and_peggy177's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
giulisperanza's review against another edition
4.0
I love the characters and the story was definitely unexpected but also AAA THAT ENDING WHY WHY WHY RAINBOW ROWELL!!!! Now imma be waiting for the next book for a while yeeeyy
maare's review against another edition
3.0
Raised more questions than it answered. tbh i was not expecting this to be a trilogy.
sinikuku's review against another edition
adventurous
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
daffodill37's review against another edition
3.0
I actually liked this one much better than the first. It was much less HP-knock off feeling. Our author still doesn't know how to write dialogue. "Says" is still used like, 500 times. Probably more.
I did enjoy Penny, Baz and Simon's dynamic and their road trip. That was fun. Also, I still love Agatha. Poor girl just wants to be left the FUCK alone so she can live her life.
I enjoyed the clever magic system. I also loved that everything Simon loves, Baz hates.
Simon and Baz's relationship is still cold and awkward. Hope that gets fixed in the 3rd installment. Which, if I'm being honest, I'm looking forward to.
I was also not hot on the cliffhanger ending. I hate cliffhanger endings.
I did enjoy Penny, Baz and Simon's dynamic and their road trip. That was fun. Also, I still love Agatha. Poor girl just wants to be left the FUCK alone so she can live her life.
I enjoyed the clever magic system. I also loved that everything Simon loves, Baz hates.
Simon and Baz's relationship is still cold and awkward. Hope that gets fixed in the 3rd installment. Which, if I'm being honest, I'm looking forward to.
I was also not hot on the cliffhanger ending. I hate cliffhanger endings.
sburleson's review against another edition
4.0
Truly a 4.5 stars for me. I really wanted to love this one as much as I did Carry On, but it just didn't click for me. Here's to looking forward to Any Way The Wind Blows (and hoping for more HAPPY Snowbaz... Please Rainbow???)
mariakureads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Ahhhhh so this was fun!
I loved that this book was different from the first in terms of setting and story arc because Carry On was a great start and introduction but here's the aftermath of a character after fulfilling their teen destiny trope and it's partly what I was hoping for.
Simon, Baz, Penelope, and Agatha are aimless after their last year at Watford School of Magicks, and it shows and I dig that. It highlights the aftermath of a destiny and these four are trying to find their place and somehow they thought middle America was it.
I loved that Baz is more central in this book as there was a lot of going on and so his POV was key to understand him a bit better as a character especially getting t understand his emotions towards his floundering relationship with Simon. They're just not lost in middle America, but they lost themselves too and I like how Rowell has tackled this concept all while introducing new characters, developing the current larger story arc, and tying it back together to get the team back to Watford for the next installment!
I loved that this book was different from the first in terms of setting and story arc because Carry On was a great start and introduction but here's the aftermath of a character after fulfilling their teen destiny trope and it's partly what I was hoping for.
Simon, Baz, Penelope, and Agatha are aimless after their last year at Watford School of Magicks, and it shows and I dig that. It highlights the aftermath of a destiny and these four are trying to find their place and somehow they thought middle America was it.
I loved that Baz is more central in this book as there was a lot of going on and so his POV was key to understand him a bit better as a character especially getting t understand his emotions towards his floundering relationship with Simon. They're just not lost in middle America, but they lost themselves too and I like how Rowell has tackled this concept all while introducing new characters, developing the current larger story arc, and tying it back together to get the team back to Watford for the next installment!
darkndani's review against another edition
4.0
I stayed up till 4am finishing this book. It was almost as good as the first, but nothing beats the first book in a series truly. It was shorter which made it easier to speed through... but now I’m literally aching for the next book and it’s not even out yet
gloamglozergay's review against another edition
4.0
Harry-Potter-PTSD-reckoning-that-never-was. "Carry On" felt like the setup (“carrying” another trilogy’s worth of backstory, which honestly I would have preferred to just see play out in a full series, thinly-veiled HP analogue notwithstanding). This is the payoff, or at least a payoff. The previous books' setting features not at all. Simon Snow deals with not being the main character anymore. Baz is more central to the plot, holding together their floundering relationship while confronting his own place in the world as a vampire. All of them are directionless, deeply depressed, and struggling with issues of identity and purpose after having fulfilled their teen destinies. They all find themselves in middle America, trying to manage the various manifestations of their traumas. While they’re at it, they finally do something about startup tech bros. Someone’s got to.
Overall it’s interested in its characters and psychology than its actual plot, but all ties together over the course of the story. Nothing was boring.
Overall it’s interested in its characters and psychology than its actual plot, but all ties together over the course of the story. Nothing was boring.