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alexan13's review against another edition
5.0
Initial reaction: I AM NEVER EVER EVER GOING TO BE OVER THIS BOOK MY HEART HAS BEEN RIPPED TO SHREDS can i get the next book right now please i cannot live like this
I finally got my emotions together to figure out how I actually feel about this book, and, as it turns out I think it's a genius continuation of the story. There will be thematic spoilers in this review, though no plot spoilers!
Let me be clear that not everyone is going to like this. Even among fans of Carry On, I'm sure this will be divisive, because the way things are going with Baz and Simon are not the way we as readers want things to be going. There are also certain elements of the plot (the ultimate Big Bad of the novel, for example) that are not quite as well-developed as I would usually like them to be in my fantasy. But the Carry On series has never really been about plot and has always been about character and character arc, so while this part did fall a little flat to me, it doesn't ultimately affect my overall opinion of the book.
Somehow, Wayward Son managed to subvert tropes and expectations and satirize both genre and reader expectations just as much as Carry On did. It was absolutely genius, and the craziest part about it is how much the marketing for this book itself was a part of the creation and subversion of these expectations. (It really speaks to how much online interaction of authors and book fans has increased, that the online marketing can be a tool for telling the story before the book even arrives). From on the internet to on the summary on the novel's jacket, this book is advertised as being a continuation of Simon's story, the "after" of happily-ever-after, a fun road trip novel. It was not advertised (UNTIL TODAY 10/3) that the series would continue beyond Wayward Son but that this would close out the story, answer the unknowns of after (the two titles even for a complete song title, suggesting closure, suggesting an ending).
And then you read the book, with these expectations in mind from the dust jacket alone, and found out that *actually* you were reading a middle book of a series all along. That *actually* ends cannot tie up smoothly. This is such a smart satire of our formal, structural expectations for this kind of series, continuing the self-contained satire of the hero's journey in Carry On and applying it to genre norms of series instead.
Because Simon, Baz, and Penny all start the novel in a certain state of emotional angst, of dissatisfaction with something in their lives, of uncertainty of how to move forward and create new meanings for themselves and their relationships. This is a typical start for a character arc, in which by the end one expects the characters will have grown and resolved their feelings of stasis and inadequacy at the beginning of the novel. (and especially by the end of the ROAD TRIP NOVEL, which suggests a parallel emotional journey) Except in Wayward Son THEY DON'T. There is no character arc, but character stasis stuck in a perpetual state of angst, and the characters end the books mentally and emotionally, and in their relationships (my poor SnowBaz heart could barely take the angst) almost exactly where they began it.
And that's when you realize that the story is not over and, furthermore, is *never* over. I have so much to say about Wayward Son as commentary for how trauma, existential feelings, and general angst cannot be neatly tied up, are not truly fixed in the space of a plot arc in which some external villain is defeated (an internal/external parallelism which our fantasy has taught us to expect), that internal wounds take internal work and spill over and can't be contained.
I want to go more in-depth about all the different tropes that were turned on their head here, but I think I'll need another re-read to do so coherently. It is subtly and intelligently done, so that you don't even quite realize what Rowell is doing until the very end, when you open the last chapter, read it's title, and realize you were reading a middle book all along.
This book is very smart, the angst is ever-present but top-notch, and Baz is, as always, the absolute fucking best.
I finally got my emotions together to figure out how I actually feel about this book, and, as it turns out I think it's a genius continuation of the story. There will be thematic spoilers in this review, though no plot spoilers!
Let me be clear that not everyone is going to like this. Even among fans of Carry On, I'm sure this will be divisive, because the way things are going with Baz and Simon are not the way we as readers want things to be going. There are also certain elements of the plot (the ultimate Big Bad of the novel, for example) that are not quite as well-developed as I would usually like them to be in my fantasy. But the Carry On series has never really been about plot and has always been about character and character arc, so while this part did fall a little flat to me, it doesn't ultimately affect my overall opinion of the book.
Somehow, Wayward Son managed to subvert tropes and expectations and satirize both genre and reader expectations just as much as Carry On did. It was absolutely genius, and the craziest part about it is how much the marketing for this book itself was a part of the creation and subversion of these expectations. (It really speaks to how much online interaction of authors and book fans has increased, that the online marketing can be a tool for telling the story before the book even arrives). From on the internet to on the summary on the novel's jacket, this book is advertised as being a continuation of Simon's story, the "after" of happily-ever-after, a fun road trip novel. It was not advertised (UNTIL TODAY 10/3) that the series would continue beyond Wayward Son but that this would close out the story, answer the unknowns of after (the two titles even for a complete song title, suggesting closure, suggesting an ending).
And then you read the book, with these expectations in mind from the dust jacket alone, and found out that *actually* you were reading a middle book of a series all along. That *actually* ends cannot tie up smoothly. This is such a smart satire of our formal, structural expectations for this kind of series, continuing the self-contained satire of the hero's journey in Carry On and applying it to genre norms of series instead.
Because Simon, Baz, and Penny all start the novel in a certain state of emotional angst, of dissatisfaction with something in their lives, of uncertainty of how to move forward and create new meanings for themselves and their relationships. This is a typical start for a character arc, in which by the end one expects the characters will have grown and resolved their feelings of stasis and inadequacy at the beginning of the novel. (and especially by the end of the ROAD TRIP NOVEL, which suggests a parallel emotional journey) Except in Wayward Son THEY DON'T. There is no character arc, but character stasis stuck in a perpetual state of angst, and the characters end the books mentally and emotionally, and in their relationships (my poor SnowBaz heart could barely take the angst) almost exactly where they began it.
