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A review by inkyinsanity
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
Before I start this review, I would like to point out the absolute frustration I have suffered trying to mentally and verbally distinguish Rowell and Rowling. I know the difference. I swear I do, but they share too many of the same letters 🤣
Carry On was originally created as the Harry Potter stand-in for Rowell’s main character of her contemporary novel Fangirl to write fan-fiction of, which Rowell then turned into an original novel of its own. By that premise alone, it's similar to the webcomic parts of Eliza and Her Monsters.
disclaimers:
1: I have not read Fangirl.
2: I adore Harry Potter and fantasy is my favorite genre.
3: I have read a truly enormous amount of Harry Potter fan-fiction. We're talking millions of words, easy. (Shhh!)
I knew Carry On was meta-fiction inspired by fictional fanfiction when I got into it (and isn't that a mouthful!). Being aware of how that can backfire, I tried to be a cautious buyer. I read reviews and an excerpt before getting the book. I expected honest writing; tongue-in-cheek characters, world building, and plot; a standard slash (m/m aka gay) romance between pseudo-Harry and pseudo-Draco; and I expected it to be ridiculously, hilariously cheesy.
I expected to have fun.
First of all, this was not Harry Potter fanfiction. This was Twilight fanfiction dressed in a Gryffindor uniform.
The “i know what you are—say it!—vampire!” scene was literally word for word. It was as ridiculous in here as it was in Twilight, but this didn’t feel like either satire or homage. It just felt awkward.
For all that I’ve seen other people in reviews complain about HP plagiarism, I have to disagree. Yes, Simon Snow is clearly a riff off of HP, but Rowell changed her characters, world, and plot enough that the premise was full of potential, even as the archetypes were recognizable: the mentor might be the antagonist, the bad guy literally eats magic, spells are made from common vernaculars, do the ends truly justify the means, why don’t traumatized fictional kids ever get therapy, etc. Those are fascinating concepts!
But the Twilight scene dumped me right out of the story.
The romance itself confused me. Both boys continuously described each other as gross, which is the opposite of how I thought romance is written. I naively assumed one should find their love interest at least somewhat physically attractive and intellectually stimulating or whatever too.
It wasn’t until over 400 pages in that Simon even remotely considered Baz good looking… and it only happened once or twice. Baz, at least, found Simon attractive, (I don’t know how), but the descriptors given were pretty icky.
Examples: (Simon about Baz)
Carry On was originally created as the Harry Potter stand-in for Rowell’s main character of her contemporary novel Fangirl to write fan-fiction of, which Rowell then turned into an original novel of its own. By that premise alone, it's similar to the webcomic parts of Eliza and Her Monsters.
disclaimers:
1: I have not read Fangirl.
2: I adore Harry Potter and fantasy is my favorite genre.
3: I have read a truly enormous amount of Harry Potter fan-fiction. We're talking millions of words, easy. (Shhh!)
I knew Carry On was meta-fiction inspired by fictional fanfiction when I got into it (and isn't that a mouthful!). Being aware of how that can backfire, I tried to be a cautious buyer. I read reviews and an excerpt before getting the book. I expected honest writing; tongue-in-cheek characters, world building, and plot; a standard slash (m/m aka gay) romance between pseudo-Harry and pseudo-Draco; and I expected it to be ridiculously, hilariously cheesy.
I expected to have fun.
First of all, this was not Harry Potter fanfiction. This was Twilight fanfiction dressed in a Gryffindor uniform.
The “i know what you are—say it!—vampire!” scene was literally word for word. It was as ridiculous in here as it was in Twilight, but this didn’t feel like either satire or homage. It just felt awkward.
For all that I’ve seen other people in reviews complain about HP plagiarism, I have to disagree. Yes, Simon Snow is clearly a riff off of HP, but Rowell changed her characters, world, and plot enough that the premise was full of potential, even as the archetypes were recognizable: the mentor might be the antagonist, the bad guy literally eats magic, spells are made from common vernaculars, do the ends truly justify the means, why don’t traumatized fictional kids ever get therapy, etc. Those are fascinating concepts!
But the Twilight scene dumped me right out of the story.
