Carry On
Ratings385
Average rating4.1
Just when you think you're having a scene without Simon, he drops in to remind you that everyone else is a supporting character in his catastrophe.
Vamos a ver.
Yo empecé a leer este libro después de Fangirl, ya que me gustaron muchos las historias sueltas sobre Simon Snow en el libro. Estaba a punto de ser descatalogado, pero milagrosamente lo encontré en físico.
Y me encanto. Sinceramente, odio que llamen a este libro, libro de Romance. A ver, tiene romance, pero el libro es de género fantasía.
HISTORIA
La historia me gustó, y me parece que está bien escrita. El principio puede ser un poco aburrido pero luego te engancha muchísimo. Sinceramente tardé mucho en leer este libro(2 meses)
1. Porque tenía una especie de parón lector
2. Empecé el instituto
De todos modos la historia me gustó y tenía algunos plot twist que me gustaron.
PERSONAJES
Ame los personajes y me parece que aunque se nota que están basados en Harry Potter creo que Penélope, Simon, Baz y Agatha han logrado ser algo más que una inspiración
FINALSPOILERS
El final fue...
Complicado. A ver, me pareció impresionante el twist de que el ´´malo´´ de la historia sea el Gran Hechicero. Y me entristeció mucho la muerte de Ebb. Me encantó mucho también el twist de que Davy sea el padre de Simon o que Simon perdiera su magia. El final en el baile fue perfecto y la frase final me dejó mucha nostalgia de Fangirl
CONSCLUSION
Me gustó el libro de los mejorcitos que he leído y me lanzo de cabeza al segundo, que acaba de salir en español, aunque haya gente diciendo que es una caca.
4.5☆
La última parte del libro se me pasó volando, lo amé. Me encantaron los personajes y su desarrollo a lo largo del libro y la trama con el Humdrum, Nicodemus y todas las adversidades con las que se encontraban me parecieron muy interesantes y bien desarrolladas. Al principio me pareció un poco lento y por eso le pongo 4 estrellas, pero a medida que avanzaba la trama me iba enganchando cada vez más y me leí los últimos 20-30 capítulos rapidísimo para saber qué pasaba. Definitivamente quiero saber que va a pasar en Wayward Son así que próximamente lo leeré!
Honestly, bumped up an entire star because I was so incredibly amused by the magic system in this one.
first half of the book gets 2 stars for being bad, second half gets 4 for being gay.
4.5
me gustó el libro, aunque las primeras 150 páginas no me enganchó. Después se puso mejor y al final ya estaba fangirleando.
En general, es un libro muy bueno, siento que pudo mejorar algunas cosas en la trama, pero igual me enganchó y tiene un final que, aunque predije un poco, me dejó satisfecha.
i was just so disappointed but at the same time not surprised. issues of writing style and predictability ruined this for me. i hated the new spell style it drove me NUTS
No me he leído Harry Potter pero creo que va a ser difícil que me guste tanto como este pedazo de libro
It brought me back to my childhood when I first discovered the world of Harry Potter
The magic system was interesting but underdeveloped. It played with Harry Potter tropes in a somewhat interesting way. But when it comes right down to it, I've read better written novel-length fanfic, and that didn't require me to suffer through rotating 1st person POVs.
What a wonderful, heartbreaking book! I'm do glad Wayward Son us waiting for me! Thank you for bringing Baz and Simon to life.
General statement for all my reviews on books by Rainbow Rowell:For reasons regarding what Rainbow Rowell has written in the past, and her continued defiance to listen to those hurt by this, I no longer read her books, or support and promote her in any way. I am sorry for supporting her, but I won't hide my mistakes as that would be wrong, instead please be aware my thoughts and feelings towards her have changed due to her behaviour and my opinions on her are now different* - July 2020This book didn't have a review on Goodreads, but there was a review on an old blog of mine that I deleted the post on a while ago before I changed my perspective on Rainbow Rowell. All I have done is cleared the original rating which was five stars.
