Review: Carry On

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a combination of Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so OF COURSE I loved it! If I could, I would give it 4.5 instead of 5 stars only because I got a little bit confused at the beginning trying to keep the characters straight. But then once I got into characters, the book was totally worth it. My dear book club buddy Caleb Z. Huett is a wise man and gave me good advice on this book: think of their Harry Potter counterparts, and it makes the beginning of the book much easier to follow. (Simon Snow = Harry, Baz = Draco, Penelope = Hermione, Agatha = Ginny, the Madge = a variation of Dumbledore). Of course, they are not exactly like their counterparts, but thinking of it that way made the beginning chapters easier to follow. I loved how Simon Snow was a broken chosen one, Baz was a vampire with a soul (very much like Angel in Buffy), Penelope was a strong woman of color and a great best friend, and Agatha ends up awesome and in one of my favorite places in the world by the end...that's all I can say without spoiling it. I didn't really like Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter books, but I liked Agatha by the end of this one, so it was nice to see the Chosen One's former girlfriend become cool by the end. As usual, Rainbow Rowell's characters are well developed, and the world is a fun place to be, especially in light of recent sad world events. It's a long book, but it goes fast, and I sometimes felt like I was watching an entertaining movie. Also, it brings up many good questions about gender and sexuality as being fluid and on a spectrum rather than fixed. How funny, I read this book in part because I wanted to read something not pertaining to my comprehensive exam essays, but now, I look at the world through a socialist feminist and poststructural feminist lenses. I love it, but it is becoming hard for me to separate work from leisure these days, partly because I love what I do for my work. I suppose it's a good problem to have. Friends, read this book, it will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside and like you've had a nice cup of hot chocolate.

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