THE HOTLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER CARRY ON Simon Snow is back and he’s coming to America! The story is supposed to be over. Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after… So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch? What he needs, according to his …
So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch?
What he needs, according to his best friend, is a change of scenery. He just needs to see himself in a new light.
That’s how Simon and Penny and Baz end up in a vintage convertible, tearing across the American West. They find trouble, of course. (Dragons, vampires, skunk-headed things with shotguns.) And they get lost. They get so lost, they start to wonder whether they ever knew where they were headed in the first place.
With Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell has written a book for everyone who ever wondered what happened to the Chosen One after he saved the day. And a book for everyone who was ever more curious about the second kiss than the first. It’s another helping of sour cherry scones with an absolutely decadent amount of butter.
Come on, Simon Snow. Your hero’s journey might be over – but your life has just begun.
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I absolutely love this series and the audio narration by Euan Morton. I was a little disappointed that the Baz/Simon romance was on such shaky ground. It was understandable after all they’d been through, but they didn’t feel much like a couple and I really wanted them to talk more. That said, I really enjoyed the book! Great story and characters–Penny is one of my faves, and Baz complaining about the sun and going to the Cheesecake Factory was perfect. I really liked Shep, and I’m eager for a third book. I don’t mind that this one ends on a cliffhanger, although I know others will. Roll on book three!
I loved Carry On and there are aspects of Wayward Son that didn’t fulfill the promise of the first book for me. However, I enjoyed it very much and eagerly await the next book in the series. It only gets four stars from me, though, because there were a number of places I felt the book could be stronger and fell a bit short of its potential. Regardless, if you loved Carry On, you’ll enjoy this book, and be ready for the third!
It’s worth saying right off the bat that Rainbow Rowell cannot write a bad book. Beautiful, heart-wrenching language is her inevitability, and it is always a pleasure to get lost in a world she creates. However, when I first read this book after it’s release in late 2019, I didn’t really love it. My expectations were probably too high – I adored Carry On, a book that was a pure adrenaline shot of romance and magic and adventure, the perfect twist on the Chosen One story. Wayward Son is much sharper and darker than its predecessor, and at the time, I compared it to picking up American Gods after binging the Harry Potter series. Awkward, endearing hero Simon Snow becomes brooding and troubled. Cruel, secretive, full-of-fire Baz becomes introspective and self conscious and unsure. Penelope becomes a lot less of the sure-fire, whip-smart girl she was in the first book. We lose the magic of England and enter the no-man’s land of the American mid-west. There’s an inexplicable road trip. And a cult-like startup. And a whole world of magic that felt hidden from the first book.
In 2019, I felt like the cultural climate had influenced this sequel in a way the first book was able to blissfully escape. Things were overall less bright then than they were four years prior when Carry On was first released. Now, after the overwhelmingness of the past two years, this book spoke to me in a way it didn’t during the first read. I found myself loving the wry, dark humor in this book and relating hard to characters just trying to figure out how to move forward after something so big and incomprehensible tore through their lives. It’s a book that seemed to exactly fit a world that’s so uncertain on its feet, and I’m desperate now to get my hands on the final installment.
This one was just as good as the first. I now need the next book immediately! I still love Simon and Baz! I also love Penny and Agatha so much! The story was awesome and full of action.
Currently reading. OB. SESSED.
This is a wonderful followup to Rowell’s first book in the series, Carry On. This book hit entirely different than Carry On. If you’re expecting another Carry On, you will be disappointed. You have to go into this book with different expectations because of how the characters have grown or not grown from the first book. I went into this book hoping to get the same feelings that I did from Carry On and realized that this is not a sappy happy ending to Simon and Baz’s story and am actually very happy about that. This story gave me a different view of the characters and Rowell’s work. I highly recommend this book if you read the first in the series and want to know where Simon and Baz are after the events that took place in Carry On.
I’ve seen mixed reviews on this and I guess I understand why a little but for me this was GREAT! I could not put it down – I loved the pace, the plot, the storytelling method and while the end wrapped up rather quickly, that was a doozy of a cliffhanger and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to run into one of those because this means there will be more Simon and Baz and the gang! 5 out of 5 wine glasses
I feel so let down… It’s not that Wayward Son is a bad book. Not at all. It’s just nowhere near the level of Carry On which will likely stay on my favorites list for the rest of my life. I put off reading Wayward Son because I knew there was no way even Rowell could repeat the magic (literally or figuratively) of Carry On but I finally gave in, needing more Simon and Baz in my life, and all I can say is… I wanted more. Carry On was so bright, so full of hope and young love and new magic and in comparison Wayward Son is dark and desperate and detached, a shadow shell of the first. I understand the characters had to change after all they went through but spending an entire book of Baz and Simon not talking just felt wrong. Even plucky Penny lost her luster in this story. It all just felt to me like Rowell was trying too hard to prove a point, one which I’d rather ignore in my fantasy books, which is that life is hard and life after a happily ever after isn’t always happy. The ending, or lack thereof, made me want to throw my device across the room. I’ll be awaiting the third installment with what remaining hope I have and going back for a reread of Carry On to wipe the sour taste of this one away.
Like with Carry On, the plot was a little slow to come into focus, but at least we had Baz the whole time. However, I would rate this 4 stars except that I know we’re getting another book so I’m not bothered by the ending.
Love everything Rainbow Rowell writes!
A favorite!!!
I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so many times listening to an audiobook.
Wayward Son is an outrageous ride across America (with hysterical observations about the U.S. along the way). Knowing the characters from book one, it was so easy to jump back in and enjoy all their quirks and hangups.
Simon and Bas are one of my favorite fictional couples. Their struggles are so heart-wrenching, and sweet, and flustering, and romantic, and always teetering on the brink of collapse. I want to strand them on a tropical island (in a magical dead zone) and make them stop worrying about the rest of the world and spend quality time together (the kind where they aren’t being attacked by dragons or vampires or trigger happy animal-like supernaturals). And I want them to make out. I love it when they kiss.
When I first read Carry On, I immediately fell in love. When I heard that there was going to be a sequel, I was ecstatic. I had so many expectations for this sequel, and while the book didn’t quite meet all these expectations, I think in the end the book was so much better than I could’ve asked for. In the end it wasn’t Simon and Baz kissing constantly, but instead it was realistic, and I liked that.
This book is a about Simon, Baz and Penelope traveling to the United States, in this trip they’ll have to face danger and make a very unexpected friend…
The end…. I hated it since more than an end is a new beginning.