I read "Carry On" as a buddy read (I had a phase in the summer when I thought Bookstagram would be just right for me. Um, yes. Turns out it just puts me under pressure and I lose the desire to read) (can we talk briefly about how perfectionist bookstagramers are? I'm happy if I can get a halfway sharp picture, everything else overwhelms me excessively). The book was chosen by vote and as I read Fangirl a few years ago, I thought Carry On would be just right for me. But unfortunately it wasn't First of all I found the writing style VERY hard to get used to. You are literally thrown into the story, as Simon is already in his 6th year (or his 7th? I don't even know anymore, I was paying THAT much attention) and so much has happened in the previous years. I also found Simon's way of telling the story more tedious than entertaining. Why the villain is a villain and why he is so obsessed with Simon that he walks through world history wearing his face has never really been explained (or I've already forgotten again). Simon's mentor gave me the creeps (again, NOTHING was explained) and I was generally expecting so much more ... I realise that Carry On was only written because in Fangirl Cath is obsessed with Simon Snow, but honestly - I've read fanfictions that were better than this book. I feel that it exists solely for Baz and Simon to get together (by the way, this whole relationship they have is so clichéd! They are arch-enemies, hate each other and yet fall in love with each other. Cliché much!) I won't read the second part and I'll put Carry On in a public bookcase tomorrow (finally! It has taken up too much space in my very small bookshelf for far too long)!

Ein Versuch, der mir von einer Freundin empfohlen wurde, und das erste gedruckte Buch meines Lebens, das ich auf Englisch gelesen habe. Aber eine große Empfehlung für alle, die cosy, kurzweilige Lovestorys mögen (meiner Meinung nach, eigentlich lese ich keine Romanzen) Auch wenn der erste Teil des Buches ziemlich langatmig ist, und Simon mich wirklich teilweise furchbar genervt hat, er bessert sich ab Teil zwei, und hört danach nicht mehr damit auf. Baz ebenfalls anfangs gewöhnungsbedürftig, auch wenn ich ihn von Anfang an mehr gemocht habe als Simon, und er schneller wesentliche Schritte einer Entwicklung vollzieht. Die Story ist rund, aber teilweise sehr abgeschaut aus Harry Potter, was mich nicht gestört hat, in den Rezensionen fand ich "Harry Potter auf Crack" und würde unterschreiben. Nichts, was viel Aufmerksamkeit erfordert und die Plottwists waren... auch teilweise nur auf Papier vorhanden. Alles in allem aber in Ordnung, wenn man das Buch und auch die Charaktere nicht zu ernst nimmt. Slow burn Romanze, ohne spice, aber mit tatsächlich sympathischer und angemessener Charakterentwicklung. Hat Spaß gemacht.

Ich habe mir das Buch geholt nachdem ich den Manga „Fangirl“ gelesen habe, wo die Simon Snow Trilogie immer wieder Thema ist – und ich habe beim Lesen immer wieder in etwa das bekommen, was ich erwartet habe. Der Plot ist nicht übermäßig originell, aber dennoch spaßig und spannend. Nichtsdestotrotz hatte ich immer wieder das Gefühl ich lese eine Art von HP Parodie…und irgendwie auch nicht. Es wirkt als nehme sich die Story zu Beginn selbst nicht so ernst und als wären manche Parallelen zu bekannten Zauberwelten beabsichtigt. Gleichzeitig ist es aber auch so komplett anders, dass ich mich schlecht fühle überhaupt ersteres Gefühl gehabt zu haben beim Lesen und nun diesen Vergleich zu stellen. Es gibt allerdings ein paar spannende Ansätze die ich so noch aus keiner Fantasy Story kannte (z.B. wie Zaubersprüche entstehen und genutzt werden). Ich habe Band 2 und 3 schon lange im Regal stehen und habe die Vermutung, dass diese deutlich düsterer werden könnten in Bezug auf manche Charaktere. Oder vielleicht hoffe ich das auch eher, damit es etwas spannender wird (für mein persönliches Empfinden). Genug Andeutungen gibt es im Verlauf. Ich mochte Band 1 alles in allem, habe aber noch keine Motivation gehabt die anderen beiden Bände zu lesen. Mit wenigen Änderungen am Plot hätte es auch gut ein Einzelband werden können. Vielleicht erwarten mich ja aber auch noch wirklich spannende Wendungen? We will see! Der Schreibstil ist sehr einfach und unterhaltsam, es liest sich alles sehr schnell. Es gibt keine direkten Kapitel sondern man bekommt mal längere, mal kürzere Abschnitte, immer abwechselnd aus der Sicht eines anderen Charakters, was eine interessante Lesedynamik mit sich bringt. Dies ist besonders spannend wenn gerade zwei Charaktere miteinander im Dialog sind und man so immer direkt auch die (unausgesprochen) Gedanken erfährt. Ich mochte die Charaktere und habe durchaus mitgefiebert an einigen Stellen. Allerdings habe ich gemerkt, dass ich nicht sonderlich an ihnen „hänge“. Es gibt Charaktere die packen mich und berühren mich und bringen mich dazu, dass ich alles über sie wissen möchte, nicht nur für den kurzen Moment in welchem ich das Buch lese, sondern weit darüber hinaus. Dies ist hier leider nicht so. Es ist eher ein „Nett wenn ich mehr erfahre, aber wenn nicht ist es auch nicht so schlimm“, und das ärgert mich schon fast. Vielleicht ändert sich meine Meinung, wenn ich endlich mal weiterlese.