And that's when you realize that the story is not over and, furthermore, is *never* over. I have so much to say about Wayward Son as commentary for how trauma, existential feelings, and general angst cannot be neatly tied up, are not truly fixed in the space of a plot arc in which some external villain is defeated (an internal/external parallelism which our fantasy has taught us to expect), that internal wounds take internal work and spill over and can't be contained.
I want to go more in-depth about all the different tropes that were turned on their head here, but I think I'll need another re-read to do so coherently. It is subtly and intelligently done, so that you don't even quite realize what Rowell is doing until the very end, when you open the last chapter, read it's title, and realize you were reading a middle book all along.
This book is very smart, the angst is ever-present but top-notch, and Baz is, as always, the absolute fucking best.
maddoxx's review against another edition
2.0
I'd like to summarize my experience with this book in one sentence: Thank fuck that's over.
Rainbow Rowell has a way of describing romance that I very much like. Back with Carry On (which I read a few years ago) that was enough to win me over.
With Wayward Son, though, I've noticed that I don't like Simon or Penelope all that much. Which isn't on them, really, I just find their personality ... unpleasant. Like the kind of people that I wouldn't get along with in real life. I can't sympathize with them. Maybe they were better characters in Carry On, I don't really remember anymore.
Either way, the worldbuilding in this book is absolute dogshit. It's fine if it doesn't take the biggest spot in your story so you don't explain it all that much, but Wayward Son kept shattering my suspension of disbelief every other page.
The pacing was frankly terrible. The cliffhanger at the end was so ham-fisted that Rowell might as well have written "The End... OR WAS IT??"
I was genuinely quite excited for this book. Rowell's writing style has a nice flow to it and is very digestible. Doesn't help much if the plot is fucked. And the characters.
There were so many new ideas introduced here and none of them were executed well.
The fights were fun but they felt utterly pointless because it didn't matter if Simon and Baz got riddled by bullets like swiss cheese, it's fine, c'mon guys, it's fiiiine. I didn't even give a shit about their relationship at that point anymore. Miscommunication is the worst and most boring way to create tension possible. It only gets topped by a love triangle, honestly. Luckily- oh wait. Fuck. (Sorry, another review made that joke already, but jesus christ.)
It's kind of astonishing how no progress was made whatsoever but at the same time things were happening way too fucking fast but well, like I said, pacing issues.
I think that's all I can muster. Like I said. Thank fuck that's over.
Rainbow Rowell has a way of describing romance that I very much like. Back with Carry On (which I read a few years ago) that was enough to win me over.
With Wayward Son, though, I've noticed that I don't like Simon or Penelope all that much. Which isn't on them, really, I just find their personality ... unpleasant. Like the kind of people that I wouldn't get along with in real life. I can't sympathize with them. Maybe they were better characters in Carry On, I don't really remember anymore.
Either way, the worldbuilding in this book is absolute dogshit. It's fine if it doesn't take the biggest spot in your story so you don't explain it all that much, but Wayward Son kept shattering my suspension of disbelief every other page.
The pacing was frankly terrible. The cliffhanger at the end was so ham-fisted that Rowell might as well have written "The End... OR WAS IT??"
I was genuinely quite excited for this book. Rowell's writing style has a nice flow to it and is very digestible. Doesn't help much if the plot is fucked. And the characters.
There were so many new ideas introduced here and none of them were executed well.
The fights were fun but they felt utterly pointless because it didn't matter if Simon and Baz got riddled by bullets like swiss cheese, it's fine, c'mon guys, it's fiiiine. I didn't even give a shit about their relationship at that point anymore. Miscommunication is the worst and most boring way to create tension possible. It only gets topped by a love triangle, honestly. Luckily- oh wait. Fuck. (Sorry, another review made that joke already, but jesus christ.)
It's kind of astonishing how no progress was made whatsoever but at the same time things were happening way too fucking fast but well, like I said, pacing issues.
I think that's all I can muster. Like I said. Thank fuck that's over.
penguin428's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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
bathmophobia's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
medium-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
3.5
It’s the saddest of the trilogy and my least favourite.
shes_book_obsessed's review against another edition
3.0
Wayward Son
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I just could not get into it despite how good the first book was. I was kind of hoping for something else I guess. Anyway, it was okay and I hope others find/found it more enjoyable!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I just could not get into it despite how good the first book was. I was kind of hoping for something else I guess. Anyway, it was okay and I hope others find/found it more enjoyable!
remmslupin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
marvelruinedmyspirit's review against another edition
3.0
The writing style of this book was not stellar, and the plot was lacking and full of conveniences, but it was a fun read. There's not much else to say about it I guess. It was fine.
boyanna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
akkayan's review against another edition
1.0
i had high hopes for this after the beauty i saw in carry on; however, this book greatly disappointed me. this book lacked so much and made no sense to me. at one point, there was an unnecessary love triangle and making miscommunication as the conflict frustrated me greatly.
i did not recognize simon or baz at all in this. the characters in this book felt like strangers to me, and i felt as if i had to re-acquaint myself with them (i tried, i really did. but this book made them so unlikeable to me).
this book felt like a filler book for the simon snow series, and frankly, after reading this i preferred carry on to be left as a standalone.
i did not recognize simon or baz at all in this. the characters in this book felt like strangers to me, and i felt as if i had to re-acquaint myself with them (i tried, i really did. but this book made them so unlikeable to me).
this book felt like a filler book for the simon snow series, and frankly, after reading this i preferred carry on to be left as a standalone.