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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5 stars. Not everybody needs to be in a relationship in the end. People can have pleasing ends to their story without needing a boyfriend or a girlfriend... just.. stop it. And when did Simon and Baz turn into horny teenagers that can't leave each other alone. It just surprises me after the break through of the last book, and what simon went through.
Having read the first two books years ago, I finally got around to reading "Any Way the Wind Blows." And so I wouldn't miss a beat, I reread the first two again to refresh my memory of the story. I am so glad I did because I forgot how much I loved Simon, Baz and the whole gang. It was a lot of fun to revisit Watford and go on the journeys with the main characters. While this series has been described as "Harry Potter-esque", I found it to be more mature and one that really dives into the magical world it is set in. The romance is realistic, angsty, and has excellent representation. My favorite book in this trilogy was definitely "Wayward Son" because who doesn't love a good road trip book. Plus, the storyline in Las Vegas appealed to me as I live in Sin City and I can totally see it being run by vampires. This third book did feel a bit odd to me, with multiple storylines that didn't feel cohesive to me, but I satisfied with it overall, and I wouldn't be mad if we got another novel in this series.
Actually wasn't going to read this one since I've been bouncing off both YA and romance pretty hard lately but I think this actually ended up being the best book overall in terms of like being consistently good all the way through. The first book was really split into the first half [bad] and the second half [excellent] and the second book was okay but overall I just thought it was a step backwards in terms of character and relationship development. This one was really great in terms of both plot and relationship development [for all of the main characters actually, not just Simon and Baz] so I'm glad I ended up finishing the series. Baz continues to be an entire mood at literally all times and although I know Rowell didn't intend it at all I'm definitely headcanoning Simon as demisexual now and no one can stop me! So many of the things he said in this book just screamed a-spec to me.
adventurous
funny
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
Forgot I had this on pre-order till it arrived. Certainly easy to read, and RR writes characterisation well, but ultimately unsatisfying.
But yay for lesbians.
But yay for lesbians.
I appreciate the more realistic representation of relationship woes. Which is funny because this is literally a book about a gay vampire and a dragon boy (and others). Also, fuck you Rainbow Rowell for making me cry twice in less than 100 pages (I loved it).
3.5 stars. I enjoyed this. This is probably the first book in this trilogy where I feel like I cared about everyone’s perspectives pretty equally, and didn’t get annoyed when the focus wasn’t on Simon or Baz. I thought the other characters and their relationships were interesting and well done.
With all that being said, I did have some issues with this. The first is that nothing from the last novel seemed pulled through to this one, besides a single character. Now, I don’t remember a whole lot from that novel, but I remember some pretty serious issues involving vampires and online videos that were seemingly forgotten about. The other thing I struggled with was Baz and Simon. I hated the last book because they weren’t really together and they were struggling. This book fixed that. And it did so immediately. Simon literally moved out to get away from magic, leaving his friends and Baz with little more than a note. And then almost immediately after, Simon changes his mind and tries again with Baz. I feel like if Rowell had taken more time, giving the reader Simon’s thoughts and feelings, showing us that he missed Baz, that he couldn’t live without him, and then decided to have him back in his life, it would have worked so much better. And while I didn’t completely mind, because I find the two so adorable together that I didn’t really want them to spend any further time apart, it was rushed and could have been handled better.
With all that being said, I did have some issues with this. The first is that nothing from the last novel seemed pulled through to this one, besides a single character. Now, I don’t remember a whole lot from that novel, but I remember some pretty serious issues involving vampires and online videos that were seemingly forgotten about. The other thing I struggled with was Baz and Simon. I hated the last book because they weren’t really together and they were struggling. This book fixed that. And it did so immediately. Simon literally moved out to get away from magic, leaving his friends and Baz with little more than a note. And then almost immediately after, Simon changes his mind and tries again with Baz. I feel like if Rowell had taken more time, giving the reader Simon’s thoughts and feelings, showing us that he missed Baz, that he couldn’t live without him, and then decided to have him back in his life, it would have worked so much better. And while I didn’t completely mind, because I find the two so adorable together that I didn’t really want them to spend any further time apart, it was rushed and could have been handled better.