Man darf keine zu hohen Erwartungen an das Buch haben, denn es liest sich ein bisschen wie Harry Potter Fanfiction und scheint sich selbst nicht allzu ernst zu nehmen. In einer anderen Rezension habe ich die Beschreibung "Harry Potter auf Crack" gelesen und ich muss sagen das fasst es ziemlich gut zusammen. Die Geschichte ist teilweise vorhersehbar, macht aber trotzdem Spaß. Mich konnte das Buch gut unterhalten.

I really love this story!!! It was so amazingly written and the characters grew so much throughout this story. This book is primarily about a (I think) 18 year old boy who attends a magical school. He is apparently “The Chosen One”, the most powerful magician in this world, and has to fur fill his prophecy. (At the beginning it reminded me a little bit of “Harry Potter”.) ___________________ Spoiler ___________________ I really like how the storyline took a turn from being a “normal” fantasy-hero story to a more complicated good-evil situation. About the characters: I loved Baz from the beginning. He’s just the kind of character I always like. (Because of that I was kinda scared that he would die🙃). For Penny applies probably the same. They were both such smart people who had their own problems to deal with. And especially Baz made a great development :) At the beginning I didn’t like Simon that much because it seemed like he’d be the typical hero-character and that would’ve been kinda boring. But pretty soon I realized there was more to his character and that I just loved. About Agatha I can’t say that much. All I know till now is kinda irrelevant. Her character seems a little “flat” and because of that I don’t like her that much. What I really loved was the relationship between Simon and Baz and the friendship between Simon and Penny. The relationship was just so wholesome and I loved that they could “heal” each other. (And I really do love enemies to lovers :) And the friendship was so adorable. I loved how they teased each other all the time but also can trust each other completely. All over I really really loved this book and would definitely recommend it!!

"You were the sun, and I was crashing into you". Carry On bzw. Aufstieg und Fall des außerordentlichen Simon Snow gehört zu einem meiner Lieblingsbücher. Wenn ich das Buch mit 3 Wörtern erklären müsste, wären es Harry Potter, Queer und Vampire. (okay, es sind vier Wörter). Aber wenn ich mehr Zeit zum Erklären habe, dann würde ich so viel mehr sagen. Es ist mehr als Harry Potter. Mehr als Vampire. So viel mehr als eine typische Gay Love Geschichte. Es geht um die Entdeckung der eigenen Sexualität. Um Familie. Um einen Mord. Die Kulisse mag an Hogwarts erinnern, und Simon ist wie Harry Potter der "Chosen One", und hat zwei tolle Freundinnen; wobei die eine sehr talentiert ist und die andere rote Haare hat. Ich gebe zu, das klingt arg viel nach Harry Potter. Aber lässt man sich auf die Geschichte ein, erkennt man, wie gut sie ist. Der Anfang ist etwas ruhig und hat seine Längen. Das liegt daran, dass das Buch im 7. Schuljahr spielt und wir nach und nach erfahren, wie sich gewisse Beziehungen entwickelt haben (bei Harry Potter haben wir das ja alles miterleben können). Und wenn man dann beim 2. Teil des Buches ankommt, beginnt die Haupthandlung. Und die hat mit einem Mord zu tun. Ich möchte nicht zu viel verraten, aber das Buch schlägt eine für mich unerwartete Richtung ein. Der Schreibstil von Rainbow Rowell überzeugt mal wieder (wobei die deutsche Übersetzung nicht so gut ist wie das englische Original; das Buch lebt von seinen Wortwitzen und Sprichwörtern). Das Buch bekommt 5 Sterne von mir.

Ahhh this was so good! I freakin love Simon and Baz and well I can’t thank Rowell enough for one of the not so many books where the things I long for, the ships I ship... they actually just happen. Happy end, not too cheesy, good story. I have no clue why some writes like to break your heart and kill people off. That’s why Carry On is good. It’s just perfect!

Simon is the Chosen One of his magical world. He's spent all of his time since he discovered he was a magician fighting the Big Bad and his boarding school roommate Baz (who Simon thinks is a vampire, but no one believes him). Now, Baz is missing, Simon's girlfriend may or may not have (had) a thing for or with Baz, and the ghost of Baz' mother visits Simon with a message to forward to her son. Simon desperately wants Baz to come back, so he can sort all of this out (and because Simon may or may not be obsessed with Baz), and once he finally does, they get drawn into an adventure that needs them to put their animosity aside and work together. At first, I found it hard to get into this book, because the beginning reads like it's Harry Potter fan fiction (with the tone of some segments reminding me of the beginning of "My Immortal"), which was just changed barely enough not to risk being sued by J. K. Rowling, but after a bit the story started to stand on its own, which I then came to like. The love triangle was fun, mostly because I partly knew where it was going, and because it wasn't a typical one, and I also really liked the way the author portrayed the platonic relationship between Simon and Penny. In overall, once I stopped only seeing all the ways in which the characters paralleled the ones in Harry Potter, and started seeing all the ways in which they are distinct, the characters became my favorite part of the story. Finding out what is really going on with Simon's magic, the Humdrum, the Mage, and the holes, was also an interesting plot that I followed along gladly. In the end, I found this a very enjoyable and light-hearted fantasy/romantasy book, with its two weaknesses being that in the beginning it feels like a Harry Potter knock-off if you're familiar with Harry Potter or its fan fiction, as well as its many POVs, which at times felt redundant, especially in the beginning, and only really started to become more important as the plot moved on.

If I had to discribe Carry On in one sentence it would be: Harry Potter on crack meets heartwarming gay romamce. 5/5⭐️ 1/5🌶 5/5🔥 general chaos and setting stuff on fire Book blurb: Simon Snow is the worst chosen one to ever be chosen. Half the time Simon can't even make his own Wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor is avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simons face. His roomate Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here - it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simons infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up. My favourite post to describe Simons and Baz relationship would be this: Drarry: Who are you? SnowBaz: We are you. But CANON. A true Enemies/Rivals to Lovers with a hell of a lot of obliviousness, a dash of pining and a good pinch of drooling garnished with sarcasm to the max and spells that never fail to make you grin. Every Potterhead, who also happens to be a Drarry shipper will be welcomed with open arms, buttered scones and a pair of sexy fangs!❤️‍🔥 Enjoy! ~Rei

Y, cuando empecé a sentir que las cosas se me estaban yendo de las manos, me aferré a lo único que siempre me da seguridad. A esos ojos azules. A esos rizos de bronce. Al hecho de que Simon Snow es el Hechicero vivo más poderoso. De que nada puede hacerle daño, ni siquiera yo. De que Simon Snow está vivo. Y yo estoy completa y deseperadamente enamorado de él. 100% recomendado este libro. Desde que leí fangirl tenía demasiada curiosidad por Baz y Simon. Solo quería leerlos pero lo iba ignorando por miedo a que el libro me decepcionara. ¡No me decepcionó nada! Me mantuvo interesada, ame a los personajes, me conecte con Simon, Baz, Penelope. Al principio si estuve comparándolo constantemente con Harry Potter, pero con el pasar de los tiempos Simon, Baz y el resto van formando su propia historia se separan por completo de ese mundo y hacen su propio universo. Es muy increíble. Al principio tuve la sensación de que Snow me estaba entregando parte de su magia. Transmitiéndomela. Sin embargo, después la magia estaba en mí. En ese momento, todo lo que era suyo, también me pertenecía Me encanta que Baz siempre estuvo enamorado de Simon. Así que no calificaría este libro como un enemies to lovers porque a pesar de que nos recalcan mucho que son "enemigos" realmente no lo son. Los sentimientos de Baz siempre han estado ahí, y él mismo lo reconoce. Ahora, hablemos de Agatha. Me pareció el personaje más odiable del libro, más que el villano. Es increíblemente tediosa, falsa y me parece que no tuvo gran importancia en el libro. Por otro lado Penelope me pareció un gran personaje. Leal, inteligente, fuerte, valiente y dispuesta a ofrecer su magia a Simon solo para que el salvará el mundo. Solo quiero besarle y morirme. —Simon… —digo. Y, entonces, el que me besa es él Además los giros de trama en este libro son maravillosos.

One of my best friends gave me this book saying something like „it‘s like a Harry Potter Wattpad Fanfic from 2016 and they were ✨roommates✨ and it‘s a lot more chilled- you‘ll like it“. And I have to admit it took me quite some time to get into the story, the characters were all so sweet and I connected to them instantly but the plot was just so… messy? But after understanding what‘s actually happening it was just a pleasure to read 😊, if you‘re in a bad mood and want to be cheered up, grab this. Really curious for the second book :)

I read the first few pages and was already pulled into the storyline. I mean - a world inhabited by magicians and a story written with lots of humor and wit? Yes please! A few pages into it and I can't help but feel that it unfortunately starts off pretty slow. BUT after making it through those first chapters I couldn't set the book aside - and the slow passages started alternating with flashbacks. So many flashbacks about events that could have filled a whole series of books! I like to think I'd have felt closer to Simon right from the beginning if we had accompanied him over the course of his youth and not just jumped in at a time where his whole life is turned upside down. Maybe that's because I still compare the book way too much to the Harry Potter novels (which I grew up with and therefore will always have that special spot in my bookworms heart) but Wells squeezed so. many. great. backstories into those 500 pages. Still, the writing style and the clever storyline make me look forward to the sequel being published in 2019.

Honestly I really loved it✨❤️ The only thing that kept bothering me was Agatha, i really don’t like her and she annoyed me through the whole book😤 Overall I loved how the enemy lo lover romance developed and i am really looking forward to reading the next part of their story🧚🏻‍♀️ But I also have to admit that I definitely need a small break and read something else because the end really was just wow at one point I had already thought that it would end the way it did but honestly I dismissed the thought for quite some time. Then it happened. Overall I can really recommend the book✨🧚🏻‍♀️

YesYEsyEsyYesyYEsyyesyesyes YESSO. GOOD.The story felt a bit slow until Baz turned up but from there onOH MY GODRainbow Rowell's detailed writing really made the difference and all the characters seemed so real and there were just constantly important things happening and the love scenes made me go AAWWWW out loud and it was really really just really good !I had high expectations and i think it still exceeded them.I am so sad that that book had to end.5 stars !!

I mean what can I say? I loved, loved, loved this book! Honestly, it has been some time since I enjoyed a book this much that I just finished half of it in one night. The characters are just so well written and the relationship between baz and simon- wow. I love baz with my whole heart, he is such a funny and wholesome character. This is also one of the only books that I allow and enjoy change of POVs in. Idk what to say, I loved it!

Aww, this was such a nice read even when the plot wasn't super thrilling. Rowell didn't reinvent the wheel and the writing wasn't that perfect because sometimes it was a bit chaotic. The magic world was pretty basic and the ending came really fast. BUT the book was very character-driven and humorous so this was a really nice thing and it can be a comfort book because it isn't stressful or you don't need high focus for reading it. It was really easy to go through the whole book, especially with the changing POVs. Also fuck Agatha istg!! I think she is the only one I kinda dislike?? Penny is my girl, I stay with her. I really enjoyed this book as a Drarry fanfic story, it was really fun but I kinda wished for more slow burn and more bickering, haha. But I just love them and they deserve everything ♥ And they are so good in handling their relationship, I'm really proud of them. Or to say it with Baz's words: "We match." They really do. And srsly this whole wings and tail thing is so incredibly funny 07.07.23: Since there are 1-2 things that don't sit quite right with me... I will leave this note here, so I can come back later and add other thoughts about it. I will give the other two books a chance to change my mind because I still liked the first one.

I binged this in a day. Such a great read when you're in a book slump! I also feel validated in my love for fanfiction. Was it tropey as hell? Yes. Was the plot predictable? Yes. Did it have the typical enemies-to-lovers and oh-my-god-they-were-roommates trope you see in fanfiction all the time? Obviously. Did I still love the hell out of it? Absolulutely!!! I really wanna read Fangirl now (after I finish this series).

3.5 Stars. Okay this is a tough one. I loved the book in some aspects and hated it for others. As a book and as a continuation/companion to Fangirl, this didn't live up to my hopes and expectations. But as a fanfiction it is quite nice and I'm going to treat it as such. I loved: - The writing - the romance (that's what we were here for) - the overall plot I hated: - the way the story was portrayed (so messy and all over the place; I'm fine with jumping into the middle - or more the end - of the story not knowing anything but most plotpoints were predictable as hell) - the girls (Agatha got on my nerves on the first page she was on, Penelope got dull over the course of the book; So my reading was slowed down. Everytime I had a Penelope/Agatha chapter coming I couldn't really bring myself to read it. So the good old "just one more chapter" lie was not going on here...) - the ending/epilogue (I mean what's so super duper great about this? It's a nice open ended epilogue but it still feels.... off. I would have wished for either anouther outcome or more description in the epilogue) - the super jumping perspective switches (one sentence, next person is not a good and fast paced structure; for me, this ruins tension and plot building)

Den ersten Kontakt mit Simon Snow hatte ich in Rainbow Rowells Fangirl. Dort geht es um Cath, welche ein riesiger Fan der Buchreihe "Simon Snow" ist und dazu Fanfictions verfasst. Simon Snow ist angelehnt an Harry Potter und in Caths Fanfictions geht es typischerweise um seine Liebe zu seinem ewigen Widersacher, kein anderer als Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch. Ich muss ehrlich zugeben, dass ich in Fangirl die Simon&Baz-Episoden oft nur überflogen habe. Ich wollte viel lieber wissen, wie es mit Cath und Levi weitergeht. Trotzdem habe ich mir Carry On zugelegt, damit ich mich nun gänzlich auf Simon konzentrieren kann, und wurde definitiv nicht enttäuscht! Carry On ist eine Mischung aus Magie, Fantasy, Harry Potter, Gay-Romance und einer fetten Portion Rainbow Rowell. Ihr Schreibstil ist einfach wunderschön und witzig zugleich. Die Geschichte von Simon dreht sich nicht nur um Zauberei und große Gefahren, sondern auch um große Gefühle. Die zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen werden ausführlich beschrieben und spielen, typisch für Rowell, eine entscheidende Rolle im gesamten Roman. Die Story ist mitreißend und total spannend. Ich konnte das Buch nach dem ersten Viertel kaum mehr aus der Hand legen! "Penny says it's a spell. Agatha says it is not. Penny says beauty spells are nothing to be ashamed of." (S. 266) Klar erinnert Carry On zu Beginn an Harry Potter. Aber das ist genauso gewollt. Schon in Fangirl ist Simon Snow an Harry Potter angelehnt. Rainbow Rowell hat hier aber keineswegs dreist geklaut. In meinen Augen hat sie sich zwar einige Rahmenbedingungen von J.K. Rowling geborgt, sie dann aber zu etwas ganz Eigenem gemacht. Die Geschichte hat so viele unerwartete Wendungen und Überraschungen und eigene magische Elemente, dass sie mich vollkommen überzeugt hat. Das Buch ist außerdem in 5 Teile unterteilt, welche durch sehr süße Illustrationen voneinander getrennt werden. Innerhalb der Teile sind die Kapitel abwechselnd aus verschiedenen Perspektiven geschrieben. Simon und Baz als Protagonisten sind die Erzähler der meisten Kapitel, aber auch ihre Freundinnen Penelope und Agatha kommen zu Wort, genauso wie einige andere wichtige Charakter. Ich muss sagen, dass ich zu Beginn ein wenig verwirrt war (für alle, die es schon gelesen haben: Lucys Passagen konnte ich zuerst gar nicht einordnen und musste sie nochmal lesen, nachdem ich weiter hinten im Buch erfahren hatte, wer Lucy überhaupt ist). Deswegen ziehe ich auch einen Stern ab, da ich doch das ein oder andere Mal im Buch nochmal zurückblättern musste, weil ich erst dann ein vorheriges Kapitel vollkommen verstehen konnte. Ansonsten fand ich diesen Perspektivwechsel aber super, gerade in den Szenen, in denen es richtig spannend wird! Eigentlich möchte ich Fangirl direkt nochmal lesen und dieses Mal mehr Acht auf die Simon&Baz-Fanfictions von Cath geben. Ich bin mir sicher, dass ich bei erneutem Lesen sofort mit Cath fangirlen würde, so sehr hat mich Carry On selbst überzeugt! Fazit Kurzum: Man muss dieses Buch und vor allem Simon & Baz einfach lieben! Es hat riesigen Spaß gemacht die beiden und ihre Freunde zu begleiten und mit ihnen das große Geheimnis rund um den Superschurken The Insidious Humdrum aufzuklären. Die Geschichte ist spannend und unvorhersehbar, zauberhaft und magisch, witzig, emotional und zuckersüß, genauso wie man es von Rainbow Rowell gewohnt ist. (Juli 2016)

Carry On ✨️ - mir hat die Story gut gefallen - Enemies to Lovers zwischen Simon und Baz war wirklich top - sehr gut zu lesen, die Zitate und Formulierungen der Autorin in dem Buch waren super, hab mir viel rausgeschrieben - der Twist hat mir auch gefallen - mochte aber die ganzen Szenen, in denen es um Agatha ging nicht soo gern alles in allem: - would read again / Empfehlung - 5⭐️ -

read my complete review with lots of pictures and thoughts on the new edition: http://isabellsbooks.blogspot.de/ Instagram: @isleepnaked MY OPINION Normally, when I read a book for the first time, I always make notes for my review. Not so with this one. I just devoured it in two long sittings and didn't write a single word down because I just knew that this would be stuck in my head anyway. And it most definitely did. My journey to finally reading CARRY ON As I teasered before, there's a bit to tell about my journey to finally reading this book.. So I always saw those Rainbow Rowell books in the bookstores and had heard so many positive things about them and basically saw them everywhere on Bookstagram. Especially FANGIRL always stuck out to me because I am myself such a fangirl and was very excited to read this book. I finally read it last year and enjoyed it a lot BUT I didn't really enjoy the fanfiction in the story. In fact, it was probably what bothered me most in FANGIRL. And since I knew that CARRY ON was basically about that very fanfiction or just that fanfiction.. that knowledge really drove me away from wanting to read CARRY ON. And still, I knew that this was a gay story and as you probably know if you've been following me on Instagram, I'm such a sucker for everything gay. Give me a gay character and I'm sold - basically. So CARRY ON was still in the back of my head but always with that side note attached to it, that I might not like it because I didn't like the fanfiction in FANGIRL, which is bascially what CARRY ON is about, because it's a fantasy novel and I still am rather cautious with fantasy books because I always worry that I might find them too much or too ridiculous etc., and because of its length - 521 pages seemed quite a lot - especially considering that the few passages about Simon Snow in FANGIRL had already been too dragging for me. So, to sum it up, I had quite a lot of concerns about CARRY ON and might have ended up not reading it if there hadn't been the strong pull of it being a gay story. (I know, I'm so predictable.) Additionally, my friend raved about it and she also loved The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue which was my absolute-favourite book of 2017 - so I thought if she loved both of these, maybe I will too. - And, SURPRISE: I bloody well did! Why my worries weren't needed If anyone of you has some of the same concerns concerning CARRY ON as I had, I can tell you that you should definitely read it anyway! Fortunately, it is nothing like the fanfiction in FANGIRL and never ever felt dragging to me - in contrast, I read through those 521 pages in two days and demanded more and more and more and basically inhaled the whole book. In that aspect it was just so completely different from what I had feared the reading of it to be like. The fact that I read it so fast also contradicted my fear of the high amount of pages (just to make things clear: I'm no one who gets intimidated by a huge number of pages, and besides, after reading and loving Outlander books which always start at 1000 pages, I don't really think that 521 pages are a lot. It's just that I worried a bit about those pages being as dragging as I found the fanfiction in FANGIRL to be - and then 521 pages seemed a lot.) and to be honest with you, I wished it had even more pages. I would also love for the book to get a sequel or just more Baz chapters... *-* The book being a fantasy novel also didn't bother me too much. Being completely honest here, I still wouldn't need fantasy things as wings or a dragon tail attached to a human being, but I can gladly see aside those things if the actual story is so much more than that and so worth reading. And I actually also liked a lot of the fantasy elements. I've loved vampire stories since I was a little kid, obsessed over The Little Vampire, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. So I really didn't mind the vampire aspect in it, I actually would have liked even more of that. And - one just cannot but notice how very similar this story is to Harry Potter. It's a bit hard to describe the feeling of reading it - I wouldn't say that the similarities and the general resemblance bothered me - it's rather that I often asked myself if Rainbow Rowell had to pay some money to JK Rowling for copying a lot in her book. Because I didn't really see any credit being given to Rowling anywhere.. Mostly, my problem with fantasy stories is, especially with high fantasy novels, that it takes me a long while to get into the story, into the world, to really understand it. I didn't have that with CARRY ON, which I think is because it is so very similar to Harry Potter - and if I know anything, it's definitely Harry Potter. The Gay in the Book Then there is my main reason for buying - for wanting to read this book: it being said to be gay. I think the book included the queerness of its characters very beautifully into the story and did never put too much emphasis on it (although I'm very much here for books who do that aswell!). I think that CARRY ON, although it features a very beautifully build gay story, is still also very enjoyable for readers who don't gravitate as much as I do to gay stories, just because the gay romance isn't at the centre of the story but is still given so many wonderful scenes to explore that. Also, I must say that I just loved the swooning of the two characters for each other so much that I wouldn't have even needed for more to happen .... - okay who do I want to deceive here, I obviously wanted for them to get together and make out and was very happy when that happened. (*add grinning emoji*) I just love proud queer characters in books and therefore - and for many more reasons - I just adored the hell out of Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch aka Baz. ♥ I think part of why I read through this book so quickly is because I could never wait to get to another one of his chapters. His chapters were just glorious, his thoughts so precious. He's the ultimate Slytherin - obviously, since this whole book is basically a fanfiction of Harry & Draco aka #Drarry. (So if you ship Drarry, this book will be heaven for you. Just saying. I don't even ship Drarry and loved it so much - I can't imagine how someone who actually ships Drarry will feel about it.) Some things that bothered me a tiny bit but not too much Since I knew that I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars while I read it - always hoping that nothing too bad would happen for me to not be able to do this anymore - I just didn't allow myself to get bothered too much by a few things. First, there's Agatha. I must say that this character never grew on me, that I never really liked her or formed any bond with her - which is why I didn't really understand why it was necessary to include her and especially to have Agatha characters until the very end of the book. For me, her story and her relevance for the story ended very early on in the book and I wouldn't have needed to read anymore about her after that. I just wish that every Agatha chapter had been a Baz chapter instead. :D The second thing that bothered me was the erasure of bisexuality - which, unfortunately, happens in way too many movies, series and books. A character starts out as being straight and then, when he or she starts being attracted to someone of the same sex, sort of "turns" to being gay. There always seems to be nothing in between, which I think is very sad. There's a whole spectrum when it comes to sexuality and I really wish that people would stop only seeing the two options, namely straight and gay. Especially since books, movies and series all would function as such a great representation for their readers and viewers, if they did in fact include more sexualities than straight and gay into their works. What didn't really bother me but what I rather wondered about, was Simon never finding out about his true parents while the reader did. I was sort of waiting for that revelation but it never happened.. so I was a bit confused whether Simon knew about it in the end or didn't.. CONCLUSION I loved this book a lot. I was soaked into the story from the very beginning, enjoyed the writing style a lot and also really liked all the named extras. I fell in love with most of the characters, mostly with Baz who has earned a special place in my heart and about whom I would so love to read more. I was also very much involved in the story and it felt like I was very deep into it while I read it. Although I wasn't too surprised by the plottwist(s) in the story, I still really enjoyed the mystery in CARRY ON. Because of its striking similarities to Harry Potter, it was very easy to get into the book, and it also really made me want to read Harry Potter again - I plan to reread The Half-Blood Prince anyway this year. :) CARRY ON is definitely one of my absolute-favourite books that I've read in 2018 and also one of my favourite books in general - which I did not anticipate at all. RATING I award this book with 5 out of 5 stars.

First – English is just my second language, so it is possible that this review has some mistakes or something, but I hope it is still understandable what I mean. I was looking for some books, because at the moment I‘m more into reading Storys with an m|m relationship, and this book was on a lot of lists I saw, so I wanted to give it a try. Unless most people, that seem to have a problem that you just get thrown into the story, it was okay for me. Yes, it is kind of confusing at first, and I wish they would have at least put a short chapter with an explanation of what happened before in, but it also wasn‘t that horrible or something. I also don‘t have a problem with that Harry Potter like setting. I will first start with the things I liked about this book: Even after the characters got together, the focus was still on the main story. I have read a lot of books where the story became just a background thing after the characters got together because they put the focus more on the relationship, so I liked that it was different here. The Story still continues and has the most important role in there. (But I still would have preferred to see a little bit more about Simon and Baz after the got together part tbh). Baz. He is the reason why I even rate this book to a 2,5. He was the only interesting character in that story and I wish you would have seen a little bit more about him and his inner thoughts (especially because he is a Vampire and all). I liked the dialogues, they were well written, fun to read, and felt realistic. The magic system itself was really nice. Now we come to the parts I didn‘t really like about this book: (Just a reminder: This is my personal opinion, based on my personal taste). Agatha is the unnecessary character I ever saw in a book, and I‘m completely serious. You could have just cut her (really boring) chapters out, hell you could even cut her parts in the dialogues out and it wouldn‘t even make a difference. Also, that forced love-triangle drama was so unnecessary and not even relevant for anything in the story and done after some sentences (so why was it even there then?). I still don‘t understand why she was there in the first place. No one of the characters had any depths, sadly. The story could have been so much better if the characters hadn‘t been this flat tbh. Even Baz (and he was, as I said before, the most interesting one) was just shown superficial (? I‘m not sure if that is the right word). Especially Simon was kind of annoying at some point and uninteresting. It didn‘t seemed like he has any own opinions or thoughts about something, it was as if he never thinks about anything, doesn‘t matter if it was about the plan they had or the people around him or whatever. I don‘t need any forced drama or coming out crises to have an interesting relationship story tbh. But still, something about how they got together just felt odd? for me. It is hard to explain why, maybe it is more because I don‘t really care for Simon in the first place, but… how to say it? I mean, okay, I get that Baz is in love with Simon since he met him, love at first sight and so on and even if there could have been a little bit more about why he likes him, it was okay. But Simon? I mean, yeah you did notice he cared about Baz in some way, more than for other people, but for me, there was missing when Simon even started to like him in a romantically way (I mean, they were enemies for a long time, and Baz seriously tried to kill/hurt him several times… so when did that change? It was like it was just said »Let us ignore that fact« or something). For me there could have been a little bit more about the thoughts they both (especially Simon) had about each other/the situation when they got together and how they think about this relationship in general. It wasn‘t that bad how it was, but I guess it just wasn‘t my liking. The story itself was okay, interesting in the middle. The first part (until Baz arrives) was boring, but it got a lot better after that. My problem was, that you got just too many hints the whole story so that it got very predictable. Especially the plot twist with the mage, it would have been a bigger impact for me if I didn‘t already knew before what would happen. Overall, it was okay to read, I can also see where the hype comes from, but I guess it just wasn‘t for me and I‘m not sure if I will ever read the second book.

