Carry On

By: Rainbow Rowell

Narrated by: Euan Morton

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

New from number-one New York Times best-selling author Rainbow Rowell!

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this if he were here - it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

©2015 Rainbow Rowell (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

So glad I stumbled into this

I discovered and read (listened to) Fangirl quite by accident, just about 5 days before Carry On was released. I don't normally go for /regular/ fiction, but I'd read a good, convincing review from a trusted source, and thought, hey, nothing wrong with a break from my usual epic fantasy stories for a light romance read, and the fandom slant was new. I liked it! It was cute, and enjoyable, even if I might not listen to it again very soon. Rainbow Rowell's writing is really easy to get into, and her humor is the winner for me. As I always do when I think I might enjoy an author's other books, I checked out what else she had out once I was done with Fangirl, and saw Carry On was about to come out. I thought about it for a bit, forgot for a couple days, then went back after it'd been released and downloaded it.

I'm so glad I did. Carry On was so much fun, with magic and prophecies and a Chosen One and a nemesis and romance without being what you expect when you read about a book having those things. The characters are constantly defying tropes without ever feeling like they're doing it specifically to thumb their noses at the genre, because they feel real as they are.

And can I just say how much I love Baz? I remember Cath in Fangirl calling him an "unreliable narrator" in her version of the Simon Snow universe, but in Carry On, he's the absolute best, and his POV chapters ended up being my favorites in the book. I found myself laughing out loud (or wanting to) at his internal observations many times, which can be difficult to bear when you're listening on the bus at 4am.

I would suggest reading Fangirl first, if you haven't, before Carry On. I don't think it's necessary, but it will probably increase your appreciation of this story.

I'll leave by saying that this book, while extremely fulfilling in and of itself, also left me wanting more and more and more of this world. It's already a multi-listen book for me, and I'll probably even get a physical copy of the book, which is something I do so rarely these days.

28 of 28 people found this review helpful

I was a little hesitant to read this at first...

I read Fangirl, and when my friend told me that this book was out and that it was a continuation of it, I was beyond excited to have the story continue. It didn't register that Carry On was the name of Cath's fan fiction story. Then I realized that the main character or characters would most likely be male (I'm a little biased about the gender of my narrators). But I loved it all :-) and it definitely helped that the reader and setting played into my Anglophilic tendencies. And that though there were multiple viewpoints, they were all in first person (another bias of mine).

The writing was good, each person's voice was distinct. Definitely worth five stars and your reading time.

I would recommend this to fans of both fantasy, and Rainbow Rowel.

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Rowell Always Gets it Right

Would you consider the audio edition of Carry On to be better than the print version?

Yes. The narrators made the book sound far better than it would have in my head. I've found they can make or break a book and this one was cast well.

What did you like best about this story?

Didn't buy this book at first, not interested in a Harry Potteresque story and wasn't sure it would be as good as her others. I am happy to be wrong. I liked how Simon's magic was unpredictable he's far from perfect and his nemesis, Baz is sardonically witty. The ending was a nice surprise, Rowell strayed from a predictable conclusion.

What about Euan Morton’s performance did you like?

His voices were spot on. Baz sounded broody, bored, and slightly antagonistic. Loved it.

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Baz in love

At first I thought this is a boring story until I stuck with it long enough for Baz to arrive. Then the story was intriguing enough to stick with until the end. A sweet love story.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Plot: not so much, characters: awesome

I couldn't help but see Harry Potter all the way through this one. BUT I really really loved the relationships so I still recommend it. Plot is a bit weak but the interactions between the characters were great.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

SS + BP = 💖 Where to begin?!

This book was even better the second time around. I knew the direction of the story and could collect the remnants I missed the first time around.

Of course, I wish there was MORE. I'm so pleased Rainbow Rowell decided to make this book following Fangirl (also a favorite!)

A classic tale of good versus evil, but who is actually good or evil?! The lines become blurred when boy loves boy and boy notices boy back! A Harry Potter homo-erotic fan fiction triumph.

Yes, it is MEANT to depict Harry Potter. I'm not mad about it. I love it for it. A direction JK Rowling never would have taken her series, but every female reader wished it had... 😆

As a 27 year old female, I wish it was a little less...PG? Lol. Well. Regardless. I loved it. It is in the pile of books I'll read over and over again!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Loved this book. Ending a bit rushed, but I understood.

I really enjoyed this book, especially as a continuation of "Fangirl". Made me laugh lots, and I loved getting to see more of Bas and Simon falling in love that I'd heard about in Fangirl. Only problems were that I found Penny and Agatha's interludes annoying because I wanted more Bas and Simon -- I understand why they were an important part of the story, but drudged through them for more kissing :) Wish there were more books about these strange magicians' adventures!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A good fun read

I was quite surprised I liked this book, I wasn't sure if I would. I read Fangirl and liked that do wanted to try this out, I am glad I did.
The beginning of the book was a little slow but it picked up after a bit and kept me engaged and wanting to know what happened. I found myself really escaping and enjoying the read, I was a easy read as well which is nice.
I liked the character development and the story line, I does have a lot of similarities to Harry Potter but it is different enough that you don't feel disappointed.
I would recommend this read to anyone even if you are not into fantasy normally.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

YES!

Despite a slow start and a woeful lack of Bas early on, Carry On blew me away. I understood that Rowell had to build the world and the lore, so I chalked my impatience up to a strong desire to get to the Simon/Bas drama. And then it started up and I was beyond hooked. I love this book. even though I just finished, I will start it again immediately.

I would read 8 books on Simon Snow... as long as Bas was there to keep things interesting.

The reader sounded too old for these characters, but I fixed that by speeding it up by 1.25 speed.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amazing. Absoultely Amazing.

Okay, this book deserves full marks. Not only is it interesting and captivating, it is also the only book in existance that has made me feel like I'm reading for the first time, every time. It constantly has me grinning from ear to ear and laughing like it's the first time I've heard a really good joke. I don't know. I've read Carry On about 5 times now and will continue to do so until Wayward Son comes out in 2020. Do I recommend it? Fuck yeah. Read it and love it. I guarentee you won't regret it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful