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Simon Snow #3
Any Way the Wind Blows
In Carry On, Simon Snow and his friends realized that everything they thought they understood about the world might be wrong. And in Wayward Son, they wondered whether everything they understood about themselves might be wrong.
In Any Way the Wind Blows, Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha have to decide how to move forward.
For Simon, that means deciding whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages -- and if he doesn't, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she's smuggled an American Normal into London, and now she isn't sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough.
Any Way the Wind Blows takes the gang back to England, back to Watford, and back to their families for their longest and most emotionally wrenching adventure yet.
This book is a finale. It tells secrets and answers questions and lays ghosts to rest.
Carry On was conceived as a book about Chosen One stories; Any Way the Wind Blows is an ending about endings. About catharsis and closure, and how we choose to move on from the traumas and triumphs that try to define us.
In Any Way the Wind Blows, Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha have to decide how to move forward.
For Simon, that means deciding whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages -- and if he doesn't, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she's smuggled an American Normal into London, and now she isn't sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough.
Any Way the Wind Blows takes the gang back to England, back to Watford, and back to their families for their longest and most emotionally wrenching adventure yet.
This book is a finale. It tells secrets and answers questions and lays ghosts to rest.
Carry On was conceived as a book about Chosen One stories; Any Way the Wind Blows is an ending about endings. About catharsis and closure, and how we choose to move on from the traumas and triumphs that try to define us.
579 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2021
2,103 people are currently reading
65.1k people want to read
About the author
Rainbow Rowell
133books141kfollowersRainbow Rowell writes all kinds of stuff.
Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS, LANDLINE, SLOW DANCE).
Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK, FANGIRL) .
Sometimes � actually, a lot of the time � she writes about lovesick vampires and guys with dragon wings. (THE SIMON SNOW TRILOGY).
Recently, she’s been writing comics, including her first graphic novel, PUMPKINHEADS, and the monthly SHE-HULK comic for Marvel.
She lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
More at rainbowrowell.com.
Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS, LANDLINE, SLOW DANCE).
Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK, FANGIRL) .
Sometimes � actually, a lot of the time � she writes about lovesick vampires and guys with dragon wings. (THE SIMON SNOW TRILOGY).
Recently, she’s been writing comics, including her first graphic novel, PUMPKINHEADS, and the monthly SHE-HULK comic for Marvel.
She lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
More at rainbowrowell.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 9,289 reviews
June 4, 2022
I will be back to write a full review later when my full rage has set in.
Im back with my full review, SPOILERS AHEAD, but I don’t recommend reading anyway so I’d say read this anyway.
I think the thing that made me the most frustrated when reading this book, was how utterly pointless it was in the first place.
They never talk about the events of the second book, or about the vampire gangs, and they never tell anyone about it either. So why did it exist in the first place, my first thought was “oh to introduce Shepard into the plot� but as much as I love Shepard, he does absolutely nothing for this book. He gets his problem solved. He just serves as a stand in for Penny to distract herself from Simon, so that Simon and Baz can…I don’t know, have almost-sex in the most inappropriate places?
Rainbow created something I like to call, The Simon and Baz Problem. Where she made it almost impossible for them to stay together. I was expecting for them to break up, what I wasn’t expecting was for them to dump eachother and then GET BACK TOGETHER TWENTY PAGES LATER. At that point what has changed? Why even breakup in the first place? And I know, it’s Simon realizing he has to “actually try� in his relationship with Baz, but did this issue really need to take up the first 200 pages?? Especially if their breakup is essentially IRRELEVANT.
Pretty much everyone’s losing their shit for the first 250 pages, to the point where it’s not even fun anymore, you’re just watching them all fall apart. Another big problem I had was how out of character a lot of these interactions felt. You’re telling me Simon couldn’t even bring himself to hold Baz’s hand in the second book, but now he’s trying to dry hump him in the Watford library? Good god.
They’re both just weirdly out of character, and also very…I don’t know how to phrase this…pervy? I did not need to read as much smut as I did, especially because half the time it was confusing as hell. They would be in the middle of a sweet and romantic moment and I’d go “that is so sweet I- and one of them has their dicks out again, great…� THIS HAPPENS MULTIPLE TIMES.
I really was rooting for this third book, I was so excited for it, but it just feels so random and disconnected with itself. Every single character is doing their own thing and not communicating, but I’d argue that the character interactions and everyone working together, were the best part of Carry On. And even though this was supposed to be the “final book� there was a lot of unanswered questions, and a lame ending. I’m just so upset because it feels like there didn’t even need to be a second or third book.
Any Way The Wind Blows finally gets good at around the 300 mark, but what am I gonna tell people “yeah, just stick it out for two thirds of the book, I promise it’s worth it� all the good stuff happens at the end, and the main villain in the third book, is just a carbon copy of The Mage. I don’t know, maybe that was the point? I just wish I didn’t spend so much time being made to read about Simon and Baz’s weird kinks, Christ. I’m so disappointed, I felt really represented by Simon in Carry on, now what am I gonna say, yeah I relate to the guy whose constantly trying to chew the hell out of his boyfriend? I know they had to touch on Simons issues with intimacy, but they did it in such a sexual way, and it’s frankly weird that only Simon and Baz got this treatment.
Anyway, I doubt anyone’s read all this, I’ll see you in two years when she says she’s making a fourth book.
Im back with my full review, SPOILERS AHEAD, but I don’t recommend reading anyway so I’d say read this anyway.
I think the thing that made me the most frustrated when reading this book, was how utterly pointless it was in the first place.
They never talk about the events of the second book, or about the vampire gangs, and they never tell anyone about it either. So why did it exist in the first place, my first thought was “oh to introduce Shepard into the plot� but as much as I love Shepard, he does absolutely nothing for this book. He gets his problem solved. He just serves as a stand in for Penny to distract herself from Simon, so that Simon and Baz can…I don’t know, have almost-sex in the most inappropriate places?
Rainbow created something I like to call, The Simon and Baz Problem. Where she made it almost impossible for them to stay together. I was expecting for them to break up, what I wasn’t expecting was for them to dump eachother and then GET BACK TOGETHER TWENTY PAGES LATER. At that point what has changed? Why even breakup in the first place? And I know, it’s Simon realizing he has to “actually try� in his relationship with Baz, but did this issue really need to take up the first 200 pages?? Especially if their breakup is essentially IRRELEVANT.
Pretty much everyone’s losing their shit for the first 250 pages, to the point where it’s not even fun anymore, you’re just watching them all fall apart. Another big problem I had was how out of character a lot of these interactions felt. You’re telling me Simon couldn’t even bring himself to hold Baz’s hand in the second book, but now he’s trying to dry hump him in the Watford library? Good god.
They’re both just weirdly out of character, and also very…I don’t know how to phrase this…pervy? I did not need to read as much smut as I did, especially because half the time it was confusing as hell. They would be in the middle of a sweet and romantic moment and I’d go “that is so sweet I- and one of them has their dicks out again, great…� THIS HAPPENS MULTIPLE TIMES.
I really was rooting for this third book, I was so excited for it, but it just feels so random and disconnected with itself. Every single character is doing their own thing and not communicating, but I’d argue that the character interactions and everyone working together, were the best part of Carry On. And even though this was supposed to be the “final book� there was a lot of unanswered questions, and a lame ending. I’m just so upset because it feels like there didn’t even need to be a second or third book.
Any Way The Wind Blows finally gets good at around the 300 mark, but what am I gonna tell people “yeah, just stick it out for two thirds of the book, I promise it’s worth it� all the good stuff happens at the end, and the main villain in the third book, is just a carbon copy of The Mage. I don’t know, maybe that was the point? I just wish I didn’t spend so much time being made to read about Simon and Baz’s weird kinks, Christ. I’m so disappointed, I felt really represented by Simon in Carry on, now what am I gonna say, yeah I relate to the guy whose constantly trying to chew the hell out of his boyfriend? I know they had to touch on Simons issues with intimacy, but they did it in such a sexual way, and it’s frankly weird that only Simon and Baz got this treatment.
Anyway, I doubt anyone’s read all this, I’ll see you in two years when she says she’s making a fourth book.
July 25, 2021
Someone tweeted at Rainbow Rowell, asking “on a scale of 1 to 10, how romantic will AWTWB be?� and she replied with something like �61�.
After the rampant miscommunication in Wayward Son� I am here to happily announce that she did not lie !! Not only did Simon and Baz get to experience happiness together, but Penny, Shepard and Agatha also got their fair share of romance.
“I thought we had the sort of love that you can’t set down or walk away from. An undying fire. The love that you hear about in the old stories.�
As the final book in the greatly beloved Simon Snow trilogy, Any Way the Wind Blows had big shoes to fill. While I do think this installment showcased the best character development of the three, I also think it suffered from the weakest plot. (Yes, this is coming from me, miss “I don’t need a good plot if I love the characters enough�)
After Wayward Son, I was looking forward to further exploration into the world of vampire gangs and river spirits and pretty much anything that took place in that book. Instead, most of what happened in America is scrapped as everyone gets back to Watford, replaced by something entirely new. Don’t get me wrong, the storyline in AWTWB isn’t bad by any means. It kept me really entertained. It was just hard not to notice how big of a book this is, and how not a lot happened plot-wise in comparison. Relationship-wise is a different story; if you’re reading solely for Simon and Baz and their romance, I’m sure you’ll be very happy with this book. Above all else, the entire cast got their fairytale endings, so who would I be to ask for more?
“I know I'll never love anyone like I love Baz. I know he's the love of my life. Of all my lives.�
03/07/19
At this point SnowBaz is my life source, my soul food and my happiness.
Let them be happy, Rowell, I beg you.
After the rampant miscommunication in Wayward Son� I am here to happily announce that she did not lie !! Not only did Simon and Baz get to experience happiness together, but Penny, Shepard and Agatha also got their fair share of romance.