Simon Snow grows up as an orphan until one day the mage, headmaster of Watford, a school for magic, finds him and tells him he is a magician himself, but not just any magician. There are prophecies about him, saying he is the chosen one to help the magical world against the humdrum, a mysterious enemy who literally lets magic vanish. I know it kinda sounds like Harry Potter in some aspects (it is clearly meant as a parody in a way) but I swear the direction it's headed is different and it's very much a story of its own! Also the story begins at Simons last year at the school, so all characters are 18. The other main characters are Penny, Agatha and Baz. Penny is Simons best friend and a really likeable character. Agatha is Simons girlfriend but it's already clear at the beginning that their relationship isn't the best and Baz is Simons roommate and rival/enemy but their feelings are much more complicated 👀💕 It's also kind of a spinoff from the book Fangirl, where someone writes a fanfiction and that is this book (well another version). I enjoyed it a lot. The characters are great (Baz is my fav), the story is interesting and I didn't expect that ending. Also just another kind of magical world was so great to see. The way they use spells (they are normal words, mostly sayings or lyrics, because they become more powerful if more people say them) and the variety of magical creatures. Vampires also play a bigger role btw. The only thing I would critique is the beginning of the story. It was a bit hard to get into it at first cause there needs to be a lot of explaining because we start at Simons last year, but other than that it's really great and a big recommendation from me 💙

I had to wait a whole week to write this review, because I couldn't put in words how much I loved this book. I probably still can't, but I will try my best. Firstly I think I am in love with gay romance in generall and this book is very, very gay - I live by the motto: the gayer the merrier. At least regarding books and stories (I'm pretty straight myself). Some people wrote that this story is kind of a retelling of Harry Potter, but let me assure you: it isn't. I loved Harry Potter as a kid and these books still hold a piece of my heart, but Carry On is something completely different. The world of mages is not based on the same concept as Harry Potter. The people at the magickal school can actually invent their own spells and it is all based on the meaning of words. I love this idea! It makes the story a lot more fun too, because the spells are always some kind of saying in the human world. For example: "Clean as a whistle" well obviously cleans you and you take an oath with the words: "an Englishman's word is his bond". I adored it and this is also the reason why I encourage you to read this book in english. Everything will make much more sense then. The characters kind of sound the same as the ones in Harry Potter, but are very unique in their own way. Penny is my personal hero - she just knows everything and is such a loving and brave character. If I had to pick one person to go on an adventure with it would be Penny, well because then I would survive it and it would still be kind of fun. Everybody should have a Penny in their lives. Simon, the protagonist, is also very happy he has a Penny in his life. He talks about her a lot and lives by what she says, which is probably a good idea, because Simon doesn't seem to get along on his own. He is adorable, very cute and immensly clumsy. Also he is so weird - I love it! I mean: he drinks butter. Who does that? Simon is full of selfdoubt and still has so much love to give to his friends. Baz is ... well difficult to describe :). He comes across as a big asshole to be honest, but you might have already guessed it: he isn't. Baz struggles with himself a lot and doesn't let anyone see it. I liked to read soe chapters in his pov. It made everything a little clearer and helped me to understand him better. Agatha is the only person I didn't like that much. I understood her actions, but didn't support them. She could have been a much better friend, but wasn't. This is what makes this story realistic: you don't always have perfect friends. Sometimes they are messy and difficult, but you love them anyway. The story was a little slow at first, but that didn't impact the perfection of this book. You need this time to get to know what makes the characters tick and to understand how magic and everything else works. Also the writing style of Rainbow Rowell makes everything a 1000 times better and I can't even imagine anything that she reads could be boring. She keeps her stories light and funny while writing about deadly seriuos topics and thrilling szenes. I would recommend this book to EVERYONE!

