Book Title: Carry On
Author: Rainbow Rowell
It won’t be damaging to your precious reading experience to dig into the book’s inspiration a little bit. I prefer this certain self-awareness, not just concerning the establishment of the book but also the Normals who decide to pick it on the shelf. And so please be aware that Carry On is like Harry Potter fan fiction gay edition. Just read the first few pages and the glaring similarities will either make you nostalgic and/or displeased. It may sound like queer porn or amateur to say the least but trust me, get pass through that and you get to experience the magic of Rainbow Rowell.
It follows the same premise: a school of magic in the midst of mundanity, the castle and the woods (Forbidden Forest: Wavering Wood), birds as messengers, the chosen one prophesied to defeat the bad guy, even some beloved characters from HP paralleled with some of its own in terms of their positions and relevance in the story. A copycat in a good way.
Some of the things that make it distinguishable from its obvious inspiration is the romance and magic system. And yeah, the storyline.
I find the magic system amusing though its complexities are minimal. The casting of spell is a song to sing or a rhyme to speak. So long as the word or phrase is widely spoken by Normals (Muggles counterpart), its power remains. There’s power in words and that principle makes the world of mage magical.
The likability of her characters are soaring, the same way with how I leaf through its pages as I crave for what comes next. Presenting the story in short chapters works for me too, except those that are one or two or three liners. I find them unnecessary (waste of paper). And the use of several points of view in a constant shifting makes the reading occasionally confusing. You have to switch personas and remember that the one narrating is a different character from the previous one. Nonetheless, this is a minimal issue.
The first confession of homosexual love is lovely. This is how unpredictability should unfold. I ship Simon and Baz! That makes me want to change my initial advice: You may want to get on its story firsthand with zero knowledge about its plot and inspiration. So what is it like? Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy/ Edward Cullen love story? Doesn’t matter. I love it. And I find Baz’s perspective fascinating. I like to read more of him. I keep wishing for the next chapter, “Please be Baz. Please be Baz.” I love all his dialogues. They are queer, in love, and humorous. Now I am falling…
In the end, all my issues about the book become inconsequential. 🍌🍌🍌 🍌bananas. Love still wins even if you’re a magician and/or a blood-sucking beautiful monster. I would’ve given a perfect 5 if I let my emotions, nothing else, dictate, to be honest. That’s how I’m in love with Simon and Baz.
Simon Snow:
Baz grins, then leans over and kisses my neck. (I have a mole there; he treats it like a target.)
“Go on, then,” he says. “Carry on, Simon.”
-Carry on by Rainbow Rowell
Nollan’s Bookhouse 