EDIT: 2nd reread and i just love everyone
this was such a wonderful read. this book isn't perfect at all, at times it even feels like it picked up the story halfway, like you missed two books before this one, but it is so funny and lightharted and stressful and beautiful all at the same time, there's a point you don't even care.
i usually struggle with books written in first person, i don't really like that style of writing, but with this one i didn't struggle at all. actually i loved the different point of views and how different stories were being told at the same time. the author pulled it off so amazingly, it was never confusing.
i think the world could need some development, but maybe it will get that in the second book (oh i can't wait for it), but this is more of a character-driven story, and it's so wonderful. what i loved the most were the relationships between the characters, the love triangle that is not really a love triangle, the male/female friendships, the failed friendships... the dynamics between all the characters are so interesting because they are all so incredibly different. even the romance was so amazing, and i'm not a big fan of romance.
i loved this. it isn't perfect, it can be a little predictable at times, but still it makes you laugh and breaks you at the same time. it made its way to my favorite books shelf so fast, i already want to reread it.
[3.7] Loved this and hated this. Interesting take on a magic system that uses metaphors and common culturally-known phrases as spells. It's got a nice amount of lore general background info without being overwhelming. I've never read Harry Potter but I saw the movies and it's definitely rockin' a cool Harry Potter vibe.
This all being said. I take a lot of issue with the relationship that develops between Simon and Baz. It reeks of Stockholm Syndrome. Baz is a total piece of shit to Simon throughout their time at school. I don't know if I'm a bad reader or if I forgot, but I can't think of any clear moment of redemption or character development. I think Baz is trash right up to the end. The Saz/Bimon ship shit ain't, wasn't, nor is healthy, and we shouldn't be glorifying it.
I went into this basically knowing nothing of the plot besides it had magic and a little m/m romance. I guess I should have been a little more prepared since I spend over half the book just going, “Why is this all Harry Potter?” Apparently, it's the fanfic of a character is the author's book ‘Fangirl' which I have yet to read, though that's never referenced in this (and why would it be).
If I'd never read Harry Potter, I might have enjoyed this a lot more, but I did enjoy the characters and the different references. The author choosing Aleister Crowley's name as a curse and substitute for saying God/Jesus Christ was a weird choice since he was just a weird pervert into Satan, but nevermind. It had pretty much every trope imaginable and I can only assume (hope) it was on purpose since this is blatantly a fanfic.
I listened to this via Audible and the narrator was very good. I hope he's also doing the sequel.
As someone who grew up fantasizing about Sam and Frodo, Harry and Cedric, and Kvothe and Bast, I can't imagine a genre more likely to appeal to me than gay fantasy. So when a friend recommended Carry On and I saw the cover sporting its hunky wizard-vampire duo, I said: sign me the fuck up.
What a letdown.
Let's start with the most glaring oversight, to my queer eye: the main character, Simon, has shared a bedroom with a smokin' gay vampire, Baz, for SEVEN. WHOLE ASS. TEENAGE. YEARS. But they somehow despise each other, to the point that even with identical class schedules and a shared room, they go out of their way to avoid and belittle each other.
I don't claim to speak for every gay teen, but in the 2010s at a school where kids carry around wands for fun, there's no way in hell this situation is even remotely plausible.
I get trying to craft sexual tension, but this takes it to such an extreme—they try (repeatedly!) to kill each other—that when the characters actually, finally, acknowledge their love, it comes off as totally inauthentic and stilted. Where is the fallout from the years of antagonism and self-deception? Where is the internal struggle?
After this, when Baz, who “from the first day” realized he was in love with Simon, asks Simon if he ever realized he was gay, Simon's response is “I don't know, I never really thought about it.”
[Mandrake shrieking]
Nope.
Even after the two profess their mutual boner, Simon continues to display remarkable apprehension, and Baz continues to ruthlessly make fun of Simon. (Not in a cute, joking way, but in an “eesh, this relationship is not gonna last long” kinda way.)
Characters are one-dimensional, the writing is cliche, and the plot is predictable. Each chapter—sometimes each sentence—is written from a different character's point of view, but the voices are so indistinct that I had to keep flipping back to remember who the hell is narrating.
Carry On is torn between trying to be a love story and a thriller, and failing at both.
To its merit, I finished the book in 2 days. Like I said. Gay fantasy. Done and done. But by the second half of the book I was skimming to get to Simon and Baz's relationship (all told, two brief kissing scenes and a whole lot of unexplored, internalized homophobia. Literally, at one point a “magick psychiatrist” tells Simon that being gay is “4th or 5th” on his list of issues. Cool message to send queer kids.)
Thank you, next. Don't let straight women write gay stories.
Read Fangirl first. Be sure you are at least somewhat familiar with Harry Potter. And then just enjoy this for what it is. In my mind it is Cath's fan-fiction version of Book 8 that she was working on in Fangirl, which is super fun!