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A review by cassidyserhienko
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell
5.0
"I can touch you less gently, but I won't love you less kindly.”
I’m not gonna lie, after Wayward Son I was a little nervous for this book. I’m the kind of person who would happily read an 800 page book of my favourite characters just being happy, and this is especially true of characters like Simon and Baz, who have spent a lot of time being decidedly unhappy.
I am pleased to say that even though Simon and Baz are certainly going through it in Any Way the Wind Blows, they spend a lot more time communicating and working through their issues together. Baz is one of my favourite characters of all time (some might say I relate to him a little too much), and so I was really happy to see him and Simon working together as a team and navigating their new realities together. Even though Wayward Son doesn’t have the romance of Carry On or AWTWB, it marked an important stage in their relationship. Rowell did a great job of bringing some of those struggles into this book without dragging them out, and it was really fantastic to see both Simon and Baz go all in for each other.
Rowell even managed to make me give af about Agatha, which I would have told you was impossible. I don’t know if I just appreciate the character archetype that Agatha represents more now then I did when I read the first two books, but it was nice to see her give less of a shit and go for what she wants.
I always liked Penelope, but I’ve always cared infinitely more about Simon and Baz. This is still true, but I found myself actually looking forward to Penelope and Shepherd’s chapters instead of just working through it to get back to Snaz (I’m trademarking this, idc). Shepherd was an absolutely perfect love interest for someone like Penelope, and I loved how he challenged her preconceptions and somewhat rigid and outdated beliefs about magic.
Overall I thought that the book was laid out really well and had a good balance between action/questing and character growth. The final climax was maybe a little rushed, but in my opinion it really wasn’t the main plot of the story so I didn’t have an issue with that. I think that the book was a lot more about these characters actually confronting the fallout of their childhoods and navigating their new realities and relationships. A lot of that is obviously going to mean a lot of talking and introspection, but Rowell has never had any trouble making this feel interesting or high-stakes. Her style in the Carry On series is a little different, especially in this book, but I think that it fits so well with the characters and the narrative (she loves to do an aside in parentheses even more than me) (and that’s saying something). I think it resulted in some really beautiful passages.
I had always been dreading the ending of this book for a lot of reasons. I’m the kind of reader who wants things to be wrapped up, and quite frankly I hate unhappy endings. I want to know that the characters, particularly ones who I love so much, are happy or are going to be happy. Obviously, Rainbow and I do not see eye to eye on this - the woman loves an ambiguous ending. This felt like a happy compromise. There are certainly shades of ambiguity, but I think that the characters are left in a good place emotionally, and where we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but we have a pretty good idea.
All in all, I think that this was a fantastic conclusion to a trilogy that I’ve always loved.
I’m not gonna lie, after Wayward Son I was a little nervous for this book. I’m the kind of person who would happily read an 800 page book of my favourite characters just being happy, and this is especially true of characters like Simon and Baz, who have spent a lot of time being decidedly unhappy.
I am pleased to say that even though Simon and Baz are certainly going through it in Any Way the Wind Blows, they spend a lot more time communicating and working through their issues together. Baz is one of my favourite characters of all time (some might say I relate to him a little too much), and so I was really happy to see him and Simon working together as a team and navigating their new realities together. Even though Wayward Son doesn’t have the romance of Carry On or AWTWB, it marked an important stage in their relationship. Rowell did a great job of bringing some of those struggles into this book without dragging them out, and it was really fantastic to see both Simon and Baz go all in for each other.
Rowell even managed to make me give af about Agatha, which I would have told you was impossible. I don’t know if I just appreciate the character archetype that Agatha represents more now then I did when I read the first two books, but it was nice to see her give less of a shit and go for what she wants.
I always liked Penelope, but I’ve always cared infinitely more about Simon and Baz. This is still true, but I found myself actually looking forward to Penelope and Shepherd’s chapters instead of just working through it to get back to Snaz (I’m trademarking this, idc). Shepherd was an absolutely perfect love interest for someone like Penelope, and I loved how he challenged her preconceptions and somewhat rigid and outdated beliefs about magic.
Overall I thought that the book was laid out really well and had a good balance between action/questing and character growth. The final climax was maybe a little rushed, but in my opinion it really wasn’t the main plot of the story so I didn’t have an issue with that. I think that the book was a lot more about these characters actually confronting the fallout of their childhoods and navigating their new realities and relationships. A lot of that is obviously going to mean a lot of talking and introspection, but Rowell has never had any trouble making this feel interesting or high-stakes. Her style in the Carry On series is a little different, especially in this book, but I think that it fits so well with the characters and the narrative (she loves to do an aside in parentheses even more than me) (and that’s saying something). I think it resulted in some really beautiful passages.
I had always been dreading the ending of this book for a lot of reasons. I’m the kind of reader who wants things to be wrapped up, and quite frankly I hate unhappy endings. I want to know that the characters, particularly ones who I love so much, are happy or are going to be happy. Obviously, Rainbow and I do not see eye to eye on this - the woman loves an ambiguous ending. This felt like a happy compromise. There are certainly shades of ambiguity, but I think that the characters are left in a good place emotionally, and where we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but we have a pretty good idea.
All in all, I think that this was a fantastic conclusion to a trilogy that I’ve always loved.