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emilyg0663's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This book is dark! Be prepared to be at the edge of your seat the whole time, and be desperate for the third book afterwards.
Wayward Son shows Simon, Baz and Penelope in a new light, and a completely different world! If the first book, Simon and Penelope have magic and can hold their own in a fight, Baz too. But here, they are completely unmatched but extremely lucky!! Every situation, every fight, they are either completely defeated or won but beaten up to exhaustion. They are broken and depressed and dragging their feet as they travel through this book, which made me feel helpless. Even the finale was crazy because they completely got lucked out with the Talkers just randomly showing up. It wasn’t completely random as it’s all Agatha was talking about in the book, but damn! They are all bleeding and in pain at the end, which doesn’t make it feel like a victory at all!!
This makes me extremely nervous for the characters, as they are not good heroes anymore. They can’t do anything right, and even Penelope has no plan which is completely a left field! I actually don’t feel as strongly attached to the characters anymore compared with the first book. <Spoilers> Penelope is an arrogant ‘know it all’ who actually is just a child who knows nothing, Simon is a broken human who has lost his reason for life but is brash and jumps into trouble every second he can. I was absolutely furious with Simon for this, wanted to smack him and tell him ‘sit down!’ And Baz did the most growth as to finding about more about himself, but he’d tided down to my most hated troupe; strained relationships over miscommunication……..
Other thing that stressed me out was the fact that every group hates eachother for biases that they created. Everyone is doing wrong things and blaming the other groups for their misfortunes. It made me realised that there is no good guy in these books, that I don’t root for the vampires, the mages orange creatures. I don’t even root for Simon!
I can’t wait for book 3
Wayward Son shows Simon, Baz and Penelope in a new light, and a completely different world! If the first book, Simon and Penelope have magic and can hold their own in a fight, Baz too. But here, they are completely unmatched but extremely lucky!! Every situation, every fight, they are either completely defeated or won but beaten up to exhaustion. They are broken and depressed and dragging their feet as they travel through this book, which made me feel helpless.
This makes me extremely nervous for the characters, as they are not good heroes anymore. They can’t do anything right, and even Penelope has no plan which is completely a left field! I actually don’t feel as strongly attached to the characters anymore compared with the first book. <Spoilers> Penelope is an arrogant ‘know it all’ who actually is just a child who knows nothing, Simon is a broken human who has lost his reason for life but is brash and jumps into trouble every second he can. I was absolutely furious with Simon for this, wanted to smack him and tell him ‘sit down!’ And Baz did the most growth as to finding about more about himself, but he’d tided down to my most hated troupe; strained relationships over miscommunication……..
Other thing that stressed me out was the fact that every group hates eachother for biases that they created. Everyone is doing wrong things and blaming the other groups for their misfortunes. It made me realised that there is no good guy in these books, that I don’t root for the vampires, the mages orange creatures. I don’t even root for Simon!
I can’t wait for book 3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, War, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Minor: Kidnapping
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, and Gun violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Abandonment, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Infidelity, Alcohol, Biphobia, Fatphobia, and Vomit
breadbees's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Confinement, and Self harm
a_islandcriptid's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Gun violence, and Blood
Moderate: Gaslighting and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Violence
gothicmoon's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book is very different from Carry On, which is good. This entire book is a set up for the plot of the next book, which isn't so good... but I did really enjoy the character work. These are heavily traumatised characters, they're not gonna bounce back so easily! Gorgeous prose, too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, and Animal death
cameronmh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Car accident
annabella's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cursing, Grief, and Sexual content
anitaxlit's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh, this book. I ordered it months before it came out. I had it the day of the release. I read one chapter... And I had to stop. Simon's struggles re his relationship with Baz hit too close to home at the time. It took a lot of effort for me to pick it back up a year later, but I'm so glad I did.
I love the Simon Snow universe. I was already in love with it when reading Fangirl. After it came out, I remember describing Carry On as "Harry Potter for grown up HP fans". Back then I already felt that I preferred this universe, perhaps because it doesn't take itself too seriously, perhaps because it's so much more diverse. Wayward Son cements that conviction.
Here, Rainbow Rowell subverts the "Chosen One" trope beautifully. All we normally see of heroes after they have fulfilled their destiny is an epilogue where they are unbelievably well-adjusted, or years into the future when they have already dealt with their trauma. Wayward Son picks up merely a year after the events of Carry On, and we get to see the effects of what happened in the first book, the loss and trauma that Simon experiences after everything he trusted, everything he thought he was, is destroyed.
Simon crumbles down. Baz is desperate to get through to him. Penny is lost and frayed. Agatha is in denial. They've all lost so much, and they cling desperately to their pasts in need of security. Throughout the book they learn to let go, and by the end I think they're ready to find themselves again and anew—even if they don't know it yet.
The final chapters deserve a special mention for giving Penny a depth I had been missing since Carry On, she's finally depicted as the star we readers knew she was.
I was convinced I wouldn't like Wayward Son as much as Carry On because it hurt so much more to read, but I was wrong. This sequel is, in my opinion, better than the first book. It breaks free from all expectations and invents something new.
I love the Simon Snow universe with all my heart. And I really can't wait to see what's next in Any Way The Wind Blows.
I love the Simon Snow universe. I was already in love with it when reading Fangirl. After it came out, I remember describing Carry On as "Harry Potter for grown up HP fans". Back then I already felt that I preferred this universe, perhaps because it doesn't take itself too seriously, perhaps because it's so much more diverse. Wayward Son cements that conviction.
Here, Rainbow Rowell subverts the "Chosen One" trope beautifully. All we normally see of heroes after they have fulfilled their destiny is an epilogue where they are unbelievably well-adjusted, or years into the future when they have already dealt with their trauma. Wayward Son picks up merely a year after the events of Carry On, and we get to see the effects of what happened in the first book, the loss and trauma that Simon experiences after everything he trusted, everything he thought he was, is destroyed.
Simon crumbles down. Baz is desperate to get through to him. Penny is lost and frayed. Agatha is in denial. They've all lost so much, and they cling desperately to their pasts in need of security. Throughout the book they learn to let go, and by the end I think they're ready to find themselves again and anew—even if they don't know it yet.
The final chapters deserve a special mention for giving Penny a depth I had been missing since Carry On, she's finally depicted as the star we readers knew she was.
I was convinced I wouldn't like Wayward Son as much as Carry On because it hurt so much more to read, but I was wrong. This sequel is, in my opinion, better than the first book. It breaks free from all expectations and invents something new.
I love the Simon Snow universe with all my heart. And I really can't wait to see what's next in Any Way The Wind Blows.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Kidnapping and Gun violence
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