★★★☆☆ Love Rowell's voice, Simon's story not so much

Carry On

Rainbow Rowell

I recently read the collection X-Men. It contains a Foreword by Rainbow Rowell. Her written voice was so charming, so delightful, that I immediately looked for her books. I settled on Carry On because it's the first novel in a series, so that if I liked it, I would have something to carry on 😉 with. I'm sorry to say that I will not be continuing the series.

Rowell describes Simon's origin as follows

If you’ve read my book Fangirl, you know that Simon Snow began as a fictional character in that novel. A fictional-fictional character. Kind of an amalgam and descendant of a hundred other fictional Chosen Ones. In Fangirl, Simon is the hero of a series of children’s adventure novels written by Gemma T. Leslie—and the subject of much fanfiction written by the main character, Cath. When I finished that book, I was able to let go of Cath and her boyfriend, Levi, and their world. I felt like I was finished with their story … But I couldn’t let go of Simon. I’d written so much about him through these other voices, and I kept thinking about what I’d do with him if he were in my story, instead of Cath’s or Gemma’s. What would I do with Simon Snow? What would I do with Baz? And Agatha? And Penny? I’ve read and loved so many magical Chosen One stories—how would I write my own? That’s what Carry On is.

I enjoyed Rowell's voice as I had hoped, and it was a fun read. But it was too cute -- Harry Potter fanfiction fanfiction fanfiction. Rowell was tied up so tight in her own knots as not to be free to really tell a story.

Carry On on Amazon

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