A review by laineyg
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
4.0
(3.6/5)
I went into this with relatively low expectations, despite being aware of the overwhelming love that a lot of people seem to have for this book. My lack of faith came from my only prior experience with Rainbow Rowell: Eleanor & Park. One of few books I have DNF’d, never to be opened again, I found it immensely disappointing and have been reluctant to give Rowell another try ever since.
Pleasantly surprised! I read this in about a day and had a really good time with it. I definitely understand why this book it is so loved.
The Good:
Simon Snow is a great protagonist. I liked that while he is known to have this great power, he literally has no clue how to use or control it. I’m always annoyed when characters seem to have limitless power without a catch behind it (*coughs* Alina Starkov), so having a main character flawed in both his abilities and, let’s be honest, his personality at times was nice.
Well-paced. There was rarely a lull and even the slower section at the beginning felt more exciting because of the mystery of where-the-hell-is-Baz.
The “love triangle” didn’t end up being much of a love triangle at all so hello! Let’s celebrate that!
The Okay:
While Simon and Baz are adorable and my heart smiles for them, it was a little rushed. I mean this mainly on Simon’s end, because while the entire time he was saying Baz was his enemy and all that I knew there was more to it, I was still caught off guard when all of a sudden he was totally reciprocating Baz’s feelings. I just think their story could’ve been more meaningful with a little more patience on Rowell’s part.
The Mage was not a good villain. He was barely present throughout the entire story and it was painfully obvious that he was the villain the entire time, which made that “reveal” a lot less impactful.
Also, the Humdrum makes no sense to me. That might be my lack of reading comprehension, but I just didn’t understand what that was about and how it was so easily resolved.
I fall to my knees, and it rushes out faster.
My fingertips tingle. I smell fire. Sparks chase themselves over my skin.
This isn’t going off, I think. This is going out.
I went into this with relatively low expectations, despite being aware of the overwhelming love that a lot of people seem to have for this book. My lack of faith came from my only prior experience with Rainbow Rowell: Eleanor & Park. One of few books I have DNF’d, never to be opened again, I found it immensely disappointing and have been reluctant to give Rowell another try ever since.
Pleasantly surprised! I read this in about a day and had a really good time with it. I definitely understand why this book it is so loved.
The Good:
Simon Snow is a great protagonist. I liked that while he is known to have this great power, he literally has no clue how to use or control it. I’m always annoyed when characters seem to have limitless power without a catch behind it (*coughs* Alina Starkov), so having a main character flawed in both his abilities and, let’s be honest, his personality at times was nice.
Well-paced. There was rarely a lull and even the slower section at the beginning felt more exciting because of the mystery of where-the-hell-is-Baz.
The “love triangle” didn’t end up being much of a love triangle at all so hello! Let’s celebrate that!
The Okay:
While Simon and Baz are adorable and my heart smiles for them, it was a little rushed. I mean this mainly on Simon’s end, because while the entire time he was saying Baz was his enemy and all that I knew there was more to it, I was still caught off guard when all of a sudden he was totally reciprocating Baz’s feelings. I just think their story could’ve been more meaningful with a little more patience on Rowell’s part.
Spoiler
The Ugly:The Mage was not a good villain. He was barely present throughout the entire story and it was painfully obvious that he was the villain the entire time, which made that “reveal” a lot less impactful.
Also, the Humdrum makes no sense to me. That might be my lack of reading comprehension, but I just didn’t understand what that was about and how it was so easily resolved.
I fall to my knees, and it rushes out faster.
My fingertips tingle. I smell fire. Sparks chase themselves over my skin.
This isn’t going off, I think. This is going out.