Carry On--"My wayward son, for there'll be peace when you are done"

Title: Carry On (sometimes called Carry On: the Rise and Fall of Simon Snow)

Author: Rainbow Rowell


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Simon Snow attends the Watford School of Magicks, and according to a prophecy, he's the "Chosen One" who will save the magickal community from the Insidious Humdrum, a magic-eating monster that looks like Simon. However, Simon can't even get his wand to work correctly, let alone control his magic (he mostly sets things on fire).  Meanwhile, Simon's nemesis, roommate, and possible (vampire) love interest, Baz, is missing from school for their final term.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Carry On is a spin-off of Fangirl, a book in which the main character, Cath, writes fanfiction about Simon Snow, the protagonist of a Harry Potter-style series of novels.

In Cath's stories, Simon and his nemesis Baz, fall in love (clearly inspired by Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter stories--holy crap there are over 26,000 just on Archive of Our Own!). I highly recommend Fangirl because it's an awesome book, but you don't have to read it to understand Carry On.

Carry On throws readers into its magical world as if it's the eighth book in the series (which is what Cath was writing in Fangirl).  It casually refers to events that happened in previous books, which I like because it provides opportunities for readers to imagine what happened in those books (which don't exist, of course: fanfiction opportunity!).

Fans of Harry Potter will find a lot to appreciate in this story: a magical boarding school in England, an evil monster trying to take over, politics among the magickal families, wands and spells.  I especially liked how all the spells were popular sayings and song lyrics. I kept thinking of different song lyrics that could be spells:
 

• "A million dollars!" (obviously)  
• "Don't speak!" (useful for a teacher)
• "Gives you hell!" (for that special ex-lover)
• "We're not gonna take it!" (various uses for this one)
• "Shake it off" (will inspire confidence, or cause your enemies to be annoyed)

This book is on the 2016 Rainbow Book List.


My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer):  If you enjoy fantasies, fanfiction, and/or the idea of a Harry and Draco romance 😏, you should definitely read this book.

While I read this book, I sang this song.  But I should have been singing this one, since Rainbow Rowell just announced that she's writing a sequel to Carry On called Wayward Son.  YAY!!

Carry On was inspired by fanfiction and now fanfiction is written that's inspired by Carry On.  The circle is complete.


My favorite quotes/passages: 
  

• "'Candle in the Wind' is a dangerous spell.  The boys at school say you can use it to give yourself more, you know, stamina.  But if you emphasize the wrong syllable, you'll end up starting a fire you can't put out.  An actual fire" (hardback edition, pg. 22).
     
• "I want to be someone's right now, Simon, not their happily ever after.  I don't want to be the prize at the end.  The thing you get when you beat all the bosses" (pg. 141).
      
• "Sometimes she just wants to rage against the machine--even if she's not exactly sure where the machine is or how to properly rage against it" (pg. 173).
      
• "Boys kissing is probably mild--she's probably walked into interrogations and goat sacrifices" (pg. 365).

Other reviews:  Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and Bibliosanctum


This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.