CARRY ON BY RAINBOW ROWELL

Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Book Description:

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who's ever been chosen

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here - it's their last year at Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

Carry On is a love letter to love stories and the power of words - to every 'chosen one' who ever had more on their mind than saving the world...

My Review:

After reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell where Simon and Baz where Cath’s main relationship she focused on in her fanfiction, I knew I had to pick up Carry On and learn more about these characters.

I initially thought that Carry On would be a book of Cath’s fanfiction but unfortunately I was slightly disappointed to find out that it was the books that fictional author Gemma T. Leslie wrote.

As I began to read this, I was intrigued to see the original characters of Simon and Baz, instead of Cath’s interpretation. I will admit after the introduction to both characters, I often imagined Baz as Draco Malfoy and Simon as Harry Potter because of how similar the characters were. Many people have also seen some form of connection to J.K. Rowling’s characters but have loved Simon & Baz nonetheless.

The first hundred or so pages were quite difficult to get through and therefore I was put in a bit of a slump, not being motivated to continue reading as I figured it wasn’t going to live up to my expectations.

After procrastinating for a while, I decided that I would give Carry On a chance to prove itself amazingly hyped and it certainly lived up to that as I continued through.

It wasn’t a perfect read in my books, but the characters were interesting, their connections with one another and the plot plus the romance kept me going until I flew through the last couple hundred pages and left me wanting more.

Rainbow Rowell really ties together prophecies, magic, archenemies and romance into a story for fans of Harry Potter and Fangirl. No wonder Cath loved these characters so much!

Think Lovely Thoughts xo

FANGIRL BY RAINBOW ROWELL

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Book Description:

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

My Review:

I am so late on the Rainbow Rowell bandwagon but boy am I stoked that I started with Fangirl! I cannot tell you how much I adored the story of Cath and the troubles she faces whilst in college, from the sarcasm of Reagan to the sweet charms of Levi and his delicious Starbucks drinks.

It was wonderful to read about a character who visibly develops throughout the story but she still remains a flawed character, I truly appreciate how Rainbow Rowell creates these characters that are flawed but easily relatable.

Fangirl is one of the most relatable books I’ve ever read; Cath’s aspirations and love for writing/fanfiction are very similar to mine. The situations she falls in aren’t over dramatized but play out just as they would in real life, making her and her life all the more relatable.

Reagan was one of the wittiest and sarcastic characters I’ve read of, though underneath those layers she was really quite sweet and trying to help Cath get through college as much as she could.

Levi. Sweet and adorable Levi. Who could not love him? Like Reagan, he had his wits about him and although he wasn’t perfect. He was believable and genuine, not prince charming perfect but perfect enough. His love to learn more about Cath’s writing and his determination for learning to love literature truly makes him everything a girl could want in a boyfriend.

Fangirl was definitely a fun read but it also dealt with the serious issues and was an accurate portrayal of the struggles many face in their life. I tip my hat off to Rainbow Rowell for being able to tackle so many issues yet keep a light-hearted storyline running through.

I’ll no doubt be re-reading this again!

Think Lovely Thoughts xo