“I thought we had the sort of love that you can’t set down or walk away from. An undying fire. The love that you hear about in the old stories.�
As the final book in the greatly beloved Simon Snow trilogy, Any Way the Wind Blows had big shoes to fill. While I do think this installment showcased the best character development of the three, I also think it suffered from the weakest plot. (Yes, this is coming from me, miss “I don’t need a good plot if I love the characters enough�)
After Wayward Son, I was looking forward to further exploration into the world of vampire gangs and river spirits and pretty much anything that took place in that book. Instead, most of what happened in America is scrapped as everyone gets back to Watford, replaced by something entirely new. Don’t get me wrong, the storyline in AWTWB isn’t bad by any means. It kept me really entertained. It was just hard not to notice how big of a book this is, and how not a lot happened plot-wise in comparison. Relationship-wise is a different story; if you’re reading solely for Simon and Baz and their romance, I’m sure you’ll be very happy with this book. Above all else, the entire cast got their fairytale endings, so who would I be to ask for more?
“I know I'll never love anyone like I love Baz. I know he's the love of my life. Of all my lives.�
03/07/19
At this point SnowBaz is my life source, my soul food and my happiness.
Let them be happy, Rowell, I beg you.
Want to read
November 15, 2021i am just waiting for my finals to end in november so i can read this
never ever thought carry on would get a sequel and now it's a trilogy (!!!!!)
never ever thought carry on would get a sequel and now it's a trilogy (!!!!!)
Want to read
March 7, 2020after wayward son, please let this entire book be rainbow rowell putting snowbaz's relationship in rice.
Read
October 3, 2019a little disappointed this one isn't called "there'll be peace when you are done"
August 18, 2021
¡No había actualizado que terminé este libro!
La verdad es que me gustó mucho y sentí que me dio más de lo que esperaba, lo cual mi corazón de fangirl agradece. AMO A SIMON Y A BAZ. Y también me gustó todo lo de Penelope y Shepard, e incluso lo de Agatha.
Siento que no fue un libro final tan poderoso, pero los personajes tuvieron finales satisfactorios :).
La verdad es que me gustó mucho y sentí que me dio más de lo que esperaba, lo cual mi corazón de fangirl agradece. AMO A SIMON Y A BAZ. Y también me gustó todo lo de Penelope y Shepard, e incluso lo de Agatha.
Siento que no fue un libro final tan poderoso, pero los personajes tuvieron finales satisfactorios :).
March 1, 2024
I would have signed a marriage contract with a demon for Rainbow to have gotten these two married, but I'm pretty happy with this ending too🕺
August 1, 2021
Ahhh, the silly angst turned up to eleven.
I liked the world Rowell created in the first book, with the deconstruction of the usual Chosen One story, with interesting magic system, and class clashes between the old wealthy families and revolutionary bloodthirsty reformers, the wrongs and rights intermixed in the world outside of the usual paradigms set firmly by Harry Potter standards, the glimpses of arrogance of magicians who seem to ignore or actively oppress those magical beings different from them. I found the world of the second book interesting as well, with the glimpse of magical craziness and differences in the US, with introduction of more vampires with their plans for domination, and more threats to magic, and different magical creatures highlighting the shortsightedness and narrowness of the society that became familiar to us from the original story.
But book 3 left all those plot threads hanging, choosing to focus on the relationships almost exclusively, with the “main� plot of the book resultantly anemic (and not because it was sucked dry by vampires!), the new villain lacking any substantial malice (being named Smith Smith-Richards sounds like a weird stutter), and the resolution happening almost as an afterthought, with what seems to be an attempt to draw parallels to the resolution of the first story.
It seems that the point of this book instead was to explore further and solve Simon/Baz relationship struggles � those that come from a combination of PTSD, depression, poor communication, and a boatload of emotional immaturity (yes, that’s Simon I’m talking about. Baz is a godsend to boyfriendhood). In this book Simon finally learns to communicate in words rather than growls and learns to discuss problems instead of running from them. (He also apparently develops a strange fetish for biting � a bit funny since he’s NOT the vampire one in this relationship � and adopts crying and panic attacks as a foreplay tactic).
But the relationship struggles, interspersed with sudden need to find coupling up happily-ever-after for more peripheral characters (no singles are left standing by the end of this story!) and have everyone indulge in unhealthy amount of saliva-swapping managed to sideline and eventually completely bury the plot and any hanging plot threads under the weight of young hormones.
Yes, I’m glad that emotional scars and PTSD and depression are not swept under the rug, but after the 100th scene of kissing/biting/freaking out and not having sex I need a bit more plot and resolutions. Declarations of love would be fine punctuating the plot, but here it’s plot occasionally punctuating angsty love, and plot threads have no room to grow or develop or be resolved. With Simon/Baz angst completely overwhelming the book � all 500+ pages of it � all the side characters arcs are kinda there, barely intersecting with each other, giving it strangely disjointed feel. About 400,000,000 pages of Baz/Simon scenes could have been cut and condensed to allow the plot to show up. Keep it raw, keep it emotional, but spare us the bajillion reiteration of the same scenes.
I kept wanting those two to talk about their feelings I’m the first two books. You gotta be careful what you wish for � by page 800,000,000 of talking about feelings I wanted them to shut up, go back to lovesick glaring and get on with the rest of the plot.
—ĔĔ�
This is supposedly the final book in the trilogy that needs to be followed by a *proper* final book, where angsty issues have been solved and we can get some resolution to the actual plot points � American vampires, mages� prejuduces against other magical species, the results of rolling back Mage’s reforms, the dead spots, British vampires and their role in society, Simon’s magic, and so on. There needs to be more, not only happily-ever-afters for everyone*.
—ĔĔ�
The saving grace of this book for me, as always, was Baz Grimm-Pitch who holds my heart in his weirdly devoted long-suffering fashionista snarky snootiness barely hiding his heart of gold and helping me even through irritated frustration feel those warm fuzzies that won my heart in the first place. I still think that the audio narrator Euan Morton creates a perfect Baz.
And I still like the silly humor that manages to pop up between the angst.
Maybe I’ll go reread to bring back the warm fuzzies, and pretend it ended there. It worked nicely as a standalone. Not every book needs to spawn itself into a trilogy.
—ĔĔĔ�
I’m sad to give this only 2.5 stars, with no amount of Baz fangirly love saving it.
But I’ll definitely read book 4 if Rowell decides to *properly* wrap up this trilogy.
—ĔĔ�
My review of “Carry On�: /review/show...
My review of “Wayward Son�: /review/show...
“I just want to be with you,� I say. “And this is where we are now. I’m a broken-down mess, and you’re a rat-drinking monster.�This series started as a fluffy wizarding school archenemies-turned-lovers fanfic-cubed that was my guilty pleasure, went on an angsty detour through middle America and now came to the angst-filled conclusion that has me a bit torn. Because no matter how much I love Baz (and tolerate Simon), I could not overlook the flaws.
I liked the world Rowell created in the first book, with the deconstruction of the usual Chosen One story, with interesting magic system, and class clashes between the old wealthy families and revolutionary bloodthirsty reformers, the wrongs and rights intermixed in the world outside of the usual paradigms set firmly by Harry Potter standards, the glimpses of arrogance of magicians who seem to ignore or actively oppress those magical beings different from them. I found the world of the second book interesting as well, with the glimpse of magical craziness and differences in the US, with introduction of more vampires with their plans for domination, and more threats to magic, and different magical creatures highlighting the shortsightedness and narrowness of the society that became familiar to us from the original story.
But book 3 left all those plot threads hanging, choosing to focus on the relationships almost exclusively, with the “main� plot of the book resultantly anemic (and not because it was sucked dry by vampires!), the new villain lacking any substantial malice (being named Smith Smith-Richards sounds like a weird stutter), and the resolution happening almost as an afterthought, with what seems to be an attempt to draw parallels to the resolution of the first story.
“I thought maybe Snow didn’t want to share a bed with me because he was afraid I’d bite him in my sleep. But apparently that’s fine! Bloodletting is fine—intimacy is the real taboo!�
It seems that the point of this book instead was to explore further and solve Simon/Baz relationship struggles � those that come from a combination of PTSD, depression, poor communication, and a boatload of emotional immaturity (yes, that’s Simon I’m talking about. Baz is a godsend to boyfriendhood). In this book Simon finally learns to communicate in words rather than growls and learns to discuss problems instead of running from them. (He also apparently develops a strange fetish for biting � a bit funny since he’s NOT the vampire one in this relationship � and adopts crying and panic attacks as a foreplay tactic).
“I’m not lying! I don’t mind comforting you, Simon. Or holding you. I don’t mind giving you what you need, whatever it is you need. I prefer it to you pushing me away. Or ignoring me.�
I look up at him. “But you could date anyone you want. You could date everyone you want. And none of them would start bloody crying during foreplay.�
Baz shrugs. “You don’t always cry� Sometimes you go glassy-eyed and nonresponsive.�
But the relationship struggles, interspersed with sudden need to find coupling up happily-ever-after for more peripheral characters (no singles are left standing by the end of this story!) and have everyone indulge in unhealthy amount of saliva-swapping managed to sideline and eventually completely bury the plot and any hanging plot threads under the weight of young hormones.
“We haven’t talked about it yet—the fact that there are vampires trying to steal magic, and vampires running cities. None of us have talked about any of it since we got away from them.�
Yeah, you guys were too busy kissing, biting and not having sex.
Yes, I’m glad that emotional scars and PTSD and depression are not swept under the rug, but after the 100th scene of kissing/biting/freaking out and not having sex I need a bit more plot and resolutions. Declarations of love would be fine punctuating the plot, but here it’s plot occasionally punctuating angsty love, and plot threads have no room to grow or develop or be resolved. With Simon/Baz angst completely overwhelming the book � all 500+ pages of it � all the side characters arcs are kinda there, barely intersecting with each other, giving it strangely disjointed feel. About 400,000,000 pages of Baz/Simon scenes could have been cut and condensed to allow the plot to show up. Keep it raw, keep it emotional, but spare us the bajillion reiteration of the same scenes.
