shellihuntley4's review against another edition
3.0
A fun fantasy which borders on a spoof of the genre. As my local bookseller says, "it's like Harry Potter meets the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
hgthatsme's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
ria_mhrj's review against another edition
3.0
Such a great concept, just wished the finished product had elicited the same excitement! Very clever world, and I definitely warmed up to the story by the end, I think the biggest challenge was quite how unlikeable Ewan and Oliver proved themselves to be, but I guess that was kind of the point.
Also nice to read a book set in London by someone who has clearly actually been here!
Also nice to read a book set in London by someone who has clearly actually been here!
misssusan's review against another edition
3.0
you can definitely feel the fanfic sensibility in this book and i think it's both a strength and weakness. fanfiction is fun and the particular vein of fic this works in -- where being a rubbish person is not a barrier to finding love, everyone acts rather high school regardless of age, and the quips and sarcasm flow free (think maya from hp fandom if the reference means anything to you) -- is a good time! but it's a good time that's dependant on audience good will and while i was perfectly happy to extend it i have to acknowledge that objectively speaking, claiborne's romances don't get anywhere near the development to justify the praise they've garnered. don't get me wrong, i'll ship it, i've been shipping variants of this ship since i was fourteen but i figured it merited pointing out.
but anyways! the romances aren't the major point of the book so let's go to an overall assessment. best word for this story is probably light: it was a fun read which gently pokes at chosen world tropes (it's not sharp enough for satire and it plays its tropes straight a bit too often for parody) and i liked it. also it gave me this beautiful line of stunning immortal romance:
truly touching. i laughed for a minute straight :')
3 stars
but anyways! the romances aren't the major point of the book so let's go to an overall assessment. best word for this story is probably light: it was a fun read which gently pokes at chosen world tropes (it's not sharp enough for satire and it plays its tropes straight a bit too often for parody) and i liked it. also it gave me this beautiful line of stunning immortal romance:
'I have faith we'll be fine no matter what happens.'
Ewan frowned. 'Why's that?'
"Because if there's one thing I know about you, Ewan Mao, it's that you have an animal-like instinct to survive, like a badger.'
truly touching. i laughed for a minute straight :')
3 stars
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
4.0
A fun bit of fanfiction. What if Ron killed Voldemort and became famous, while Harry sinks to obscurity in a coffee shop and falls in love with Draco. That's the story of Ewan and Oliver. Well done.
hobbitsbooksandbeyond's review
4.0
Overall, a funny, charming and creative novel. It was a very easy read. My one complaint is that it seemed to end quite abruptly in the last few pages.
jessicaz's review against another edition
3.0
I was seduced by this cover! Reasonably funny satire, but I really didn't feel like I had any emotional involvement with any of the characters.
casqy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
heresthepencil's review against another edition
5.0
rep: gay Chinese British mc, mlm couple, Black mc
carry on could NEVER
carry on could NEVER
bannisterb's review
2.0
This reads better than a lot of faux-spin offs and fan fiction, but it was missing something. The characters and premise were interesting and set up nicely, but it meandered and jumped around in action. Although this is billed as a what-if story that picks up where the Harry Potter series left off, I'd argue that the only similarities are a magical world and the set-up of the "hero" and his friend/acquaintance group makeup. This needed a lot more world-building to be clear how everything worked, so I was left guessing what the author and narrator meant a lot of the time.
It wasn't an awful book, but the last third was suddenly an awkward adventure that made no sense and dragged terribly.
It wasn't an awful book, but the last third was suddenly an awkward adventure that made no sense and dragged terribly.