with Cath as she travails her first year of University. 

Describing 'Carry On' in this context is a bit of a twisty tale: in 'Fangirl' Cather is a fan of a series of books about Simon Snow, particularly championing the shipping of Simon with his nemesis, Baz. The Snow series is set in an English boarding school of magic and there are vampires and a mysterious threat that is leaching the world of magic. The idea of the book obviously has some basis on a certain other magic boarding school series but Watford School of Magicks isn't Hogwarts. The twisty bit is that 'Carry On' isn't a Gemma T. Leslie (Rowell's fiction author of the Snow Series) novel, it isn't Cath's fanfic. It's Rainbow Rowell's fanfic of a world she created which makes it quite the fascinating meta-construct!

The book is a fun read even without the context of 'Fangirl'. Simon, a inept saviour and Baz, Mr Dark-and Mysterious, are arch-enemies and have been so for six years. Simon and his best friend, the awesome Penelope, have fought evil each school year but the lurking villain has always been the mysterious 'Insidious Humdrum'. Its power is growing but Simon seems mostly preoccupied by the fact that Baz is missing the start of school. 


There are many things I love about this book but I was initially sceptical about something that sounded so close to The Series of magic in an English boarding *cough Mr Potter*. It may have been the jumping off point for Rowell but it went in a very different way. While Hogwarts was something like the Enid Blyton version of boarding school, Watford was more had more of a Byker Grove feel! 

 Penelope was my favourite character; she was bossy, sassy, bold and rather reckless. I also liked the portrayal of Agatha not for the character herself but that the function of her. In 'Fangirl' of Cath's has some impatience for how Agatha written by Gemma T Leslie. She is portrayed the most, beautiful and kind girl and that both boys are in love with her and it made sense that a fanfic writer who has no affection for her would reject the official character and instead indulge the dislike that they feel. The adventure was really fun to read, the relationship between Simon and Baz was funny, sweet and everything I'd hoped.

I would recommend reading Fangirl first, or you know....in general, but the book stands very alone very well. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book A Day Challenge Day #10 - Latest purchase

By
10. Latest purchase......Make Your Own Diet Rules by Tara Stiles I went for a wander round the new Foyles bookshop on Saturday and, unsurprisingly, I wanted to buy a number of books. I went for this one because it seems to set out an approach that I am eager to explore. I haven't really been a big trier of diets but there always seems to be a new miracle weight loss solution kicking about. I have been at extremes of eating but want to achieve the golden dream of sustainable weight loss/maintenance. Tara Stiles, from what I have read so far, seem to advocate listening to your body, enjoy live and take the time to take care of yourself through eating and action.
2 comments
Read more

Fresh Start

By
I have been using my social media accounts attached to this blog more than I have been updating here and when I looked back at the content had very little connection to my interests now. So I have cleared the posts out, with the exception of my old book challenge, and shall start afresh! So with that in mind....a brief introduction: Reading is my comfort and my joy and I will usually have 2-6 books on the go at any one time. My reading habits hop around somewhat in terms of subject matter, at the moment my current obsessions are American History and magical realism fiction. Last year I tried to cut down my book buying habit and ended up with a bit of a library habit! This year, all ten days of it, I've been reading with a focus on mindfulness and growing out of your comfort zone. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Book A Day Challenge Day #20 - Set where I live

By
6. Set where I live.... North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell I live in the north of England and take certain things for granted, I accepted the harsh and beautiful landscape, industrial buildings in odd places, the accents and the cold as normal. I've been for visits 'down south' but all of the places I have lived have been 'the North'. This book is a story follows two characters Margret Hale and John Thornton; it tells their story, moving from dislike to love, as much a story of misunderstandings as Pride and Predjudice. Their differences stem from their upbringing, their personal natures and their understanding of the world and it's people. I love this book, for each and every character, the story and it's setting. It's unsettling and doesn't sugar coat but is still delicate with how it treats the relationships, the friendships.
Post a Comment
Read more