“In the early days after the Mage was gone, when I was still having video calls with that American therapist, she used to tell me to break life into bites you can swallow.�
Oh dear, is that biting/swallowing metaphor the reason for your sudden biting obsession, Simon???
I kept wanting those two to talk about their feelings I’m the first two books. You gotta be careful what you wish for � by page 800,000,000 of talking about feelings I wanted them to shut up, go back to lovesick glaring and get on with the rest of the plot.
—ĔĔ�
This is supposedly the final book in the trilogy that needs to be followed by a *proper* final book, where angsty issues have been solved and we can get some resolution to the actual plot points � American vampires, mages� prejuduces against other magical species, the results of rolling back Mage’s reforms, the dead spots, British vampires and their role in society, Simon’s magic, and so on. There needs to be more, not only happily-ever-afters for everyone*.
* Especially Agatha. There’s no point to her story. And that goats bit was ridiculous. Really.
—ĔĔ�
The saving grace of this book for me, as always, was Baz Grimm-Pitch who holds my heart in his weirdly devoted long-suffering fashionista snarky snootiness barely hiding his heart of gold and helping me even through irritated frustration feel those warm fuzzies that won my heart in the first place. I still think that the audio narrator Euan Morton creates a perfect Baz.
And I still like the silly humor that manages to pop up between the angst.
Maybe I’ll go reread to bring back the warm fuzzies, and pretend it ended there. It worked nicely as a standalone. Not every book needs to spawn itself into a trilogy.
—ĔĔĔ�
I’m sad to give this only 2.5 stars, with no amount of Baz fangirly love saving it.
But I’ll definitely read book 4 if Rowell decides to *properly* wrap up this trilogy.
—ĔĔ�
My review of “Carry On�: /review/show...
My review of “Wayward Son�: /review/show...
August 8, 2021
i hope this is 500 pages long
Want to read
March 7, 2020OMG!!!
OH JEEZ!!!
DAMN!!! AKDFLASDJFASKDFJASKFDJA!
THERE'S GOING TO BE A THIRD BOOK!??
A.
THIRD.
BOOK!!!!!!
__/\__/\__/\___/\___/\_________________
P.S: I really thought the next book would be named "There'll be peace"
No more Kansas as it seems. *sniff* XD
OH JEEZ!!!
DAMN!!! AKDFLASDJFASKDFJASKFDJA!
THERE'S GOING TO BE A THIRD BOOK!??
A.
THIRD.
BOOK!!!!!!
__/\__/\__/\___/\___/\_________________
P.S: I really thought the next book would be named "There'll be peace"
No more Kansas as it seems. *sniff* XD
January 20, 2022
SIMON HAD A SWORD AGAIN I REPEAT SIMON HAS A SWORD AGAIN THIS IS NOT A DRILL
this was everything I could've asked for and more.
I LOVE THAT RAINBOW GAVE THEM EACH TIME TO WORK THROUGH THEIR ISSUES AND DIDNT JUST LUMP THEM ALL TOGETHER.
SIMON AND BAZ'S RELATIONSHIP AND THE WAY THEY WORKED THROUGH ISSUES *MWAH*,
AGATHA AND NIAMH AND THEIR GOATS YES YES YES.
PENNY AND SHEPHERD STOLE MY HEART, HIS ENGAGEMENT TO A DEMON HILARIOUS.
THIS WAS SO SO GOOD.
ALSO BAZ RETURNING HER PIPPAS VOICE, FIONA AND NICODEMUS, BAZ NOT BEING IMMORTAL AND SO MUCH MORE AAAAAA
AND SIMON FINALLY GETTING A FAMILY, SURE HE HAS A SUPPORT SYSTEM BUT HE FINALLY HAS A FAMILY AMD THEY WERE SO HAPPY TO FINALLY HAVE HIM. NO UR CRYING AT 4.29AM
also kinda liked that he never got his magic back, because magic doesn't define him.
this was everything I could've asked for and more.
I LOVE THAT RAINBOW GAVE THEM EACH TIME TO WORK THROUGH THEIR ISSUES AND DIDNT JUST LUMP THEM ALL TOGETHER.
SIMON AND BAZ'S RELATIONSHIP AND THE WAY THEY WORKED THROUGH ISSUES *MWAH*,
AGATHA AND NIAMH AND THEIR GOATS YES YES YES.
PENNY AND SHEPHERD STOLE MY HEART, HIS ENGAGEMENT TO A DEMON HILARIOUS.
THIS WAS SO SO GOOD.
ALSO BAZ RETURNING HER PIPPAS VOICE, FIONA AND NICODEMUS, BAZ NOT BEING IMMORTAL AND SO MUCH MORE AAAAAA
AND SIMON FINALLY GETTING A FAMILY, SURE HE HAS A SUPPORT SYSTEM BUT HE FINALLY HAS A FAMILY AMD THEY WERE SO HAPPY TO FINALLY HAVE HIM. NO UR CRYING AT 4.29AM
also kinda liked that he never got his magic back, because magic doesn't define him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2021
i am crying
-----
well. i finally FINALLY read this and. eh. that's all i can say.
its not that this book is a //bad book// i just feel like it was pointless and that makes me very sad.
i LOVE carry on. my favorite thing about it was how lightheaded and easy to read it was, and obviously the tone changes in the two following books. i do love the idea of exploring the chosen one's life once he's lost everything, once he isnt needed anymore. its something new and very interesting, but it wasnt executed properly. maybe Rowell should've focused on simon's feelings and self-exploration instead of making up a storyline that was lacking in so many ways.
im gonna start with agatha because what the FUCK happened to her 😭😭😭 she was so insignificant to the story. you could write her off and NOTHING would change, the actual plot wouldn't be affected at all. was she with penny in any scene of the book? i think they didn't interact at all. she met with simon twice, and once with baz... im sad that the lesbian character ended up being the most useless one, and im also heartbroken because i found her so intriguing in the previous books when she rejected the magickal world. she ends up linked to it here, working for it. im not sure how i feel about that yet.
penny.... god im so upset because my FAVORITE thing about the two previous books was the friendship dynamics. on the first installment, i loved her relationship with simon. on the second one, with baz. that time baz cast a family spell on her and it WORKED? best scene of book 2. here, rowell sent her off on a side plotline just so she could have baz and simon trying to fuck every 10 pages. we didnt get to see the three together until what? page 300 of 500??? surprisingly, i didnt dislike her dynamic with shepard, even though it will always annoy me how authors seem to think EVERYONE needs to end up in a relationship (even fiona lmao). their relatioship was fun and light-hearted and easy to read!!! i thought shepard would bore the hell out of me but he ended up growing on me. that being said, they didn't need a whole side plot that would take up half of the book.
and simon and baz... don't get me wrong, i love their scenes together. i just wish rowell wouldn't have turned simon's struggles with relationships and intimacy into something so inherently sexual. it always came down to that. it was so frustrating. surprisingly, i liked simon more than baz in this book. i think, for once, he's the character that i liked most because he feels the most human. maybe that's why im so sad, he deserved better. also, his family issues??? "resolved" in the last 5 pages? he DEFINITELY deserved better.
i could complain about a lot more, but im getting tired of typing. i won't even waste my time on the villain because he isn't worth it. a disappointment.
[edit on 04/09/21]
I REMEMBERED SOMETHING ELSE.... the way baz and simon broke up just to get back together THE VERY NEXT DAY??? at first, i was excited because I thought they could TRULY use some time for themselves. simon had so many things to figure out, not only about relationships but about himself as a non-magikal human being... i wanted them to end up together, of course, but it just felt rushed.
-----
well. i finally FINALLY read this and. eh. that's all i can say.
its not that this book is a //bad book// i just feel like it was pointless and that makes me very sad.
i LOVE carry on. my favorite thing about it was how lightheaded and easy to read it was, and obviously the tone changes in the two following books. i do love the idea of exploring the chosen one's life once he's lost everything, once he isnt needed anymore. its something new and very interesting, but it wasnt executed properly. maybe Rowell should've focused on simon's feelings and self-exploration instead of making up a storyline that was lacking in so many ways.
im gonna start with agatha because what the FUCK happened to her 😭😭😭 she was so insignificant to the story. you could write her off and NOTHING would change, the actual plot wouldn't be affected at all. was she with penny in any scene of the book? i think they didn't interact at all. she met with simon twice, and once with baz... im sad that the lesbian character ended up being the most useless one, and im also heartbroken because i found her so intriguing in the previous books when she rejected the magickal world. she ends up linked to it here, working for it. im not sure how i feel about that yet.
penny.... god im so upset because my FAVORITE thing about the two previous books was the friendship dynamics. on the first installment, i loved her relationship with simon. on the second one, with baz. that time baz cast a family spell on her and it WORKED? best scene of book 2. here, rowell sent her off on a side plotline just so she could have baz and simon trying to fuck every 10 pages. we didnt get to see the three together until what? page 300 of 500??? surprisingly, i didnt dislike her dynamic with shepard, even though it will always annoy me how authors seem to think EVERYONE needs to end up in a relationship (even fiona lmao). their relatioship was fun and light-hearted and easy to read!!! i thought shepard would bore the hell out of me but he ended up growing on me. that being said, they didn't need a whole side plot that would take up half of the book.
and simon and baz... don't get me wrong, i love their scenes together. i just wish rowell wouldn't have turned simon's struggles with relationships and intimacy into something so inherently sexual. it always came down to that. it was so frustrating. surprisingly, i liked simon more than baz in this book. i think, for once, he's the character that i liked most because he feels the most human. maybe that's why im so sad, he deserved better. also, his family issues??? "resolved" in the last 5 pages? he DEFINITELY deserved better.
i could complain about a lot more, but im getting tired of typing. i won't even waste my time on the villain because he isn't worth it. a disappointment.
