You guys, I loved this book. Like, a stupid amount. I loved this book so much it gave me the warm fuzzies. I loved it so much I wanted to be a teen again, and NO THANKS to that. I loved it so much I saved reading it for bad days despite wanting to eat it in one go like a cupcake. I loved, loved, loved this book like I was Roger Ebert’s evil twin reviewing the movie North. What I’m saying is this is a favorable review.
Its my first Rainbow Rowell book, but now I’m gonna buy more, obviously. The story is similar to but legally distinct from Harry Potter, but not in a lazy way; it’s the frame Rowell hangs her canvas from to tell a completely different story. One about destiny and power and love, which might be hackneyed except it’s a story about those things from people whose voices don’t often get heard. Like people of color. Or gay people. Or hell, just random people who have no interest in the status quo.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I adored the book. I reviewed a book earlier in this cannonball that fell flat with similar subject matter – I think the title was Of Fire and Stars, but it was so unmemorable that I’m not positive – and this book shows how to do what it attempted.
It was only in the afterward that I learned that Rowell’s earlier book, Fangirl, centered on the acolytes of the then-fictional Simon Snow books, which prompted Rowell to write one. I’m sure glad she did. This was a big book of happy for me. I’m now buying anything she’s selling. Eleventy million stars.
Love this book. Love your review. Love your North joke!
*blush*
I can highly recommend Attachments, which was my first Rainbow Rowell book.
I love this book so much I’m not sure there are words to describe the amount, and I’ve been loving Rainbow Rowell’s books since her debut, Attachments. If this is your first book by her, you have so much amazing reading ahead of you (although none of the others are as fantasy based as this one). Seriously, they’re all SO good, in different but equally awesome ways.
Because I am extremely invested in buying everything she is selling, I will now need to read a whole bunch of Runaways comics, so I will feel comfortable reading her current run on that as well.
I saw that RR tweeted you yesterday! Gorgeous collection of books in that picture!!
I’m very much looking forward to reading a follow up review from octothorp of Fangirl here — I’m dying to know how it flows if you read Carry On first.
I know, right? I can pretty much die happy now because of that one tweet! To be entirely honest, I have communicated on Twitter with Ms Rowell before (asking her if she might ever come to Scandinavia for a signing). Sadly, the answer seems to be no. :(
She’s always super nice to her fans, from what I can see. It doesn’t exactly make me love her any less.
I am also very interested in seeing how Fangirl would work after Carry On, especially since both Gemma Snow ‘s “original” Simon Snow fiction, and Cath’s fan fiction are different versions from what Rowell ended up with in Carry On, so you actually get three different versions of Baz and Simon altogether.
I’m totally buying those, and everything else she’s written, but not until I make a bigger dent in my unread books pile. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself now. Smart money says I’ll cave; I can resist anything but temptation.