Wir folgen hier dem Auserwählten Simon, der aber nicht wie gewohnt seine Magie/Macht perfekt unter der Kontrolle hat, seiner besten Freundin Penelope, deren Freundschaft mit Simon bedingungslos ist, seiner Mitbewohner/Erzfeind Bat, dessen Beziehung mit Simon sehr interessant ist, und seiner Freundin Agatha, mit der ich leider nicht so viel anfangen konnte. Man wird direkt in die Geschichte geworfen, sodass es keinen langweiligen Einstieg gab. Die Spannung konnte auch fast durchgehend gesteigert werden. Die finale Auflösung konnte mich größtenteils überraschen, weil ich sehr originell fand. Auch die Gesellschaftsstrukturen der magischen Welt Großbritanniens wurde im 1. Band schlüssig erklärt und bietet noch Potenzial. Doch mein Highlight waren eben einfach die Figuren und ihre Beziehungen untereinander. Sie konnten mich immer wieder zum Schmunzeln bringen, was auch am Schreibstil lag. Mich hat dabei überrascht, dass man nicht nur Simons Sicht liest. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ich weiß gar nicht was ich sagen soll... Dieses Buch war wundervoll, die Charaktere sind wunderbar und man fiebert richtig mit. Außer Agatha, aber naja :D Der Plot ist super, es ist witzig und die Liebesgeschichte ist zum niederknien! Ich hoffe nur, dass Simon noch herausfindet wer seine Eltern sind. Freue mich auf Teil zwei! :)

Reread 2020 Actual Rating 4.5 Ich hab das Buch schon vor zwei Jahren gelesen, aber auf deutsch und da ich aber nicht Ewigkeiten warten wollte bis Wayward Son übersetzt wird dachte ich mir dann lese ich Carry On nochmal auf Englisch damit ich auch direkt mit dem Schreibstil und den Begriffen warm werde. Außerdem hab ich so unglaublich viel aus Carry On vergessen, dass es definitiv eine gute Entscheidung war es nochmal zu lesen. Mir hat Carry On im originalen viel besser gefallen als auf deutsch. Der Humor bzw der Sarkasmus kommt hier viel besser zur Geltung und auch das ganze gefluche ist hier viel besser. Ich finde die Geschichte immer noch richtig gut. Von einer so unperfekten magischen Welt mit ganz tollen Charakteren liest man wirklich sehr selten und die Liebesgeschichte hat mich auch wieder komplett einnehmen können. Ich liebe Simon und Baz einfach. Die Liebesgeschichte ist einfach so schön und authentisch. Ich hab mich so darauf gefreut und war gespannt ob es noch genauso aufregend für mich ist. Es war noch toller als beim ersten Mal, was auch definitiv an der Sprache hier lag. Auch der Kampf am Ende war besser auf Englisch, ich weiß nicht warum aber hier konnte ich viel besser mit fiebern und die Emotionen kamen auch viel besser rüber. Für mich war es wieder einmal eine ganz tolle Reise mit Simon, Bau und Penny.

Simon Snow, der schlechteste Auserwähle, der jemals auserwählt wurde. :) In Carry on geht es um Simon Snow, einem Waisenjungen, der Schüler in Watfort ist, einer Schule für Magiebegabte. Simon ist außerdem der Auserwählte, der laut Prophezeiung die große Bedrohung für alle Magier besiegen soll. Obwohl Simon über die größte Magie von allen verfügt, stellt er sich im Umgang damit relativ ungeschickt an. Das findet auch sein Erzfeind und Zimmergenossen Baz. Wer jetzt leichte parallelen zu Harry Potter sieht, jaaa die sind zu Beginn definitiv da. Was als eine Art Parodie zur berühmten Reihe rund um Harry Potter beginnt, entwickelt sich im Verlauf der Geschichte aber recht schnell davon weg und bekommt etwas ganz eigenes. Zu Beginn ist die Story wirklich witzig, wird nach und nach aber ernster und am Ende fast schon tiefgründig. Vor allem, wenn man sich vorher nicht versucht hat spoilern zu lassen, gibt es im Verlauf der Geschichte einige Überraschungen. Die Charaktere fand ich super, allem voran Baz. Der Schreibstil von Rainbow Rowell ist wirklich flüssig und schnell zu lesen, die Dialoge wirklich witzig und dennoch nicht oberflächig. Auch gut fand ich, dass die Geschichte abwechselnd aus Sicht aller wichtiger Charaktere erzählt wurde. Der Perspektivenwechsel kam oft schnell, aber irgendwie immer an der passenden Stelle und dadurch, dass er gut gekennzeichnet war, war es auch überhaupt nicht verwirrend. Mir hat das Buch im gesamten wirklich sehr sehr gut gefallen und bekommt daher 5 von 5 Sternen. Auf das Buch bin ich durch diverse Empfehlungen auf Instagram und Youtube aufmerksam geworden. Erst in den Anmerkungen der Autorin am Ende des Buches, habe ich festgestellt, dass die Geschichte um Simon Snow mit dem Buch "Fangirl" der Autorin zusammen hängt, bzw. dem entspringt. Dieses Buch habe ich mir nun auch auf den Kindle runtergeladen und werde es zeitnah lesen. Ich kann aber sagen, dass das Buch auch unabhängig davon wunderbar zu lesen ist und wirklich Spaß macht. :)

I had been wanting this book since Fangirl! And it did not disappoint me! It was perfect! the kind of book you instinctively know you'll always come back to! Perfect! Simon and Baz forever!!!!!! October 3rd: I'll never stop falling in love with this book! The more I read it the more I love it!