[edit on 04/09/21]
I REMEMBERED SOMETHING ELSE.... the way baz and simon broke up just to get back together THE VERY NEXT DAY??? at first, i was excited because I thought they could TRULY use some time for themselves. simon had so many things to figure out, not only about relationships but about himself as a non-magikal human being... i wanted them to end up together, of course, but it just felt rushed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2021
4.5 THANK FUCKING GOD RTC
July 12, 2021
i will close my eyes and pretend Carry On is still a stand-alone
December 23, 2022
4.5 stars
This was a great conclusion to the series. Not perfect, but I still loved most of it. It gave me everything I wished for after finishing book 2.
The story was fun and entertaining and really sweet at times. I loved Simon and Baz and I was very happy with how everything turned out for them in the end. Penelope was great, as usual. Agatha was just being Agatha, I guess. At least her character is consistent throughout the series. I also really enjoyed what some of the side characters brought to the story.
I listened to the audiobook and really liked it. I'm glad that the narrator is the same for the entire series.
*
Re-read 12/2022 - paperback edition
This was a great conclusion to the series. Not perfect, but I still loved most of it. It gave me everything I wished for after finishing book 2.
The story was fun and entertaining and really sweet at times. I loved Simon and Baz and I was very happy with how everything turned out for them in the end. Penelope was great, as usual. Agatha was just being Agatha, I guess. At least her character is consistent throughout the series. I also really enjoyed what some of the side characters brought to the story.
I listened to the audiobook and really liked it. I'm glad that the narrator is the same for the entire series.
*
Re-read 12/2022 - paperback edition
February 7, 2024
remember that day and a half of being terrified this wouldn’t be a thing hahahaha
___________________________________
@ that review saying baz/simon’s relationship needed to be put into a bowl of rice� SHE FUCKING DID IT GUYS
initial thoughts:
- this was absolutely everything I thought Wayward Son was going to be but because WS was like *that* I didn’t believe this would happen
- it was so so funny!
- I’m so happy that this was how I wanted it to be and so sad there are no more books coming (but� come on, Agatha and Niamh spin off?????)
brb, now having a crisis at the fact that I first read CO when I was 13 and now it’s over 🙃🙃
Updated thoughts:
Going into this I wanted to see Simon (and Baz) recover and heal� I didn’t really know how the recovery would happen and I also didn’t want to think about it too much in case it didn’t lol
I LOVED this book so much because it did happen!!!
THERE WAS COMMUNICATION AND HEALING, BUT REALISTICALLY DONE!!!
I’m seeing a few reviews saying it felt unfinished- in my opinion for it to be a realistic portrayal of healing nobody couldn’t have ended this completely okay. And I think now that what I should have wanted from AWTWB (and what I did get) was the fulfilment that everyone isn’t 100% okay but at least they’re not 0% okay either, recovery is a non linear process and they are on it.
Baz’s last line at the end of the book is one of my favourites and though I was surprised and haven’t quite figured out why the epilogue was just Agatha, I thought that�.
- simon understanding the shit reality of his circumstances
- simon sharing them with baz
…was the perfect end to the book because it shows that Simon is understanding what has happened to him, is learning how to cope healthily with the trauma, and recovery isn’t all rosy- all SUCH important points.
ANYWAY I guess this is what happens when none of my friends read the book on release day so I’m just left to think about this by myself until someone eventually gets around to it
___________________________________
@ that review saying baz/simon’s relationship needed to be put into a bowl of rice� SHE FUCKING DID IT GUYS
initial thoughts:
- this was absolutely everything I thought Wayward Son was going to be but because WS was like *that* I didn’t believe this would happen
- it was so so funny!
- I’m so happy that this was how I wanted it to be and so sad there are no more books coming (but� come on, Agatha and Niamh spin off?????)
brb, now having a crisis at the fact that I first read CO when I was 13 and now it’s over 🙃🙃
Updated thoughts:
Going into this I wanted to see Simon (and Baz) recover and heal� I didn’t really know how the recovery would happen and I also didn’t want to think about it too much in case it didn’t lol
I LOVED this book so much because it did happen!!!
THERE WAS COMMUNICATION AND HEALING, BUT REALISTICALLY DONE!!!
I’m seeing a few reviews saying it felt unfinished- in my opinion for it to be a realistic portrayal of healing nobody couldn’t have ended this completely okay. And I think now that what I should have wanted from AWTWB (and what I did get) was the fulfilment that everyone isn’t 100% okay but at least they’re not 0% okay either, recovery is a non linear process and they are on it.
Baz’s last line at the end of the book is one of my favourites and though I was surprised and haven’t quite figured out why the epilogue was just Agatha, I thought that�.
- simon understanding the shit reality of his circumstances
- simon sharing them with baz
…was the perfect end to the book because it shows that Simon is understanding what has happened to him, is learning how to cope healthily with the trauma, and recovery isn’t all rosy- all SUCH important points.
ANYWAY I guess this is what happens when none of my friends read the book on release day so I’m just left to think about this by myself until someone eventually gets around to it
July 25, 2021
do you ever think about how beautiful Baz Pitch is
August 6, 2021
currently it's 3:19 am and i am bawling my eyes out
this book has its flaws, i will admit that I am completely,absolutely, disgustingly biased. this book made me happy, made me sob, made me scream my lungs out and it's everything i wanted this book to be. goodbye I'm going to camp on tumblr and cry over SnowBaz for the rest of my life
this book has its flaws, i will admit that I am completely,absolutely, disgustingly biased. this book made me happy, made me sob, made me scream my lungs out and it's everything i wanted this book to be. goodbye I'm going to camp on tumblr and cry over SnowBaz for the rest of my life
July 7, 2021
en vez de estudiar me leí este libro espero que mi profesora me pregunte el color de las camisas de baz xq es lo único que sé 😁
July 10, 2021
Well that was a waste of a book. Sigh.
The great: Baz and Simon and all their scenes together were perfect. Those two have so much chemistry together--their scenes feel alive with magic. For those alone the book gets three stars (their scenes were five stars but the rest of the book was one star so...)
The good: Rainbow Rowell's writing. She's humorous, and I cried, as well as laughed out loud, more than once.
The bad: Everything else. The plot, the pacing, the ending.
Spoilers to follow.
Who here thought the book would open with Watford under attack or that something had happened to threaten the world of Mages, which would be the driving force behind the plot? (I had speculated that perhaps the old families were trying to retake power and that the ensuing political and magical battles would test the relationships between Baz and Penny with Simon struggling with loyalty to both. That would have been a compelling story that built on the plot threads from the first book. Or maybe the school and the world of mages would be under attack by dark creatures and vampires who had been promised it by the Mage or something.) The ending of the second book certainly indicated something serious had happened.
Who rolled their eyes when they learned what the Watford emergency actually was?
Who thought the secondary plot that tracked alongside the war/Watford emergency plot would be about Simon discovering his heritage and learning the secrets about Lucy and his family? I certainly did. At the beginning, when Simon learns that he inherited the Mage's papers and estate, I seriously thought that's where the story was headed.
Who here at least thought they'd learn how Lucy died?
Who here is confused that Lady Salisbury never once questioned whether Simon was her grandson? We learn in this book that she knew Lucy had a child with the Mage. She knew the Mage had adopted Simon. She knew Simon was the age Lucy's child would be. Simon looks like Lucy. This is a frustrating plot hole.
Who here thought anything that happened in the second book would actually be relevant to this book?
The book opens with us learning that Lucy might be alive. I started thinking that Lucy's soul was trapped in her weeping portrait at Watford. That the Mage had trapped her all those years. And so I daydreamed the book as I thought it should have been...
In my head, when they all get back to England, Simon leaves Watford and Baz and Penny, despite the attacks on Watford, because he feels useless and like a Normal. That while Baz and Penny struggle with his absence and the budding war, Simon delves into the Mage's books and papers that were left to him and discovers his mum is alive and trapped. That he frees her and then learns with his Mum's help what spells were cast on him as a fetus to give him the power to suck magic. That he learns he truly did give up his magic to save the world of mages, but comes to terms with it. That as part of the war, the magic flying goats are being killed or kidnapped by whatever and Agatha is instrumental in saving them. That Simon gets to know his family and is given his family's Excalibur sword and eventually joins the battle at Watford. That his fighting turns the tide of of war and saves the world of mages from its greatest threat. That he fulfills the prophecy and everyone recognizes him as the greatest mage despite him losing his magic. That he keeps his wings and tail. And of course we get all the wonderful love scenes with Baz and Simon throughout.
Instead we got some weird anticlimactic scam artist story (where it's never really made clear who those people are or what their goals are), a separate anticlimactic goat story (in which the goats' role is never quite made clear and we still never learn if Watford is protected again), and a third separate anticlimactic Shepard and demon story (where the way the demon was outsmarted was settled so soon that there was no real setup or payoff and it all came across as so eye-rollingly stupid). These stories never converge, they never feel like threats, there are no stakes, Simon loses even more of his magic, and he literally learns that the Mage and Lucy were his parents in the last 50 pages.
We never learn how Lucy's soul was sticking around through the candle or what happened to Lucy, or learn anymore about the Mage's goals and actions. We never get any real closure on Simon's discovery that he had parents and that he killed his father, or on whether he ends up keeping his wings and tail, or whether he ever comes to terms with losing his magic. Fiona has all the spirit taken out of her and the possibilities with Nico, and Baz learning more about being a vampire, are never explored. It's so so disappointing.
But hey, at least Baz and Simon get laid, so there's that.
The great: Baz and Simon and all their scenes together were perfect. Those two have so much chemistry together--their scenes feel alive with magic. For those alone the book gets three stars (their scenes were five stars but the rest of the book was one star so...)
