Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (2015, St. Martin's Griffin; 528 pages) Rainbow Rowell is one of my favorite authors these days. She writes both for teens and adults. Her book Eleanor and Park is one of the most beautiful stories you'll read, but I won´t write a review about that book because you can find a great review of it at Bookshelf Envy -- our teen reviews blog -- written by wonderful Kaya. Rowell also wrote Fangirl, giving birth to two great characters named Cath and Levi. I mention Fangirl because Carry On has its origins in that book. In Fangirl, college freshman Cath is famous on the Internet for her Simon Snow fanfiction—written with her twin Wren—but far less capable at interacting with people IRL. Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. Now that they're going to college she is outside of her comfort zone. Simon Snow is definitely staying in her world. That's Fangirl. Then comes Carry On. Rowell describes it like this: "After I finished writing Fangirl, I kept thinking about Simon and Baz and the World of Mages … I wanted to write more about them, but I didn’t want to write the full series GTL-style. And I also didn’t want to write through Cath’s hands and brain. I wanted to explore what I would do with this world and these characters. So, even though I’m writing a book that was inspired by fictional fanfiction of a fictional series …… I think what I’m writing now is canon." What is Carry On? The publishers describe the book this way: ¨Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters." This is a book where fan fiction comes to life, it is a book conceived like a Russian doll, a nest: a book inside of another book inspired by a book outside her book! And it has a connection with Harry Potter! A total winner. It is funny, and clever and the plot evolves around a fun world. Rainbow Rowell has created a world of warm and complex characters, totally charming, opening to the readers the messiness of growing up into themselves. I recommend ALL of Rainbow Rowell's books. And I recommend you read this one as soon as you can get your hands on it, specially if you are a fan of Harry Potter. An excerpt about the book written by the author: "Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything." Find this title in our catalog: Carry On Recommended by: Maite
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Teen Reads BlogTo go to our Teen Reads blog, Bookshelf Envy, click here Archives
March 2018
Categories |