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A review by rhyttinen
Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I absolutely loved Carry On, which was the first book in this world and was surprised to learn that there was to be a second book (and mostly likely a third) because I felt the first book was pretty well wrapped up.
So Wayward Son picks up where Carry On left off, in that Simon has lost his magic, and he still has wings and a tail. Given that he’s no longer the “Chosen One” and has no magic to speak of, he’s now turned into kind of a couch potato dud, barely speaking to the other people in his life, including Baz. Needless to say, their relationship has gone nowhere.
Penny is also concerned about Baz, so she proposes a trip to America to visit her boyfriend Micah in Chicago and then from there, drive to California to check in on Agatha, who is not answering any of Penny’s calls or texts.
So after a tense visit in Chicago, the three of them embark on a road trip to California. Along the way, they encounter unfriendly vampires, a dragon, a normal human who knows a hell of a lot about the magical world, a cult, and even more vampires.
So the crew gets in one harrowing scrape after another and each time, barely manages to escape.
There were a lot of fun lines and banter along the way, but as a whole, this novel didn’t work for me. First off, Simon and Baz were definitely not the same characters as from the first book. That initial magic was gone, and neither of them was very remarkable. Simon mostly just blended into the background, and Baz felt like a diminutive version of the Baz we knew from the first book.
But most disappointing was Simon and Baz’s character arc, or should I say the lack thereof. There was no character growth and no evolution of their relationship. There ended up in pretty much the same place as the beginning of the novel, so in this way, the story was quite unsatisfying. They each thought a lot about their relationship, but none of those thoughts resulted in any actual communication.
They both just suffered in silence with nearly no interaction. In fact, Simon and Baz spoke to each other very little throughout the book (much less touched or kissed), and each came across as being pretty two-dimensional.
Compared to Carry On, this book felt lackluster to me. It was bleak, more than a tad disjointed and felt way too rushed, especially the ending. So while the plot surrounding Agatha was resolved, the book felt most unresolved and unfinished. This was probably because of the lack of progression or growth in Simon and Baz’s character, resulting in a mostly anti-climactic story. It also didn’t help matters that the story ended on a cliffhanger in the famous Nancy Drew style: “Oh my god, we have to return home to Watford right away. There’s trouble!”
Now one thing I did like about the book was the introduction of the new character, Shepherd. He was fun, mysterious, witty, intriguing, and I think an excellent addition to the series.
Though I did enjoy some of the snappy dialog and witty banter and liked the new character, for the most part, Wayward Son didn’t work for me. What began as my most anticipated read of the year just may end up being my worst read of the year, and it’s unlikely that I’ll be continuing with the series.
So Wayward Son picks up where Carry On left off, in that Simon has lost his magic, and he still has wings and a tail. Given that he’s no longer the “Chosen One” and has no magic to speak of, he’s now turned into kind of a couch potato dud, barely speaking to the other people in his life, including Baz. Needless to say, their relationship has gone nowhere.
Penny is also concerned about Baz, so she proposes a trip to America to visit her boyfriend Micah in Chicago and then from there, drive to California to check in on Agatha, who is not answering any of Penny’s calls or texts.
So after a tense visit in Chicago, the three of them embark on a road trip to California. Along the way, they encounter unfriendly vampires, a dragon, a normal human who knows a hell of a lot about the magical world, a cult, and even more vampires.
So the crew gets in one harrowing scrape after another and each time, barely manages to escape.
There were a lot of fun lines and banter along the way, but as a whole, this novel didn’t work for me. First off, Simon and Baz were definitely not the same characters as from the first book. That initial magic was gone, and neither of them was very remarkable. Simon mostly just blended into the background, and Baz felt like a diminutive version of the Baz we knew from the first book.
But most disappointing was Simon and Baz’s character arc, or should I say the lack thereof. There was no character growth and no evolution of their relationship. There ended up in pretty much the same place as the beginning of the novel, so in this way, the story was quite unsatisfying. They each thought a lot about their relationship, but none of those thoughts resulted in any actual communication.
They both just suffered in silence with nearly no interaction. In fact, Simon and Baz spoke to each other very little throughout the book (much less touched or kissed), and each came across as being pretty two-dimensional.
Compared to Carry On, this book felt lackluster to me. It was bleak, more than a tad disjointed and felt way too rushed, especially the ending. So while the plot surrounding Agatha was resolved, the book felt most unresolved and unfinished. This was probably because of the lack of progression or growth in Simon and Baz’s character, resulting in a mostly anti-climactic story. It also didn’t help matters that the story ended on a cliffhanger in the famous Nancy Drew style: “Oh my god, we have to return home to Watford right away. There’s trouble!”
Now one thing I did like about the book was the introduction of the new character, Shepherd. He was fun, mysterious, witty, intriguing, and I think an excellent addition to the series.
Though I did enjoy some of the snappy dialog and witty banter and liked the new character, for the most part, Wayward Son didn’t work for me. What began as my most anticipated read of the year just may end up being my worst read of the year, and it’s unlikely that I’ll be continuing with the series.