The good: Rainbow Rowell's writing. She's humorous, and I cried, as well as laughed out loud, more than once.
The bad: Everything else. The plot, the pacing, the ending.
Spoilers to follow.
Who here thought the book would open with Watford under attack or that something had happened to threaten the world of Mages, which would be the driving force behind the plot? (I had speculated that perhaps the old families were trying to retake power and that the ensuing political and magical battles would test the relationships between Baz and Penny with Simon struggling with loyalty to both. That would have been a compelling story that built on the plot threads from the first book. Or maybe the school and the world of mages would be under attack by dark creatures and vampires who had been promised it by the Mage or something.) The ending of the second book certainly indicated something serious had happened.
Who rolled their eyes when they learned what the Watford emergency actually was?
Who thought the secondary plot that tracked alongside the war/Watford emergency plot would be about Simon discovering his heritage and learning the secrets about Lucy and his family? I certainly did. At the beginning, when Simon learns that he inherited the Mage's papers and estate, I seriously thought that's where the story was headed.
Who here at least thought they'd learn how Lucy died?
Who here is confused that Lady Salisbury never once questioned whether Simon was her grandson? We learn in this book that she knew Lucy had a child with the Mage. She knew the Mage had adopted Simon. She knew Simon was the age Lucy's child would be. Simon looks like Lucy. This is a frustrating plot hole.
Who here thought anything that happened in the second book would actually be relevant to this book?
The book opens with us learning that Lucy might be alive. I started thinking that Lucy's soul was trapped in her weeping portrait at Watford. That the Mage had trapped her all those years. And so I daydreamed the book as I thought it should have been...
In my head, when they all get back to England, Simon leaves Watford and Baz and Penny, despite the attacks on Watford, because he feels useless and like a Normal. That while Baz and Penny struggle with his absence and the budding war, Simon delves into the Mage's books and papers that were left to him and discovers his mum is alive and trapped. That he frees her and then learns with his Mum's help what spells were cast on him as a fetus to give him the power to suck magic. That he learns he truly did give up his magic to save the world of mages, but comes to terms with it. That as part of the war, the magic flying goats are being killed or kidnapped by whatever and Agatha is instrumental in saving them. That Simon gets to know his family and is given his family's Excalibur sword and eventually joins the battle at Watford. That his fighting turns the tide of of war and saves the world of mages from its greatest threat. That he fulfills the prophecy and everyone recognizes him as the greatest mage despite him losing his magic. That he keeps his wings and tail. And of course we get all the wonderful love scenes with Baz and Simon throughout.
Instead we got some weird anticlimactic scam artist story (where it's never really made clear who those people are or what their goals are), a separate anticlimactic goat story (in which the goats' role is never quite made clear and we still never learn if Watford is protected again), and a third separate anticlimactic Shepard and demon story (where the way the demon was outsmarted was settled so soon that there was no real setup or payoff and it all came across as so eye-rollingly stupid). These stories never converge, they never feel like threats, there are no stakes, Simon loses even more of his magic, and he literally learns that the Mage and Lucy were his parents in the last 50 pages.
We never learn how Lucy's soul was sticking around through the candle or what happened to Lucy, or learn anymore about the Mage's goals and actions. We never get any real closure on Simon's discovery that he had parents and that he killed his father, or on whether he ends up keeping his wings and tail, or whether he ever comes to terms with losing his magic. Fiona has all the spirit taken out of her and the possibilities with Nico, and Baz learning more about being a vampire, are never explored. It's so so disappointing.
But hey, at least Baz and Simon get laid, so there's that.
Want to read
October 4, 2019I'm not sure how this happened but CROWLEY!!!!!! *screams in Snowbaz*.
me: *haven't even get to read Wayward Son yet.*
also me: WHEN IS SOON? for the scones, I need answers.
Update: just been thinking about this all day and I thought some weird theories...
1. The fact that “Any way the wind blows� is the final sentence on bohemian rhapsody means this is the final book?
2. This means that at some point someone is going to use the spell to take back to life somebody?? since that song was used for that, we learn this at the end of Carry On.
3. What does it mean that the background is all grey and smokey and I see no Baz anywhere (? That scares me a bit, but I live for drama so just ignore me
me: *haven't even get to read Wayward Son yet.*
also me: WHEN IS SOON? for the scones, I need answers.
Update: just been thinking about this all day and I thought some weird theories...
1. The fact that “Any way the wind blows� is the final sentence on bohemian rhapsody means this is the final book?
2. This means that at some point someone is going to use the spell to take back to life somebody?? since that song was used for that, we learn this at the end of Carry On.
3. What does it mean that the background is all grey and smokey and I see no Baz anywhere (? That scares me a bit, but I live for drama so just ignore me
July 10, 2021
Star Rating: �&; 5 Stars
Holy Wow. This was beyond good, beyond great, beyond excellent... it was completely magical & full of adventure and danger and Simon always running straight into it without thinking about repercussions (or thinking about anything else besides stopping evil in whatever form... it kind of is amazing how, at first, he has no idea hes driving Baz MAD with worry... aaand with lust and love and all the things. 😉 But omggggg when they get on the same page things are just... everything i've ever wanted for all of the characters!!!! Ahhh what a fun freakin' ride & a crazy ass new villain & just SO MUCH CARRY ON FUN!
_______________
EDIT: ALSO I FORGOT...
THAT TITLE! QUEEN LYRICS!!!! UGH *SWOONS*
Queen is one of my favorite bands of ALL TIME. This is one of my favorite SONGS of ALL TIME. Ugh I need to have a chat with Rainbow Rowell about music. It’s official. British classic rock is SO MUCH BETTER than American. And I live in America; it’s just fact. #sorrynotsorry
OMFG I DIDNT REALIZE THE 3RD BOOK WAS ALREADY ANNOUNCED!
DEAD!
Holy Wow. This was beyond good, beyond great, beyond excellent... it was completely magical & full of adventure and danger and Simon always running straight into it without thinking about repercussions (or thinking about anything else besides stopping evil in whatever form... it kind of is amazing how, at first, he has no idea hes driving Baz MAD with worry... aaand with lust and love and all the things. 😉 But omggggg when they get on the same page things are just... everything i've ever wanted for all of the characters!!!! Ahhh what a fun freakin' ride & a crazy ass new villain & just SO MUCH CARRY ON FUN!
_______________
EDIT: ALSO I FORGOT...
THAT TITLE! QUEEN LYRICS!!!! UGH *SWOONS*
Queen is one of my favorite bands of ALL TIME. This is one of my favorite SONGS of ALL TIME. Ugh I need to have a chat with Rainbow Rowell about music. It’s official. British classic rock is SO MUCH BETTER than American. And I live in America; it’s just fact. #sorrynotsorry
OMFG I DIDNT REALIZE THE 3RD BOOK WAS ALREADY ANNOUNCED!
DEAD!
June 20, 2022
If, like me, you read book 2 and thought "Eh, maybe I should just think of book 1 as a standalone" � I have good news! This conclusion to the trilogy makes the bit of a letdown that was all worthwhile. AND THEN SOME.
Our MCs finally grow up! I despaired of them for a while, and at one point was ready to send every character in the book to rehab -- rehab for Chronic Noncommunication Syndrome, in which they would all be forced to use their words. Grrrr. So I was occasionally a wee bit doubtful early on, especially when it looked as if Simon & Baz were spinning their wheels, stuck in the same-old same-old. BUT! My frustration was short-lived, and we finally get to see what they can be when they get their acts together. It was fun, it was touching, it was exciting, it was romantic, it was strange, it was hilarious.
Which I could honestly say of the book as a whole, not just the Simon & Baz Show. Penelope Bunch realizes that she can be � and has repeatedly been � wrong. Agatha, who's always been so unlikeable yet so perfect for the story, continues to be both. Someone we met in book 2 gets to be a POV character here, and they are delightful.
And Simon struggles mightily to learn how to be a person. Not a weapon, not a warrior, not The Chosen One, not an abandoned and outrageously neglected child, not magickal or non-magickal... just a person. It's not easy. In fact, it's brutal. But his journey is what made me finally appreciate the author continuing the story beyond the otherwise satisfying ending of book 1. No one who'd lived Simon's life could just dive into a Happily Ever After. The psychological truth of his struggle resonated powerfully with me.
I've read many times. And I will read it AGAIN. This book is a conclusion worthy of it. So, for my next reread, I have the whole trilogy to look forward to. I can't tell you how tempted I am to begin that reread right now this very instant.
Oh, and I made so many highlights. Let me share some...
In conclusion: I laughed (literally), I cried (literally), and I am extremely sorry the story is over. Could we please have more, Rainbow Rowell?
Our MCs finally grow up! I despaired of them for a while, and at one point was ready to send every character in the book to rehab -- rehab for Chronic Noncommunication Syndrome, in which they would all be forced to use their words. Grrrr. So I was occasionally a wee bit doubtful early on, especially when it looked as if Simon & Baz were spinning their wheels, stuck in the same-old same-old. BUT! My frustration was short-lived, and we finally get to see what they can be when they get their acts together. It was fun, it was touching, it was exciting, it was romantic, it was strange, it was hilarious.
Which I could honestly say of the book as a whole, not just the Simon & Baz Show. Penelope Bunch realizes that she can be � and has repeatedly been � wrong. Agatha, who's always been so unlikeable yet so perfect for the story, continues to be both. Someone we met in book 2 gets to be a POV character here, and they are delightful.
And Simon struggles mightily to learn how to be a person. Not a weapon, not a warrior, not The Chosen One, not an abandoned and outrageously neglected child, not magickal or non-magickal... just a person. It's not easy. In fact, it's brutal. But his journey is what made me finally appreciate the author continuing the story beyond the otherwise satisfying ending of book 1. No one who'd lived Simon's life could just dive into a Happily Ever After. The psychological truth of his struggle resonated powerfully with me.
