Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
This is a book based off a fanfiction in one of Rainbow Rowell's other books, which is based off Gemma T. Leslie's book series called Simon Snow, which is based off J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter.
*sighs* Imagine Draco Malfoy was a vampire, Dumbledore had never had a change of heart, Harry and Draco were dating, SPOILER was actually just SPOILER, spells were understandable English, and Ron was an extremely pretty girl.
 |
| So much sass, Ronald Weasley |
So while you were all getting your new 'I hate Monday' shirt, I was actually waiting for Tyrion Draco Bassilton Pitch (or whatever his fully unpronounceable name may be) was going to make a Game of Thrones reference. I am currently obsessed with so many things I can't keep track of them, but this has probably been added to my encyclopedia of mental instability and is not about to live it anytime soon. I really loved this book. For someone who actively ships good and evil, had just read Harry Potter, and is very much into fantasy and the power of words, this book was everything it needed to be. Finishing it actually made me feel a little sad we had to wave goodbye so soon.
HERE'S A MESSAGE FOR THE INFAMOUS RAINBOW ROWELL:
(I can't believe I'm using a High School Musical GIF when I've been hated at only yesterday for never seeing any of the movies.)
You've got seven more prequels in the making, I assume? So I can marathon them like the crazy person I am? Yes? Great. Now take my money.
Summary:
I just told you. HP fanfiction with a bit of humph and LGBT and vampires and pretty girl Ron.
Rating:
4,5 stars. I made up my mind: not an all-time favorite, but a very beloved book of mine.
The spoiler section starts here.
Let's begin with the sassiest pop culture references I have seen in YA in a long time.
And I just loved some of the quotes in this book. The characters were just so witty and genuine and I had such a good time reading about their lives.
Also, THE ROMANCE. This is the first book with an LGBT pairing that I've read. Let's just begin by saying that I love to see different minority groups represented in literature and that there's still too little of it. And I was just so excited to see how Rainbow Rowell was going to do it and if and how I would find this kind of romance different from the 'average' ships. Turns out, it wasn't that different at all. I know how some people around me think it's untasteful if gay people kiss, but I have never really had a problem with it, and in this case I was just head-over-heals in love with it. Simon x Baz all the way.
Side note: This is the first love-triangle I read about that is an actual triangle. You must have noticed that what we call 'love-triangle' is really a love-angle. It's science.
One of the only thing that bugged me about this book was the fact that it was so... Fanfiction-y. And I'm not saying that HP fanfiction is a bad thing. I would never say that. I'm just saying that I spent a good hundred pages comparing this book to Harry Potter. And I am allowed to. You can't stop me.
That doesn't mean I think it's a complete rip-off or anything. I'm a sucker for politics in YA, and this whole aristocratic families (kind of pureblood Muggle born but different) conflict was a gift. The magical world with the words and everything. I loved that and I admire Rainbow Rowell's ability to create this entire understandable concept of magical powers and holes in the atmosphere in 522 pages. I often struggle to appreciate stand-alones. (You saw my favorites shelve? I need time and pages and parts to fall in love.) I need more, but not because I haven't lost myself yet. I NEED MORE BECAUSE I NEED MORE SIMON AND BAZ FLUFF AND PENNY SASS AND BACK STORY.
(I realize that this review has no structure whatsoever, but I forgive myself.) This book depicts the emotional struggle of being a vampire perfectly as well. Since this was also my first vampire book, I am not really well-informed here, but Baz's emotional struggles with being a creature his mother would have killed is just so heart-breaking. He literally tries to burn himself to death. That's deep and extremely painful and almost made me cry and then Simon started kissing him and I needed hot chocolate milk and sleep and-- *swoons*
Then there's that other thing I totally couldn't deal with: Simon lost his powers. And it wasn't that I cried or anything it was just that I imagined what it would feel like if you'd read all eight books. That would be like Harry losing his powers, and THAT my people, would break my heart.
So, a quick summary: this could be one of my favorite books if it became a series, but for now I'm just gonna wait for a sequel.
