Carry On (Simon Snow, #1) in The Toast

Feb 06, 2016 Bailey rated it really liked it

This is more than just Harry Potter fanfiction - it's a transformative work where Rowell builds her own interesting, original characters and magical world and that manages to smartly critique JKR's downfalls.

Alsooooo, it's just really super adorable and happy and fun to read. ...more

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Apr 03, 2018 Peyton rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq, ya, romance, fantasy, adventure, own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 30, 2016 Grace rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

Gosh. I do love Rainbow Rowell but her books can be a bit hit or miss for me. I was really looking forward to this one because I was balls-deep in the HP fandom back in the day (as balls-deep as a lurker can be, at least). I was never really big into the Harry/Draco thing or the romanticization of Draco, particularly bc it often went hand-in-hand with demonizing Ron and ESPECIALLY after sh*t hit the fan with the Draco trilogy.

Aww, LOOK AT ME, WAXING NOSTALGIC. Anyways, that's neither here nor t Gosh. I do love Rainbow Rowell but her books can be a bit hit or miss for me. I was really looking forward to this one because I was balls-deep in the HP fandom back in the day (as balls-deep as a lurker can be, at least). I was never really big into the Harry/Draco thing or the romanticization of Draco, particularly bc it often went hand-in-hand with demonizing Ron and ESPECIALLY after sh*t hit the fan with the Draco trilogy.

Aww, LOOK AT ME, WAXING NOSTALGIC. Anyways, that's neither here nor there. I read an article from one of the old-timey H/D bigwig fic authors on how Carry On subverts a lot of the problematic aspects of HP as a universe in regards to its morals, characterization, society. It was an intriguing perspective, and made me appreciate Rowell's cleverness and her efforts to create a universe that intertwines magic with modern-day society, although the use of "Normal" technology ended up being a bit jarring for me.

The female characters were characters. I related to Agatha. Girl, go find yourself a nice surfer boy in California. ADORED Penelope. And Ebb. Poooooor Ebb. Sigh. Ultimately, her thread of the story, even though it was just in the background, was the one that I found most compelling.

Buuuuuut. Look, maybe it's because they're meant to rep H/D, but I just didn't fully buy into Simon/Baz. At least on Simon's part, it felt like it came a bit out of nowhere, although I could see the groundwork being laid with his obsession with finding out where Baz was. The way some of the situations unfolded seemed a bit convoluted... although, TBH, if this is supposed to represent of Cath's fanfiction in Fangirl, then there are definitely some recognizable tropes, so maybe it's a wink-wink type thing.

Also didn't find Simon v compelling as a protagonist. It was slow until the second half when Baz steps into the picture. He is such a sweet summer child, so subject to the whims and desires of everyone around him -- no agency at all. Like, how do you not see The Mage is kind of a giant authoritarian self-serving dickhead? Dumbledore shade right there, y'all.

I may have loved this at a different point in my life. It was well-done, because Rainbow Rowell is Rainbow Rowell, and it obviously elicited some strongly worded opinions from me, but, ultimately, something just didn't connect for me personally. I would say it's still worth a read, though, esp if you're a fan of LGBTQ characters and magical schools. ...more

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