Reviews - Wayward Son | The StoryGraph

8.78k reviews for:

Wayward Son

Rainbow Rowell

3.86 AVERAGE

nicolelund's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

jgruman's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

terranstorm's review against another edition

3.5

funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Consistently fun, and even laugh-out-loud funny, all the way through. I actually enjoyed this sequel even more than the first book (though I see in reviews there are plenty of folks who felt the exact opposite way). I can see the arguments and I couldn't quite rate it a 4, but on entertainment value alone? Fun. The crew deserves a meandering, cursed road trip through the American West, full of detours and shenanigans.

Lastly, I found Baz and Simon's relationship woes + Simon's grief-depression-funk altogether so relatable, presented unvarnished and with no easy answers. Even though the pacing was unusual (it seems some readers found it anticlimactic), but I found it refreshing and ultimately quite satisfying. Wouldn't have minded if they'd made a bit more progress in the direction of opening up, but I'm fine with saving that for book 3 provided it's done well there. I'll report back!

Content Warnings

moth_mim's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

meganmccuenwitt's review against another edition

5.0

I seriously love these characters and this world so much. It was so cute and fun to watch them roadtrip across the US, especially because they spent so much time in Nebraska. There was a lot of angst in this book and it was so emotional. I love the concept of “what happens to the hero after the hero’s journey?” even though the book was obviously still a variation of the hero’s journey.

Spoiler

I really loved Baz’s journey, especially him meeting other vampires. I just care about him so damn much and like him meeting another vampire and being mentored and not feeling so ashamed of who he is- I was actually crying. Like oh my god I just want to protect him.

I read this book in less than 24-hours. I feel like Carry On is objectively better than Wayward Son, but I still REALLY liked Wayward Son and I think it made me love the character and world even more than the first book did. And seriously, I’m going to be dying until the third book in the trilogy comes out.

lindsjens's review against another edition

3.0

Gah, I feel bad that I’m not more excited about these Simon Snow books. They’re fun, Rowell is the funniest writer that I know of who is currently publishing, so I’m going to read whatever she has published. This has an interesting society/structure. I liked the Shepard character. The narrator was great. I don’t know, it just took a long time for me to get into and then it felt like it was abruptly over and setting up for the next book... which I’ll also read and feel tepid about. Probably. I don’t know.

anka_trini's review against another edition

3.0

Ich bin mir noch nicht ganz sicher, was ich von diesem Buch halten soll. Die Geschichte ist einfach komplett anders als der Vorgängerband, da die Leichtigkeit fehlt. Außerdem hatte ich nicht dieses Rainbow Rowell Feeling, dass ich sonst bei ihren Büchern habe.

Allerdings fand ich die paar Neuerung, die zum Magiesystem hinzugekommen sind, wieder super spannend. Darüber hätte ich gerne noch viel mehr gelesen.

Dann und wann gab es leider einzelne Logikfehler und irgendwie hat mir ein roter Faden gefehlt, aber an und für sich hat mir "Wayward Son" gut gefallen.

amberc's review against another edition

4.0

This book came as a gift from above, okay not really, but I’ve been in a slump for a month and a tricky one to get out of due to circumstances... but! This book helped! It was a delight to read it and to spend some time with Simon and Baz again. The plot wasn’t that big or complicated and I liked that. Just the ‘go on a trip and things go sideways’ story. It did feel a little too coincidental? Everything happened at the right moment and just felt a bit too on the nose. They’re going to a new country? Better hand over a guide to help them and get them into more trouble. And let the man explain everything you need to know! Shepard was an okay character, i just kept imagining him as a man in his 40s when he’s supposed to be 20?

It was a fun book, I didn’t have to think much and enjoyed the characters. What else do you need when you’re in a slump?

keddl's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-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: Complicated

nat130's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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

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