Carry On

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Carry On by Rainbow Rowell


Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, LGBTQIA+

Reviewed by Julia W., 12th Grade

Rating: 7/10



Carry On tells the story of Simon Snow, an orphan with magic powers, and his friends as they spend another year at Watford School of Magicks. Simon is known as the “Chosen One” and, according to prophecy, is destined to save the world of mages from being destroyed. The issue with this, though, is that while Simon is quite powerful, he also has a hard time controlling his power. He describes it as coming out in bursts rather than as a steady waterfall. Additionally, Simon is surprised to see that his roommate, Baz, did not return to Watford. The two are rivals and have never been friendly with one another. However, it is unlike Baz to miss school, especially without any kind of explanation. As Baz is from a family that has deep ties to Watford, his mother even having been the former head, Simon soon begins to theorize that Baz’s absence may be because Baz’s family and others have started to oppose the Mage. Simon has a lot to figure out, especially if he wants to uphold his title and status.

This novel had a lot packed into it! My favorite aspects were that there was a lot of attention put on love and friendship. There were lots of heartwarming moments where friends came through for each other. It was great to see how teamwork led to successes. Furthermore, I also think this book was excellent in displaying how you should never assume anything about others. There is often more to a person than what meets the eye. Overall, I think there were a lot of really good life lessons for young adults to take from this. 


Additionally, I think the way the author wrote the novel was great because she constantly switches between different characters’ points of view. Each character has their own tone and adds their own flair to the story. This also helped me get to know each of the four main characters quite well. 

On the down side, I was not a fan of the beginning of the book. It was so slow, and while I understand how important background information can be, it got a bit boring to read after a while. I also feel like this is very similar to Harry Potter which I am not a huge fan of (just a personal thing). Besides that, I also am not very pleased with how the book ends. Some authors seem to feel the need to make dramatic endings that don’t really sum everything up, and that’s exactly what happened here. The ending felt more of a down point than a resolution. 

This was certainly different from what I usually read and all in all, I’m glad I gave it a shot. If you like magic and fantasy, this would be right up your alley!