I've read many times. And I will read it AGAIN. This book is a conclusion worthy of it. So, for my next reread, I have the whole trilogy to look forward to. I can't tell you how tempted I am to begin that reread right now this very instant.
Oh, and I made so many highlights. Let me share some...
"I just want to be with you," I say. "And this is where we are now. I'm a broken-down mess, and you're a rat-drinking monster."
~~~
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Snow. You're not allowed to feel sorry for yourself as long as you get to have me."
~~~
It's always easier to make a decision when your back's against the wall, and there's a knife at your throat. No time to think, just do. Grab the thing you need. Grab the thing you want. Steal the kiss. I'd live like that all the time if I could. I'd make all my decisions jumping out of second-story windows.
~~~
I get lost fast when we're kissing. I want more of it. All of it. I want the lethal dose.
~~~And
~~~
In conclusion: I laughed (literally), I cried (literally), and I am extremely sorry the story is over. Could we please have more, Rainbow Rowell?
April 6, 2024
I officially like this book more than the second one! I found the plot more interesting and there were more cute moments with Baz and Simon! I also felt more invested in Shepard's character. I grew to really like his and Penelope’s relationship, also just his overall personality. However, despite me enjoying this book more than the last, there were a few things that didn’t quite fit. I thought the NowNext people (vampires) would have come back, I mean they were mentioned but nothing really happened. Also it scared me when Simon wanted his wings removed!! Like no� never.
Other than those two things I loved this read. And what really stuck with me the most out of this entire trilogy was how well the author did with building up Simon and Baz’s relationship. Because it started out with them just discovering their feelings, and then they hit a bit of a slope in the second book which continued to the beginning of the first. But then they worked through it and really figured out what they wanted. It wasn’t perfect but that’s why we love them 🫶 They make their own perfect. I am not ready to be done with this trilogy. Excuse me as I go to read my favorite parts again.
Other than those two things I loved this read. And what really stuck with me the most out of this entire trilogy was how well the author did with building up Simon and Baz’s relationship. Because it started out with them just discovering their feelings, and then they hit a bit of a slope in the second book which continued to the beginning of the first. But then they worked through it and really figured out what they wanted. It wasn’t perfect but that’s why we love them 🫶 They make their own perfect. I am not ready to be done with this trilogy. Excuse me as I go to read my favorite parts again.
August 5, 2021
Oh my freaking goodness! Thank you Rainbow for not making us sit too long without confirming there will be a 3rd book.
Update:
It is impossible to express how much this book series means to me. A part of me truly thinks these books were written specifically for me. The first one found me in the midst of severe health problems when I couldn’t leave my bed. The second one came out right after I had moved away from home to go to university. During probably one of the loneliest times in my life. This last one has come out once again after I’ve moved away from home to a different state after graduating. Each of these books seemed to come right when I needed them most. I love these characters with all my heart and am seriously contemplating naming my children after them. Thank you Rainbow Rowell for gifting the world these books.
Update:
It is impossible to express how much this book series means to me. A part of me truly thinks these books were written specifically for me. The first one found me in the midst of severe health problems when I couldn’t leave my bed. The second one came out right after I had moved away from home to go to university. During probably one of the loneliest times in my life. This last one has come out once again after I’ve moved away from home to a different state after graduating. Each of these books seemed to come right when I needed them most. I love these characters with all my heart and am seriously contemplating naming my children after them. Thank you Rainbow Rowell for gifting the world these books.
October 24, 2021
Who’s good, who’s bad—it’s all about which side of the wand you’re standing on. And who you’re trying to protect.
The one and only reason I started reading this book was SNOWBAZ. Before starting this book I had already made up my mind that if I don't get enough Snowbaz moments I would dnf it without hesitation. But as you can see here I am. I won't say that I loved this book but it wasn't that bad.
"I can only confront a limited number of my mistakes at once� there are too many for me to cope with concurrently.�
In this book we see that someone else is trying to take the "CHOSEN ONE" title which Simon previously held in Carry On. And the thing is that some of the characters from Simon, Baz and Penny's family believe in the "CHOOSEN ONE". New family dramas emerge in this book. A new character Niamh is introduced (whom I didn't like very much). The plot was just okay-ish.
"I know I'll never love anyone like I love Baz. I know he's the love of my life. Of all my lives.�
Let's talk about our love interests from this book. While reading this book it felt like Rainbow Rowell tried very hard to give each and every character an enemies to lovers love story. But believe me when I say the only pairing I loved was of Baz and Simon(of course). I already predicted in Wayward Son (which was kind of obvious) that Penny and Shepard were going to be a thing. And Agatha was given a new romantic interest just for the "Happily Ever After". But that's what I felt.
I thought we had the sort of love that you can't set down or walk away from. An undying fire. The love you hear about in the old stories.
No one told Simon Snow the old stories.�
Like I said before the only reason I read (and ig everyone I read) this book was because of SNOWBAZ. The cuteness Aghhh! I wanted to scream after every Snowbaz moment. My inner fangirl-self came out after every Simon/Baz pov chapters. At one point in the book they honestly brought tears to my eyes.
Is this his midlife crisis? Joining a cult? Other people our age are coming out as bisexual or getting into Normal-style bread-making. (I would prefer either—or both.)�
Now there was a lot of character development in this book. Simon tried very hard to save his relationship with Baz (which he took for granted before). Penelope tried to be less annoying though I still don't like her very much. Shepard acted exactly like the Shepard from Wayward Son (the book which I don't count in the Simon Snow series. I have accepted that it's a duology). Agatha was like the Agatha from Carry On (wasn't expecting much from her). And Baz needs no development because he was/is/will always be the best.
Can I get someone like Lady Ruth in my life please? Am I the only person who could eat cakes for the rest of my life (though I don't think it would be much long because of the sugar)?
(3.5 stars rounded off to 4)
The one and only reason I started reading this book was SNOWBAZ. Before starting this book I had already made up my mind that if I don't get enough Snowbaz moments I would dnf it without hesitation. But as you can see here I am. I won't say that I loved this book but it wasn't that bad.
"I can only confront a limited number of my mistakes at once� there are too many for me to cope with concurrently.�
In this book we see that someone else is trying to take the "CHOSEN ONE" title which Simon previously held in Carry On. And the thing is that some of the characters from Simon, Baz and Penny's family believe in the "CHOOSEN ONE". New family dramas emerge in this book. A new character Niamh is introduced (whom I didn't like very much). The plot was just okay-ish.
"I know I'll never love anyone like I love Baz. I know he's the love of my life. Of all my lives.�
Let's talk about our love interests from this book. While reading this book it felt like Rainbow Rowell tried very hard to give each and every character an enemies to lovers love story. But believe me when I say the only pairing I loved was of Baz and Simon(of course). I already predicted in Wayward Son (which was kind of obvious) that Penny and Shepard were going to be a thing. And Agatha was given a new romantic interest just for the "Happily Ever After". But that's what I felt.
I thought we had the sort of love that you can't set down or walk away from. An undying fire. The love you hear about in the old stories.
No one told Simon Snow the old stories.�
Like I said before the only reason I read (and ig everyone I read) this book was because of SNOWBAZ. The cuteness Aghhh! I wanted to scream after every Snowbaz moment. My inner fangirl-self came out after every Simon/Baz pov chapters. At one point in the book they honestly brought tears to my eyes.
Is this his midlife crisis? Joining a cult? Other people our age are coming out as bisexual or getting into Normal-style bread-making. (I would prefer either—or both.)�
Now there was a lot of character development in this book. Simon tried very hard to save his relationship with Baz (which he took for granted before). Penelope tried to be less annoying though I still don't like her very much. Shepard acted exactly like the Shepard from Wayward Son (the book which I don't count in the Simon Snow series. I have accepted that it's a duology). Agatha was like the Agatha from Carry On (wasn't expecting much from her). And Baz needs no development because he was/is/will always be the best.
Can I get someone like Lady Ruth in my life please? Am I the only person who could eat cakes for the rest of my life (though I don't think it would be much long because of the sugar)?
(3.5 stars rounded off to 4)
July 28, 2022
“I can touch you less gently, but I won't love you less kindly�.
Después del desastre que fue Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell se redimió un poco en este cierre de la trilogía, aunque Any Way The Wind Blows está lejos de ser un graaan libro.
En esta ocasión, tras toda la debacle vampírica y de sectas del viaje a Estados Unidos de los protagonistas en el segundo libro, nos encontramos con que Simon, Baz y los demás vuelven al Reino Unido y se dan cuenta de que hay un tipo que se está presentando como el nuevo Elegido, alguien que podrá “curar� a quienes tiene una magia demasiado débil. Todo son patrañas, por supuesto, y hay un plan terrible detrás de eso, pero Simon, quien ha perdido prácticamente toda su magia y, en el proceso, a sí mismo, cae un poco en las garras de este señor. Mientras tanto, Baz sigue intentando sacarlo de ese lugar oscuro en el que se encuentra y, por otra parte, Penelope intenta ayudar a Shephard a salirse de un trato que hizo con un demonio hace tiempo.
Si bien, como les digo, este libro es mucho más entretenido que el segundo, me dio la sensación de que todo lo que sucedió en Estados Unidos no sirvió para nada en la trama y Rainbow Rowell decidió seguir con un curso completamente diferente para este cierre. Fue rarísimo. Y, de hecho, la trama de este nuevo Elegido fue bastante� debilucha. Ahora, dejando eso de lado, lo que sí disfruté un montón fue que, POR FIN, Simon dejó de ser un llorica y de no hablar con nadie y volvió a acercarse y a comunicarse con Baz. A decir verdad, sí hay momentos súper intensos y sexy entre ellos en este libro, y eso lo agradezco, pero creo que todo quedó opacado por la trama floja.
Eso sí, si Rainbow Rowell decide escribir alguna vez un Cincuenta sombras de Snowbaz, yo no me quejaría porque esos dos tiene un potencial que� madre mía xD.
