Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Description: Simon is in his last year at Waterford, a school of magic. Simon doesn’t have your typical high school experience; his roommate is a vampire, his girlfriend broke up with him and he is considered to be the savior. Also, wherever Simon goes people end up being attacked by the evil Insidious Humdrum. Not only does Simon have to find out how to defeat the Humdrum but he also has sworn to help his roommate, Baz, find out who killed his mother. Simon, his best friend Penny and his nemesis Baz must work together to figure out who killed Baz’s mother and how to stop the Humdrum.
Review: I’m a huge Rainbow Rowell fan and was excited to get my hands on this book. I will admit that I have not yet read Fangirl (where the character Simon Snow comes from) and maybe if I did I would have liked this book better (or maybe not). This book was pretty much Harry Potter; except Harry’s gay, Ron’s a vampire, Professor Dumbledore is a power hungry Mage and Lord Voldemort is Harry’s alter-ego. I was very disappointed in this book, if I didn’t know any better I would have assumed this was the final book in a series. The story starts off right in the middle with no introduction to the characters, the world of mages or the threat of the Humdrum. For the first 100 pages or so I kept rereading sections in hopes that it would make sense. The plot doesn’t actually pick up pace until half way but even then I was still confused and had a lot of unanswered questions. The big finale was a huge let down and I’m still not sure I know exactly what happened or who/what the Humdrum is (or why Simon has a tail). The plot was very drawn out and the end was just plain confusing and boring. While there are a lot of plot holes, the characters are well fleshed out. The only reason I kept reading this book is because I enjoyed finding out more about the characters, each is driven by a specific relatable desire. Overall I would not recommend this book, I think it will let down Rainbow Rowell fans and anger Harry Potter fans.
*please note that I received an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley