GoodRead - Carry On

Out of all of Rainbow Rowell's books, Carry On was the one I really wanted to read. The others caught my attention but Carry On catch it and held it. It's the one of the few reasons why I read Fangirl (review for that is here)- not only to see if it lives up to all the hype, but because I wanted to read this.

Simon Snow is the Chosen One. Here to save the World of Magicks. Only, he's probably the worst Chosen One ever. And all he wanted to do is enjoy his last year at Watford School of Magicks. Expect his girlfriend has broken up with him, his best friend is starting to get under his feet and his mentor wants to hide him, safe from the Insidious Humdrum. He can't even enjoy the fact that his don-partner and nemesis is missing because he can't help worrying about the slimy git.

So what is he going to do when ghost of his nemesis's mother wakes him up one night, desperate to pass her son a message...?

Where to begin?

If you have read Fangirl, you are kinda aware of Simon Snow because this is the Harry Potter-like series that Cath writes fan fiction for. And this is Rainbow Rowell's attempt of Simon Snow fan fiction. That's right, folks. Rainbow Rowell wrote fan fiction for a fantasy series that a main character in one of her other books reads and write about. Confusing? It's like Inception but with books!

This was a fun read. I had fun reading it, which surprised me a lot. I liked Fangirl (and I do have plans to reread Fangirl next year sometime) but I think I prefer Carry On more. I think it's because this felt like Harry Potter, and I LOVE Potter.

This book felt as if creators of Harry Potter and Grey's Anatomy/Scandal,  JK Rowling and Shonda Rhimes, sat down in a room together, merged story ideas together and then invited Rainbow to write the story. The three blended so well together.

It was fun. There's no other word for this book. It was fun. I really enjoyed the story and I really liked how the magic worked in this world (no latin! Instead, we had words and phrases - which is great as it shows the beauty of language). I liked the relationships (friendship and love - I think I started madly tweeting when there was kissing...) and how the story, while having a Harry Potter feel to it, stood on its own two feet.

But - yes, there is a but - this book is fan fiction. And readers might see a little too easily the possible Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy fanfic hidden underneath the words. While I have not read fan fiction (I wish I discovered fanfic in my teens. I would be all over it!), I did at one or two points go "Is this Rainbow's way of getting Harry and Draco together?" before dismissing it very quickly.

Another tiny problem I had was the mystery. I love a good mystery, but there was a few things I kinda guessed (and was frighteningly correct on). That's not a bad thing - but I just wished there was a twist, a moment where I would go "I didn't see that coming!".

While reading this, I was addicted to this book and I had such fun with this. I can imagine rereading this again in the near future. With a mug of hot chocolate and a copy of Fangirl nearby... and maybe a Harry Potter on standby, just in case...

GoodRead - Fangirl

IT FINALLY HAPPENED, INTERNET! I must be one of the last YA bloggers I know who has only got round to reading this - my first Rainbow Rowell book and the big mama of her books, Fangirl! And I have known about this since its publication date and I have own (ok, won) a copy since the end of last year. But two things happened that made me go "Ok, I need to read this now".

1. I wanted to read Carry On. I mean, wizards. Kissing. Magic. And it's same sex kissing. But I was told that if I might want to read Fangirl before I consider buying Carry On to "get" it.
2. It felt like time. I felt ready to tackle it. I mean, the book must be good to get the hype and attention it's getting. But the hype worried me a little - what if the book didn't live up to my standards? Well, I won't know if I don't read it, will I?

So, *deep breath* here we go...

Cath and Wren used to do everything together. But they're off to uni now and Wren wants to be dance, drink, meet boys, leave Cath behind. But Cath would rather write her Simon Snow fanfic.

But going to uni will have to force her to be more open. Whether she wants to or not, life isn't going to stand still.

Ok, that's not the best description of this book. I'm sure a ton of blogs have written it better, but I don't want to talk about Cath's fan fiction writing. I want to address that later.

Once I got into the story, I liked it. I didn't hate it - but I didn't love it either. I liked it to see why everyone I know loved this book. I get why you love this book, Internet! I do! But, I did have issues with this book - and I will blame the hype around this book for this.

Let's talk about the positives of this book. I liked the characters. Well, all bar one - but I got why he was the way he was. I liked these characters because these characters were refreshingly flawed. They were flawed to a point which, at times, I did go "No one can be this messed up". And that's nice to read about. Humans are flawed and messy and we have more than one flaw. And the characters in Fangirl are flawed. I had mixed emotions over these characters - at times, I was totally on their sides and on others, I wanted to throw the book across the room (I feel sorry for Lucy aka LucyTheReader for, when we met at the Young Adult Weekender a few weekends ago, I had a rant at her about one of the characters. Did I, Lucy? Or was I quite kind? I can't remember - too nervous over our talk)

And I really liked Rainbow's writing. Once I found my stride, I sped through.

But it did take time to get into her writing. Now, I can't tell you if I had problems getting the hang on Rainbow's writing or if I had trouble getting into the book in general (aka the hype around this book). Let me explain. This book has been sold as the book to read if you have been inside a fandom. That this book gets a fandom. And as someone who has/is still part of the Harry Potter fandom, I should be totally on board with this.

But this book ISN'T about fandom. Let me make this perfect clear. This book is about a girl who is figuring out her life - trying to figure out her life and her place in the world now. And oh, she writes fan fiction. The fandom has NOTHING to do with this book - it's part of this girl's life but it isn't the driving force of this book - Cath is.

Now, I have one tiny nitpicking thing which annoyed me - it's no biggie. But it bugged me and I have no idea why. In my edition, it has bonus content. On the inside cover at the start of the book, there are cartoon drawings of the main characters in the books (see right). Which is cool. I like seeing them. Up to a point. I like imagining the characters in my head, but these drawings pushed themselves into how I saw these characters. The only character that fought tooth and nail to be different from the cartoon was Reagan. In my head, she was black (so was Professor Piper, actually). But she wasn't in the cartoon - she was white. Maybe these drawings should have been at the back (but then, where would that cartoon strip on the back inside cover go? It's revealing a scene and that could be seen as a spoiler...).

So, yes. I have read this book and I liked it. Not loved it like the rest of you guys (sorry - actually no. I'm not sorry. We are all allowed to have our own opinions). But I am going to read Carry On sooner or later. Maybe I can be brave and read one of Rainbow's other books *eyes Eleanor and Park...*