Sobre Agatha, Penelope, Shephard y los demás� pues� no digo nada porque me dieron bastante igual desde el primer libro.
Lo que sí diré es que no sé si me quedan ganas de volver a leer a RR.
Después del desastre que fue Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell se redimió un poco en este cierre de la trilogía, aunque Any Way The Wind Blows está lejos de ser un graaan libro.
En esta ocasión, tras toda la debacle vampírica y de sectas del viaje a Estados Unidos de los protagonistas en el segundo libro, nos encontramos con que Simon, Baz y los demás vuelven al Reino Unido y se dan cuenta de que hay un tipo que se está presentando como el nuevo Elegido, alguien que podrá “curar� a quienes tiene una magia demasiado débil. Todo son patrañas, por supuesto, y hay un plan terrible detrás de eso, pero Simon, quien ha perdido prácticamente toda su magia y, en el proceso, a sí mismo, cae un poco en las garras de este señor. Mientras tanto, Baz sigue intentando sacarlo de ese lugar oscuro en el que se encuentra y, por otra parte, Penelope intenta ayudar a Shephard a salirse de un trato que hizo con un demonio hace tiempo.
Si bien, como les digo, este libro es mucho más entretenido que el segundo, me dio la sensación de que todo lo que sucedió en Estados Unidos no sirvió para nada en la trama y Rainbow Rowell decidió seguir con un curso completamente diferente para este cierre. Fue rarísimo. Y, de hecho, la trama de este nuevo Elegido fue bastante� debilucha. Ahora, dejando eso de lado, lo que sí disfruté un montón fue que, POR FIN, Simon dejó de ser un llorica y de no hablar con nadie y volvió a acercarse y a comunicarse con Baz. A decir verdad, sí hay momentos súper intensos y sexy entre ellos en este libro, y eso lo agradezco, pero creo que todo quedó opacado por la trama floja.
Eso sí, si Rainbow Rowell decide escribir alguna vez un Cincuenta sombras de Snowbaz, yo no me quejaría porque esos dos tiene un potencial que� madre mía xD.
Sobre Agatha, Penelope, Shephard y los demás� pues� no digo nada porque me dieron bastante igual desde el primer libro.
Lo que sí diré es que no sé si me quedan ganas de volver a leer a RR.
April 11, 2024
This felt like all of our cuts were finally starting to heal
•Ģ�
SPOILERS
Creo que la mayor preocupación del fandom y la razón por la que solo dormí tres horas anoche es saber si Simon y Baz siguen juntos al final del libro y ante eso solo me queda decirles que tengan fe. Confíen en que su amor es puro, fuerte y real, algo que no se debe tomar a la ligera, algo por lo que se debe luchar.
Les advierto que si siguen ya les estoy SPOILEANDO TODO así que pasen bajo su propio riesgo:
Pero si en verdad están tan desesperados (como yo) por saber, entonces déjenme decirles que la respuesta es si pero no solo eso, todo el libro es una exploración de su relación y todas las heridas y los momentos que nos rompieron el corazón en wayward son, incluso en carry on, son tocados aquí, conversados y de cierta manera sanados.
Este libro me hizo darme cuenta de porque amo tanto a Snowbaz y no, no se trata solamente de sus momentos bellísimos en Carry on. Siento que Carry on es su fase de luna de miel, Wayward son es cuando comienzan a surgir problemas y any way the wind blows es como los afrontan para ser mejores juntos.
Simon y Baz inician este libro en un terreno bastante turbulento, sufrí esos primeros capítulos como no tienen una idea, Baz mandándole mensajes de ayuda sin recibir respuesta, la carta que le deja Simon y toda la conversación cuando Baz va a buscarlo. Me rompieron el corazón cuando terminaron sobre todo porque se ve lo mucho que a ambos los está matando separarse y que Baz le dijera te amo al final AUCH.
Pero eso era lo que todos temíamos ¿no? Cuando vi que terminaron dije bueno aquí hay de dos, o vamos para arriba o vamos para abajo y honestamente pensé que íbamos a ir para abajo pero entonces Simon sale de su cirugía de alas (que no se quita al final) y va corriendo a buscarlo porque aunque tenga miedo en lo que pueda depararle el futuro si está con Baz, estando sin el simplemente no puede vivir. Ame que su reconciliación fuera un reflejo de la ruptura (solo un día después) fue como un do-over, un vamos a intentarlo pero de verdad esta vez y cuando Simon le dijo te amo, fue cuando me di cuenta que este libro no iba a ser nada como yo temía.
Durante todo el libro de a poco, Simon y Baz van recuperando y formando su relación, hablan de todo lo que les daba miedo, las inseguridades de Simon, sus traumas, el mago, Agatha, Lamb, la magia de Simon, el vampirismo de Baz, la sexualidad de Simon, su vida sexual e íntima como pareja, se piden perdón por haberse lastimado en Watford. Nunca me había sentido tan orgullosa de ellos como en ese momento y gracias a esto es que siento que Carry on debe de leerse como trilogía.
Y no solo eso, también tenemos un desarrollo para Penelope y Agatha más allá de ser la mejor amiga y la ex novia Simon. Penelope encuentra el amor en Shepard, encuentra una persona que la hace querer ir más allá de lo que siempre pensó y eso me gustó mucho porque durante Carry on y Wayward son sentí que Penelope vivía únicamente por Simon y aquí pasan la mayor parte del libro separados, ella se vuelve su propia heroína y al fin comienza a vivir para ella, incluso dejando Londres para seguir a su corazón con Shepard.
Agatha regresa a sus inicios en Watford pero ahora de una manera muy diferente, siempre fue amante de los animales y aquí lleva eso a otro nivel tomando el lugar de Ebb, que considerando fue la que le dio la oportunidad de vivir me pareció muy bonito, además que Agatha queer confirmado.
Se cierran muchos ciclos y pasan muchas cosas que sentí faltaban, Simon descubrió quienes eran sus padres y no solo eso sino que encontró en su abuela y su tío una verdadera familia. Baz consiguió la aceptación de Daphne hacia su relación con Simon, descubrimos que THANK GOD no es inmortal y también le cedió el anillo de su madre a Fiona para que pudiera casarse y ser feliz con Nicodemus. Es un final feliz para todos que cierra todo y a la vez, deja una sensación de que todo va a seguir mejorando.
Y por último déjenme hablarles del fan service, ya no necesito fanfics después de esto. Baz le dice my love, my darling y me derretí pero luego Simon le dice babe y ahí si tuvimos un corto circuito en el sistema. Baz beso sus alas y tomó su cola. Simon tuvo ataques de vampiro con Baz. Lloraron abrazados por el otro, se tomaron de la mano y se abrazaron en público. Tuvimos una escena íntima bueno dos, nada explicitas pero con mucha carga emocional. Simon le dijo a Baz que quería besarlo en todos los lugares donde se habían peleado en Watford. Simon y Baz tuvieron una cita buscando un sofá para su apartamento porque si, ahora viven juntos.
No se ustedes, pero yo viví mi mejor vida con todo eso.
Y me siento muy tranquila y feliz con el final.
•Ģ�
SPOILERS
Creo que la mayor preocupación del fandom y la razón por la que solo dormí tres horas anoche es saber si Simon y Baz siguen juntos al final del libro y ante eso solo me queda decirles que tengan fe. Confíen en que su amor es puro, fuerte y real, algo que no se debe tomar a la ligera, algo por lo que se debe luchar.
Les advierto que si siguen ya les estoy SPOILEANDO TODO así que pasen bajo su propio riesgo:
Pero si en verdad están tan desesperados (como yo) por saber, entonces déjenme decirles que la respuesta es si pero no solo eso, todo el libro es una exploración de su relación y todas las heridas y los momentos que nos rompieron el corazón en wayward son, incluso en carry on, son tocados aquí, conversados y de cierta manera sanados.
Este libro me hizo darme cuenta de porque amo tanto a Snowbaz y no, no se trata solamente de sus momentos bellísimos en Carry on. Siento que Carry on es su fase de luna de miel, Wayward son es cuando comienzan a surgir problemas y any way the wind blows es como los afrontan para ser mejores juntos.
Simon y Baz inician este libro en un terreno bastante turbulento, sufrí esos primeros capítulos como no tienen una idea, Baz mandándole mensajes de ayuda sin recibir respuesta, la carta que le deja Simon y toda la conversación cuando Baz va a buscarlo. Me rompieron el corazón cuando terminaron sobre todo porque se ve lo mucho que a ambos los está matando separarse y que Baz le dijera te amo al final AUCH.
Pero eso era lo que todos temíamos ¿no? Cuando vi que terminaron dije bueno aquí hay de dos, o vamos para arriba o vamos para abajo y honestamente pensé que íbamos a ir para abajo pero entonces Simon sale de su cirugía de alas (que no se quita al final) y va corriendo a buscarlo porque aunque tenga miedo en lo que pueda depararle el futuro si está con Baz, estando sin el simplemente no puede vivir. Ame que su reconciliación fuera un reflejo de la ruptura (solo un día después) fue como un do-over, un vamos a intentarlo pero de verdad esta vez y cuando Simon le dijo te amo, fue cuando me di cuenta que este libro no iba a ser nada como yo temía.
Durante todo el libro de a poco, Simon y Baz van recuperando y formando su relación, hablan de todo lo que les daba miedo, las inseguridades de Simon, sus traumas, el mago, Agatha, Lamb, la magia de Simon, el vampirismo de Baz, la sexualidad de Simon, su vida sexual e íntima como pareja, se piden perdón por haberse lastimado en Watford. Nunca me había sentido tan orgullosa de ellos como en ese momento y gracias a esto es que siento que Carry on debe de leerse como trilogía.
