When I Rainbow Rowell announced that her next book would be Carry On the entire internet let out a huge SQUEEEE!! For those who may not be familiar with her work (which really you should) in her 2013 novel, Fangirl, she introduced us to Simon Snow, a Harry Potteresque “chosen one” and his nemesis/roommate Baz. In Fangirl, Simon and Baz are characters in a beloved fantasy series that Cath was writing a fan-fiction for. We got a few snippets of Simon and Baz through Cath’s writing, in which she took the characters from enemies to lovers. Cath spends Fangirl trying onto finish her fan-fiction before the author of Simon Snow series, Gemma T. Leslie publishes the final book. Carry On is the final book of the Simon Snow series but it’s not Cath’s story or Gemma T. Leslie’s story it’s Rainbow’s story. I guess that’s sort of meta. Rainbow isn’t really writing her own fan-fiction. How can an author write a fan-fiction of her own work? I guess this is more canon then anything else since she is the original creator. Cath and Gemma, don’t actually exist. I would say it’s in it’s own unique category. The other thing that makes this different from Rainbow’s other book is that it’s a full fledged fantasy novel. Her other books have all been contemporary novels though Landline does have the fantastical element of having a magical phone that allows Georgie to talk to her husband Neal from the past. So this is new territory for her but she passes with flying colors. In a way, Carry On is much a love letter to the fantasy novels of her life. Obviously, Harry Potter is a huge influence but so is Chronicles of Narnia and a little Twilight among others. She’s able to give little winks and even a little commentary on other franchises while still remaining it’s own thing.
Simon Snow is the most powerful mage of all time. He is the Chosen one. The one who is has come when the world of the Mages need them the most. The Insidious Humdrum is draining the world of magic and only Simon can stop him. Unfortunately, Simon can’t control his own magic and is beyond obsessed with his roommate Baz, who is a vampire! When Simon comes back to school for his final year, Baz is not there and is missing for weeks. Simon tries everything to track him down and figure out what evil plan Baz is concocting now. Unfortunately his best friend Penelope and his girlfriend Agatha are not really all that interested. Now when I say he is obsessed with Baz, he really is. He spends the first part of the book doing nothing but thinking about him. Describing him in such a detailed manner that only someone who pays attention or cares for notices. He may not see his attraction to Baz but as readers we can see it. When Baz finally returns we learn that he also in love with Simon but at least he knows it. It excites him but also scares him because he knows that they can never be together. Most likely they will end up killing each other since they are on opposite sides of the war and yeah, he’s a vampire. He’s cruel and mean to Simon because he loves him and tries to push him away.
When in Baz’s dead mother appears to Simon and tells him to search for Nicodemus and avenge her death, he and Baz team up to find out what really happened the night she died and Baz was turned. They soon realize that they have more in common but they truly feel for each other. It’s a gradual process but when it happens it’s breathtaking. There was nothing strange or unusual about Simon and Baz falling in love except that they are two boys. You could changed the gender of one of them and it would still work as a love story. I think that’s important. We’ve talked before on how important representation is important in books, especially in kids and teen literature. Here we get two boys falling in love. One knows he’s gay and the other still figuring out his own sexuality but it’s still beautiful. It’s wonderful to have this positive relationship out there. Not just for LGBTQ teens but for straight ones too. Love is love.
Now let’s talk about the girls. Penelope is Simon’s best friend. She’s smart and no nonsense. She knows who she is and not afraid to stand up for herself. She’s also Indian descent. She is always there to help Simon and helps him out of some really scary situations. She also willing to roll with anything that Simon does or feels. She doesn’t trust Baz at first but sees that Simon is set on helping him so she goes all in. Agatha is a little more complicated. She is Simon’s estranged girlfriend. She loves Simon but not in love with him. She’s struggling with the expectations of what others expect from her and what she wants. She has friends outside the Mages world. She knows there is more to life outside her closed circle. She’s also tired of being just the girlfriend who Simon has to come and rescue. She doesn’t really know what she wants but she knows it’s not that.
I truly enjoyed this book and I do hope that Rainbow writes more fantasy but I don’t care what she writes because I will read and love it anyway
If you loved Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha series and you love crime capers then you are going to love Six of Crows. Set after the events of her last series but this time in Kerch, a country not far from Ravka, six criminals are tasked with a suicide mission that has little to no chance of being accomplished but the pay out is good. Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias and Wylan are all flawed and interesting characters with varying degrees of criminal presents or pasts. Each bring their own set of skills that are vital to the mission. Inej, aka the Wraith, is a trained trapeze artist who can scale walls and quietly gather information. Jesper is a sharpshooter with a gambling problem, Nina is a Heartrender, who can kill you without even touching you. Matthias is a convict who is part of a religious society that hunts down Grisha. Wylan is the son of a rich merchant who likes to blow things up and Kaz is their mysterious leader. He worked his way up in the Barrel to rule but it’s all to get revenge on the man he blames for the death of his brother.
Not a Drop to Drink is very good, I’ll say that. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting it to be but it’s not what I got. It was pretty straight forward and unapologetic. Lynn has lived with her Mother spending every day struggling to survive and protecting their pond. Water has become scarce all over the world and clean water even rarer. Lynn’s pond in many ways is keeping them alive and most be protected at all times. Lynn’s mother is hard. She has taught Lynn from a young age how to use a rifle and to shoot if anyone gets to close. After a tragic accident that kills her mother, Lynn is on her own. She decides to make an alliance with her neighbor, Stebbs. Together they work to protect her pond and check out possible threats to them. This leads them to Lucy, Eli and Neva. They have escaped the city but are unprepared for living in the wild. Lynn takes Lucy home as both Eli and Neva are unable to care for the five year old. Before this the only people that Lynn knew was her mother and Stebbs. She was taught that everyone else was their enemy out to get their pond. Over the course she learns that not everyone is as ruthless and that helping someone is not weakness but also can be a strength. When far more ruthless men build a camp not that far from them, Lynn will do whatever it takes to save her new “family”
Queen of Shadows is the fourth book in Throne of Glass series. It has taken quite a few twists and turns in the four books. What I love about this series is that it keeps on surprising me. I think I’m a pretty savvy reader but I totally didn’t see the big reveal at the end. If you haven’t read, 
I did it. I have completed my summer’s 
Warning: Spoilers will happen
Reawakened is a fun adventure but for anyone who has read Colleen Houck’s other series, 
I remember years ago, Madonna was quoted as saying that she wasn’t a religious person but a spiritual one. For the life of me I can’t find the actual quote. Internet, you have failed me! This seemed strange to me at the time because Madonna was very much in her Kabbalah phase and it seemed like everything in her life was influenced by it. Just listen to albums Ray of Light through Confessions on a Dance Floor for more evidence. She has since have moved on from Kabbalah. I’m not sure if she is still practicing or not but the presence is not as prevalent in her music as it used to be. Does one have to actively practice a religion to be that religion? The one thing that stuck with me from my Introduction to Islam class I took in college (taught by New York Times Bestseller, Reza Aslan. Yep, I’m totally name dropping!) was that in Islam, if you don’t practice you really can’t be really considered Muslim. Now, I took that class *gulp* over 10 years ago, so I apologize if that is not entirely accurate but I do remember that Islam is a very practical religion as well. As Mr. Aslan explained, if you couldn’t pray five times a day at the right time that’s ok, as long as you get those prayers in sometime during the day. If you can’t fast during Ramadan because of work, illness or other circumstances, that’s fine, too, as long as you make time to fast later to make up for it. That last point was illustrated to me when a former co-worker had to skip a week of fasting during the month of Ramadan because she was having stomach pain. As soon as she was feeling better, she completed that week of fasting. This makes sense to me. If you think about it, you really don’t have to go to church or read the bible to call yourself a Christian.
In another retelling of a fairy tale, Mechanica takes on Cinderella. Nicolette is forced to be a servant in her own home and is called Mechanica by her evil stepsisters. Nicolette is an inventor and thanks to her mother’s secret workroom, she starts to invent inventions that could one day buy her way out of her servitude. Along the way she meets the Prince and his best friend and they help her sell her wares. It’s a good idea for a novel. I like many changes from the story. Nicolette isn’t at home waiting for the Prince to come rescue her. She uses her own brain to create inventions that will help her win her freedom and there is a surprising twist at the end that has to do with her and the Prince. I won’t spoil it but it really took me by surprise. Either then that though, there isn’t really anything else to make this stand out. I kept waiting for the something more to happen. I like the message of the novel, though. That girls don’t need a boy to rescue her. They can do that themselves by using their own skills and smarts and that alone might be worth the read.
2 Women, So Many Books 