Author's note: sadly I am not going to be able to see the Cursed Child, despite going to England over the summer.
Reason #1: There are only previews when I'm there. Once the world premier arrives I will be long gone.
Reason #2: My entire family hates Harry Potter like I hate rice. (It's not that it's terrible, I just hold something against rice.)
Reason #3: I'm not a play person. I've never been to one and even though an HP play would be amazing, I hope that one day it will be made into a book or movie or whatever.
Reason #4: DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE IT IS?! It would be 'a rib out of my body' (as a literally translated Dutch saying goes) to go there.
"(Crowley, could you imagine vampire babies? What a nightmare.)"
"But their whole love-triangle dynamic is so persistently stupid, you can't blame me for blocking it out."I was subconsciously dying to read a book that actually called the beast by its name and stopped playing the pronoun game. If you're in a freakin' love-triangle and your characters have the wits of the average contemporary teenager, please don't be afraid to admit it. I NEED you to admit it.
And I just loved some of the quotes in this book. The characters were just so witty and genuine and I had such a good time reading about their lives.
Also, THE ROMANCE. This is the first book with an LGBT pairing that I've read. Let's just begin by saying that I love to see different minority groups represented in literature and that there's still too little of it. And I was just so excited to see how Rainbow Rowell was going to do it and if and how I would find this kind of romance different from the 'average' ships. Turns out, it wasn't that different at all. I know how some people around me think it's untasteful if gay people kiss, but I have never really had a problem with it, and in this case I was just head-over-heals in love with it. Simon x Baz all the way.
Side note: This is the first love-triangle I read about that is an actual triangle. You must have noticed that what we call 'love-triangle' is really a love-angle. It's science.
One of the only thing that bugged me about this book was the fact that it was so... Fanfiction-y. And I'm not saying that HP fanfiction is a bad thing. I would never say that. I'm just saying that I spent a good hundred pages comparing this book to Harry Potter. And I am allowed to. You can't stop me.
That doesn't mean I think it's a complete rip-off or anything. I'm a sucker for politics in YA, and this whole aristocratic families (kind of pureblood Muggle born but different) conflict was a gift. The magical world with the words and everything. I loved that and I admire Rainbow Rowell's ability to create this entire understandable concept of magical powers and holes in the atmosphere in 522 pages. I often struggle to appreciate stand-alones. (You saw my favorites shelve? I need time and pages and parts to fall in love.) I need more, but not because I haven't lost myself yet. I NEED MORE BECAUSE I NEED MORE SIMON AND BAZ FLUFF AND PENNY SASS AND BACK STORY.
(I realize that this review has no structure whatsoever, but I forgive myself.) This book depicts the emotional struggle of being a vampire perfectly as well. Since this was also my first vampire book, I am not really well-informed here, but Baz's emotional struggles with being a creature his mother would have killed is just so heart-breaking. He literally tries to burn himself to death. That's deep and extremely painful and almost made me cry and then Simon started kissing him and I needed hot chocolate milk and sleep and-- *swoons*
Then there's that other thing I totally couldn't deal with: Simon lost his powers. And it wasn't that I cried or anything it was just that I imagined what it would feel like if you'd read all eight books. That would be like Harry losing his powers, and THAT my people, would break my heart.
So, a quick summary: this could be one of my favorite books if it became a series, but for now I'm just gonna wait for a sequel.
Author's note: sadly I am not going to be able to see the Cursed Child, despite going to England over the summer.
Reason #1: There are only previews when I'm there. Once the world premier arrives I will be long gone.
Reason #2: My entire family hates Harry Potter like I hate rice. (It's not that it's terrible, I just hold something against rice.)
Reason #3: I'm not a play person. I've never been to one and even though an HP play would be amazing, I hope that one day it will be made into a book or movie or whatever.
Reason #4: DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE IT IS?! It would be 'a rib out of my body' (as a literally translated Dutch saying goes) to go there.
No comments:
Post a Comment