The romance itself confused me. Both boys continuously described each other as gross, which is the opposite of how I thought romance is written. I naively assumed one should find their love interest at least somewhat physically attractive and intellectually stimulating or whatever too.
It wasn’t until over 400 pages in that Simon even remotely considered Baz good looking… and it only happened once or twice. Baz, at least, found Simon attractive, (I don’t know how), but the descriptors given were pretty icky.
Examples: (Simon about Baz)
"He has these droopy dog eyes… it’s like his face was designed for pouting.”
“Today, [his eyes] are the color of wet pavement.”
“He looks like he’s been in some American terror prison.”
“He’s got a cruel mouth. It looks like he’s sneering even when he’s happy about something. Actually, I don’t know if he ever is happy. It’s like he’s got two emotions—pissed off and sadistically amused. “
(Baz about Simon)
“Snow blusters like no one else. But! I! I mean! Um! It’s just! It’s no wonder he can never spit out a spell.”
“He’s half a f*cking numpty [ogre] himself.”
“...he says through a maw full of roast beef.”
“…Simon Snow is standing there like a lost dog. Or an amnesia victim.”
“Snow’s table manners are atrocious—it’s like watching a wild dog eat. A wild dog you’d like to slip the tongue.”
It’s one thing to portray an average-looking anybody as a love interest. That’s not my problem. I love that, actually. The problem is when the main character repeatedly (internally!) described the love interest as disgusting.
As for the length of the book, it was too long for me. My attention dragged, and this was only 500 pages. I can read The Lord of the Rings in a weekend. Length is not an issue, but for Carry On, it was. The prose was sometimes fun, but nothing like the witty trope-turner I had heard this described as.
“Is this how you usually plot my downfall?”
“Yes. With multicolored chalk. Stop complaining.”
The magic had some very cool potential. Basically, the more often non-magical people speak phrases, the more powerful that phrase is when used as a spell, ie, cat got your tongue, all's well that ends well. So all the spells were things like references, song lyrics, or little sayings. Very fun idea.
Unfortunately, this often became comedic at the wrong time. Characters would shout the most ridiculous phrases when there was supposed to be tension or drama, and it really broke the emotional beats.
Speaking of poor word choices, “gay” wasn’t actually said until the last parts of the book; when gay is explicitly said, it’s used in reference not to Baz but to Simon. The problem with naming Simon as gay is he displayed the exact same feelings of attraction towards both Baz and Agatha, albeit at different times.
That’s called bisexual. 🩷💜💙
This is of course my interpretation, but I argue that it is strongly supported by the text. I think Rowell simply didn’t consider making Simon bisexual because she’s most likely attracted to only one sex, and so that’s what she assumes her characters also are, even if which sex they like varies person to person. So, when she wrote Simon being hetero-normative until he discovered himself, she probably thought nothing of the descriptions of Simon's past love for Agatha, because he ends up with Baz--a boy. Thus, gay.
As a bi, I choose to disagree, but this is the least bothersome part for me. Real experiences can vary greatly in ways that don't make sense on paper.
Plotwise, the big bad didn’t do a thing until over 200 pages in. The actual antagonist mostly used his social status as a threat, and I had serious doubts as to whether or not he'd follow through on anything. The few twists given were predictable, but I didn't get any satisfaction out of guessing them correctly.
This is not fanfiction. Good fanfiction takes something beloved about the original work and expands or transforms that idea with visible passion. This is a character-driven contemporary fantasy, unfortunately without either character development or likable characters.
—•—•—
[when talking about Baz’s magic:] “Someone else’s magic never feels like your own—like someone else’s spit never tastes like your own.”
“Them’re” is used in the actual prose, not dialogue.
Baz: “I bloody well should marry [Simon’s ex-gf]. My father would love it. Marry her. Give her the keys to whatever she wants keys to. Then find a thousand men who look exactly like Simon bloody Snow and break each of their hearts a different way.”
”Looks like a race...”
??? this referred to a person
Baz rolls his eyes. “Well, it’s not like you have any family of your own.”
Penny and Agatha have the Can Girls Like Pink Debate. Pg 310
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Biphobia and Homophobia