Y no solo eso, también tenemos un desarrollo para Penelope y Agatha más allá de ser la mejor amiga y la ex novia Simon. Penelope encuentra el amor en Shepard, encuentra una persona que la hace querer ir más allá de lo que siempre pensó y eso me gustó mucho porque durante Carry on y Wayward son sentí que Penelope vivía únicamente por Simon y aquí pasan la mayor parte del libro separados, ella se vuelve su propia heroína y al fin comienza a vivir para ella, incluso dejando Londres para seguir a su corazón con Shepard.
Agatha regresa a sus inicios en Watford pero ahora de una manera muy diferente, siempre fue amante de los animales y aquí lleva eso a otro nivel tomando el lugar de Ebb, que considerando fue la que le dio la oportunidad de vivir me pareció muy bonito, además que Agatha queer confirmado.
Se cierran muchos ciclos y pasan muchas cosas que sentí faltaban, Simon descubrió quienes eran sus padres y no solo eso sino que encontró en su abuela y su tío una verdadera familia. Baz consiguió la aceptación de Daphne hacia su relación con Simon, descubrimos que THANK GOD no es inmortal y también le cedió el anillo de su madre a Fiona para que pudiera casarse y ser feliz con Nicodemus. Es un final feliz para todos que cierra todo y a la vez, deja una sensación de que todo va a seguir mejorando.
Y por último déjenme hablarles del fan service, ya no necesito fanfics después de esto. Baz le dice my love, my darling y me derretí pero luego Simon le dice babe y ahí si tuvimos un corto circuito en el sistema. Baz beso sus alas y tomó su cola. Simon tuvo ataques de vampiro con Baz. Lloraron abrazados por el otro, se tomaron de la mano y se abrazaron en público. Tuvimos una escena íntima bueno dos, nada explicitas pero con mucha carga emocional. Simon le dijo a Baz que quería besarlo en todos los lugares donde se habían peleado en Watford. Simon y Baz tuvieron una cita buscando un sofá para su apartamento porque si, ahora viven juntos.
No se ustedes, pero yo viví mi mejor vida con todo eso.
Y me siento muy tranquila y feliz con el final.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2021
I swear to God this series has more unresolved plot points than Pretty Little Liars and Game of Thrones COMBINED.
Spoilers for this book, obviously.
As someone who loves Carry On (like LOVES, I have two copies of it, have re-read it many times, and considers it to be a top fave of all time) and someone who didn't completely despise Wayward Son (don't get me wrong, there were ISSUES with it, but I had some fun with it, so I can overlook a few of its misgivings) and had hope for this book, I am deeply disappointed by the conclusion to this series. Personally, If I hadn't felt that continuing Simon's story was unnecessary after the release of WS, I 100% would have after reading AWtWB. It felt completely pointless. Why did we have an entire book dedicated to a new "Chosen One"? That literally goes nowhere? And does not matter in the long run? Also, why did this book have absolutely nothing to do with WS? Aside from the addition of Shepard and bringing Agatha back to England, absolutely nothing established in WS mattered. It could be completely cut out of the series as a whole, and no one would blink an eye.
AWtWB is honestly just the Rise of Skywalker of the Simon Snow Series.
I don't even know if I can go into all the aspects of this book that bothered me. Unlike WS, which had atrociously fast pacing, AWtWB has atrociously slow pacing. More than half this book is simply filler. The plot, if you can even call it that, doesn't even really kick in until at least halfway through. It's just completely padded. Both nothing happens, and everything happens all at once and quickly becomes boring. Shepard becomes free of the demon (a plot point you never really cared about anyway), Fiona gets back together with Nicco (a plot and characters you never really cared about), Agatha has a whole thing (IDK about others, but I never cared for Agatha so this plot was unbearable). That's one way to describe half the plots in this book: unbearable. (side note: as a queer woman myself, I did not care for Agatha and that other girl. It made no sense, and I just did not care).
Here are all the plots that were never resolved: Who the greatest Mage was? Were the prophecies even real? Why does Baz age (also why did Baz never realize that he has been aging since he was 5 years old and thus, is not immortal like the other vampires)? Can Baz drink human blood? Why did they set up Baz potentially drinking Simon's blood two times, only for that to never come back again in the story? Why did they receive no penalties for all the laws they have broken? What happened to the NowNext Vampires? Why was Simon biting Baz every time they got intimate? Why was the Mage the way that he was? How did Lucy die? How did Agatha save "Watford" by saving the goats when that had nothing to do with the climax or the resolution? Who was the greatest threat to the world of Mages? How was Micha an "exchange student" when he didn't go to school at all? Why was Simon immune to magic? How did Simon lose all his magic? Is Simon a dragon, or was that just made up in WS? Why do some people have little to no magic, and some have more?
I swear, this book left me with more questions than answered.
Honestly, the only reason why I was fine with the series continuing post-CO was that I needed Simon to find out about his parentage. And true, he did. But in the worst way possible. A sword? Really? And then it was basically brushed aside after like one chapter.
I'm just annoyed.
Things I liked: There were some humorous bits. I didn't mind some of the Snow-Baz stuff (not including their intimate scenes, they were the worst). Shepard. Baz, occasionally. Simon, less than occasionally. Even though I didn't care for it half the time, the demon storyline was at least something. The fact that the tape recorder came back into the story.
I really am scraping the barrel. I can't think of much else.
Spoilers for this book, obviously.
As someone who loves Carry On (like LOVES, I have two copies of it, have re-read it many times, and considers it to be a top fave of all time) and someone who didn't completely despise Wayward Son (don't get me wrong, there were ISSUES with it, but I had some fun with it, so I can overlook a few of its misgivings) and had hope for this book, I am deeply disappointed by the conclusion to this series. Personally, If I hadn't felt that continuing Simon's story was unnecessary after the release of WS, I 100% would have after reading AWtWB. It felt completely pointless. Why did we have an entire book dedicated to a new "Chosen One"? That literally goes nowhere? And does not matter in the long run? Also, why did this book have absolutely nothing to do with WS? Aside from the addition of Shepard and bringing Agatha back to England, absolutely nothing established in WS mattered. It could be completely cut out of the series as a whole, and no one would blink an eye.
AWtWB is honestly just the Rise of Skywalker of the Simon Snow Series.
I don't even know if I can go into all the aspects of this book that bothered me. Unlike WS, which had atrociously fast pacing, AWtWB has atrociously slow pacing. More than half this book is simply filler. The plot, if you can even call it that, doesn't even really kick in until at least halfway through. It's just completely padded. Both nothing happens, and everything happens all at once and quickly becomes boring. Shepard becomes free of the demon (a plot point you never really cared about anyway), Fiona gets back together with Nicco (a plot and characters you never really cared about), Agatha has a whole thing (IDK about others, but I never cared for Agatha so this plot was unbearable). That's one way to describe half the plots in this book: unbearable. (side note: as a queer woman myself, I did not care for Agatha and that other girl. It made no sense, and I just did not care).
Here are all the plots that were never resolved: Who the greatest Mage was? Were the prophecies even real? Why does Baz age (also why did Baz never realize that he has been aging since he was 5 years old and thus, is not immortal like the other vampires)? Can Baz drink human blood? Why did they set up Baz potentially drinking Simon's blood two times, only for that to never come back again in the story? Why did they receive no penalties for all the laws they have broken? What happened to the NowNext Vampires? Why was Simon biting Baz every time they got intimate? Why was the Mage the way that he was? How did Lucy die? How did Agatha save "Watford" by saving the goats when that had nothing to do with the climax or the resolution? Who was the greatest threat to the world of Mages? How was Micha an "exchange student" when he didn't go to school at all? Why was Simon immune to magic? How did Simon lose all his magic? Is Simon a dragon, or was that just made up in WS? Why do some people have little to no magic, and some have more?
I swear, this book left me with more questions than answered.
Honestly, the only reason why I was fine with the series continuing post-CO was that I needed Simon to find out about his parentage. And true, he did. But in the worst way possible. A sword? Really? And then it was basically brushed aside after like one chapter.
I'm just annoyed.
Things I liked: There were some humorous bits. I didn't mind some of the Snow-Baz stuff (not including their intimate scenes, they were the worst). Shepard. Baz, occasionally. Simon, less than occasionally. Even though I didn't care for it half the time, the demon storyline was at least something. The fact that the tape recorder came back into the story.
I really am scraping the barrel. I can't think of much else.
February 14, 2025
After seeing more than a few negative reviews, I was totally ready to go into this in full hater mode. I was even going to try being clever with it too! Saying something like "Any Way the Wind Blows lives up to the name because this blows!" But nah, this was pretty good. Simon and Baz get over their hang-ups relatively quickly (in a way that's actually a little anti-climactic), there's a fake "chosen one" hero other than Simon and that was a fun angle to explore, and most of all, Agatha's chapters are still wonderfully skippable! This is just my interpretation, but I feel like the author has always had a chip on her shoulder when it came to Agatha as a character because nobody likes her because she sucks. And to try to "prove the readers wrong" and show that Agatha is totally a cool and great character, Rainbow Rowell ended up giving her more of a bigger role over time, much to everyone's collective groan. It even got to the point where she's given the final pov chapter?? Pshhhh okay then. It's like how in the MCU they kept giving Hawkeye more and more scenes with dramatic weight (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Endgame, and Hawkeye the T.V. show) but it literally never worked because at the end of the day he's just a character who sucks ass and has a shitty haircut and a dumb tattoo. Whenever I feel like a writer is trying to make me like a character, I hate them even more. Sorry, that's just how I am. But yeah, this book was pretty good! I mean, Any Way the Wind Blows is a perfect descriptor for how the plot seemed to go any which way in several different directions without any strong plot threads to pull it along and keep it tethered to a cohesive narrative, but... you know. And this book was kind of a terrible way to end the series, considering the cliffhanger at the end of the last book doesn't even play a big role in this book even though there was all this build-up. That kind of blows, if I'm honest.
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