Carry On

Let's recap briefly: [a:Rainbow Rowell 4208569 Rainbow Rowell https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1342324527p2/4208569.jpg] wrote a book ([b:Fangirl 16068905 Fangirl Rainbow Rowell https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355886270s/16068905.jpg 21861351]) about what it was like to be a Big Name Fan and in order to capture this experience she made up a fictional Harry Potter series, which the protagonist of Fangirl wrote a fanfic about. Then, Rainbow Rowell decided to actually write this fictional Harry Potter series, which is Carry On. Meta'ed out yet?But, honestly, this kind of makes sense, because the Simon Snow snippets were the best part of Fangirl. Rowell is nothing if not wicked clever, and it shines the most in the way that she used the fact that everyone knows and understands Harry Potter to include huge swathes of background in a couple of paragraphs, which gave her inversions and subtle changes context. One of the coolest feats of literatures someone's pulled off in awhile, but I was worried that it was not particularly sustainable in a stand-alone novel.Good news, bad news? The way in which Harry Potter provides a context and background to Carry On is probably the strongest part. The whole book exists in a dialogue with Harry Potter and the two most interesting themes of the novel grow from here:1. Doesn't it kind of suck to be a mage in a magical/muggle world? The way HP is set up, you can only be a wizard if you're a wizard (you don't get the basic education required to be anything else.) What if you want to be a doctor or a mathematician or a chef in a big restaurant? Suck to be you: wizarding world or bust. But in the HP world, no one discusses this. Rowell actually explores this concept and how much magic destines people.2. If you're a mage in a magical/muggle hybrid world, and you get to go to magic school, the rest of life is a downhill slog of hiding and never being around your people. Another thing Rowell does great is evoking the culture and community of teenagers and it's really on show here: the sadness of graduation is clear in a way that Rowlings did not succeed at.3. I love the loyal opposition. That you can be boyhood enemies and play kid games, but if there's going to be a war and its going to be real, how does that change and mature your enmity. Because so much of childhood opposition is the loyal opposition: the person you depend on to antagonize you and play the foil.So, cool. This part is fun. Bad news: The book reads like Harry/Draco fanfiction. Not that I read fanfiction (only pro-singularity propoganda, [b:Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality 10016013 Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Eliezer Yudkowsky https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1293582551s/10016013.jpg 14911331].) But still. So still some good news, in that those of us who have spent the last 14 years and 7 books growing to love the Harry Potter characters will be invested off the bat. But on the downside, very little actually happens. Literally, the first 20% of the book is HarrySimon wandering around HogwartsWatford looking for Baz. The majority of the rest is Simon and Baz mooning at each other. Also, it reads to me like Cath actually wrote it, i.e. that it was written by an 18 year old girl: Is falling in love with your sworn enemy actually a thing that happens in real life? Just one minute you're fighting and the next you're swooning and then a second later you're “snogging”? OK...Also, I talk a lot. I think in words. I need to talk to process my thoughts. My friends get sick of hearing me think out loud. Both the thinking and the talking. I get told “most people don't think that much; they just do” a lot. In Rainbow Rowell's world, I am both basically selectively mute and impulsive. Her characters talk about everything always and at length (usually sounding like self-important teenagers in their word choice and punctuation.) I have never in real life met someone who articulates quite so many thoughts, and definitely not a 17 year old boy who does so. Finally, despite having read approximately 20 pages of Baz's thoughts on Simon's hair, I still have no idea why they actually like each other in anyway. (Besides the hair. It seems easier to have your boyfriend wear a wig than to date your sworn enemy because he has nice hair.)So, in conclusion, its a fun romp, with interesting commentary on the world of Harry Potter and school fantasy in general, and it's the only book you'll ever read that's a fictionalized version of a fanfic of a fictional novel, so there's that.

The author's note mentions that this book is inspired by all the Chosen One stories she has read but we all can guess from page one that this is based on Harry Potter. This is also definitely an ode to all the shippers of Drarry in the fandom.

Simon is the greatest mage the magickal world has ever known but he doesn't know what to do with all the power. He is a flawed Chosen One, a very directionless teenage boy upon whom a huge responsibility has been thrust. He fights evil only because everyone expects him to and just hopes that he will have a secure future with the beautiful Agatha after the whole war is done. Baz is the heir to one of the oldest and powerful families and behaves as such – being all snobby and rude but he is hiding a lot of feelings and a terrible truth behind that rough exterior. Penny is a great friend who just wants the best for Simon and whose organizational skills just made me feel inferior. Agatha is a simple girl who wants to lead a quiet life without any adventures.

This is a fantasy novel but there isn't much world building. We get to know a little about the school and the magickal system but how/why the evil guy is evil is never truly explained. The way the spells work is vague but also hilarious. I loved the idea of a spell's power being dependent on the usage and frequency and sometimes, even the metaphorical meaning behind the words. The story also occurs during Simon's final year at Watford, so we only get to know about his past adventures and his eternal enmity with Baz in passing.

The strength of this book is definitely the relationship between Simon and Baz. The story doesn't even get interesting until Baz actually shows up after a quarter. They hate each other, want to kill the other, keep bickering all the time, always look for where the other is in the room and feel very very restless when the other is nowhere to be found – you can where this is going – you can actually feel all the UST flowing through the pages. I shipped them hard even before Baz showed up and then it was absolute fun watching them get together. Baz's superior magickal skills and steadfastness are well complemented by Simon's (sometimes) cluelessness and conviction to just do good.

There are a lot of POV's and many side characters here but we can see how difficult it is to actually flesh out so many of them. That's one reason why, though I liked a lot of characters like Penny, Fiona, Ebb etc, I couldn't really care a lot about any of them and none of the bad things that happened towards the end actually affected me. The climax is also very rushed and I couldn't wrap my head around why the evil got created and what Simon was really supposed to vanquish.

You might be wondering now why I gave this book 4 stars when I've mostly just discussed all it's negatives. But I really did have a lot of fun reading this one. I'm a huge fan of fanfiction and I can't describe how much my life changed after discovering AO3 and tumblr. So, I went into this book expecting a slash tribute to my favorite literary characters and I got just that. The plot is obviously a lot different from HP but I was so entertained trying to figure out which character from this book corresponds to characters from the Potterverse. The writing is also very funny and the dynamic between Simon and Baz is precious. I totally loved going on this adventure to Watford with them.