#1 New York Times bestselling author!Booklist Editors’ Choice 2015 – Youth! Named a “Best Book of 2015” by Time Magazine, School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, NPR, PopSugar, The Millions, and The News & Observer!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 … 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.
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Best book I read in 2015! Anyone who loves Harry Potter NEEDS to read this.
This is my second time reading Carry On after blazing through it in a single, breathless morning four years ago when it first came out. I loved it then, and I love it even more now. This book is so fully realized, a Chosen One story that is aware of its tropes and cultural context and either embraces them or turns them quickly on their head. Like any Rainbow Rowell book, Carry On is warm and funny and wonderfully romantic, but it’s also a little tragic and brimming with word-dense magic and a plot that is incredibly emotionally driven. The characters are wildly endearing, with distinct, visceral narrative voices, and I am so glad the sequel finally came out because I’m not ready to let them go!
This book brought all the giddy feelings that old skool fan fiction used to bring for me. This makes sense because the book is, in a way, fanfiction itself. It’s a book about the characters that the main character of Rowell’s famous Fangirl was obsessed with. Um, that’s a complicated sentence? Anyway, I never read Fangirl, so you can definitely read this without reading the other book first. And I gotta say, I’m dying for a sequel to this one. So here’s hoping. A vampire. A special teenage magician. A magical school. The parallels to Harry Potter are on purpose. I was impressed by the way she was able to twist everything just enough that everything is original while the inspiration can’t be escaped. Many will not enjoy because they’ll think it’s a Harry Potter ripoff, but they’re missing the point. This is sheer creativity. Loved it.
Great book but please don’t read if you aren’t really into boy on boy love. If you’re okay with it then you’ll fall in love with this book after a few chapters. The characters are very creative and have semi realistic problems and goals but you’ll fall in love with them.
Man, I loved this book! I absolutely devoured it. Even though I was moving house and should have been packing boxes, I couldn’t tear myself away. I love Rowell’s writing style. It’s quirky and original and she manages not to info-dump despite it being a very complex plot. Great characters and a great story. I enjoyed it the whole way through and was left in a state of ‘book high’ once I’d finished it. Also, it was such a relief to read an ebook that had been properly edited and copyedited and proofread. And I loved that she managed a realistic British voice, despite being American. No ‘gottens’ (a word that always yanks me out of a book). A fabulously entertaining book. Five stars!
A dark, gorgeous, and beautifully written story.
I can’t stop smiling. That’s the thing that hit me first as I was reading this book. I realized I was smiling as I was immersed in this amazing world full of magic that Rowell created. That feeling never went away even as I closed the book. The characters are sweet and complicated and they feel real despite all of the fantasy elements. It has a bit of a tongue in check, Harry Potteresque feel to it what with the magic school and the Chosen One but in the end those are just backdrops to the story of Simon and Baz. I fell in love with these two and I cheered for them and cried with them and with their gang of friends. I can’t believe it took me so long to stumble upon this book but now that I have you can bet I’m going to be keeping it as close as a Mage keeps his or her wand, so that it is always there when I need a good pick me up read.
Finally a queer entry in the Harry Potter genre! Love that it’s the story-within-the-story of Fangirl. I’m all fanboy about this Rainbow Rowell romp!
This story is an extension of the story that Cath was writing in Fangirl. This book inserts you into the World of Mages, and into Simon and Baz’s story. It is definitely is fantasy because of the most obvious thing, The World of Mages. That world includes magic, a bunch of magic. I loved Fangirl, so when I heard that this book existed, I just had to get my hands on it. I can why people love the Simon and Baz story. The world of Mages reminds me of Harry Potter, which I’m a huge fan of, to say the least. This book is split into parts, and there is only like 4 parts. This is a great fantasy read and a great companion novel for Fangirl. If you love magic and an underdog you will really like the story of Simon Snow. The ending was truly a happy ever after.
**Also you wouldn’t absolutely have to read Fangirl to know what is going on**
Brilliant my version of a win sucks Harry Potter.
A+ rating. OMG, this book was so good. I cried several times and the end definitely left me smiling. I loved this book!!
This book was so good. It’s my number one book ever!
Imagine my excitement when the fanfic from Fangirl became a real book! I think Carry On was supposed to be a one off, but Ms. Rowell decided to make it a series. This story was fun and witty with characters I loved. Simon and Baz will melt your heart.
This book was absolutely amazing. In fact, I read it twice because I loved it so much. Will definitely be reading Wayward son!
A queer and romantic spoof on Harry Potter. Imagine the chosen one is actually terrible at it, not self aware in the least, and bullheaded. The story starts during Simon’s last year at magic school and he’s being forced to reckon with a lot he’s ignored in the previous years including the Big Bad Guy, being gay, and feeling directionless after school. It’s really fun and there’s a sequel already out!
Carry On is one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read. I first read this book around a year ago and since then I’ve read it about 4 more times. The first time I read it I was so captivated with the two main characters and their relationship with each other that I stated up until 3 in the morning to finish it. I highly recommend this book if you want a fresh fantasy story with a totally new idea of love interests. These characters are also very relatable , even in situations where you won’t find yourself in, like fighting a dragon. This is a perfect book to be introduced to fantasy and LGBT fiction.
I binge read this book in two days and couldn’t stop laughing. Simon and Penny’s friendship is so amusing, and of course I drooled over Simon and Baz’s rivalry (I live for love/hate relationships and TENSION, so this is one of my new favorite ships). If you’re looking for a humor-filled romance that also features magic and dragons, definitely check out this book!
I really had hope for this book considering it was so popular and I love fantasy books with LGBTQA main characters, but this one was kind of a disappointment. I found the the romance between the main boys lacking and not very believable and the ending seemed to be leading up to something great, but then went kind of flat. I was frustrated at how nothing seemed to really pick up or get interesting until the middle of the book (around chapter 40). The main boys are interesting enough, but the whole vampire concept in stories (especially romances) has been sucked dry. It had so much more potential that I don’t think was explored. I’m also rather outraged at how many rats Baz killed in this book. (Pet rat owner here). Maybe it gets better as the series progresses? I’ve only read the first book.
Hilariously entertaining and absolutely delicious.
Listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved it! A must for Harry Potter fans.
3.5
Simon Snow is the chosen one, the problem is he doesn’t know how to use his magic, his best friend is Penelope, she’s very smart and loyal, and his nemesis is a vampire named Bas.
Simon has a girlfriend but is obsessed with Bas, since he has disappeared all Simon can do is think and look for him… Until action begins and Simon must join forces with his friends to discover the identity of the villains and fulfill his destiny.