SOPHIE LI

Hey everyone!

For those who have been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m a Simon Snow fan. (Who isn’t a Simon Snow fan!??!) I read Carry On two years ago on the plane from Toronto to Vancouver and loved it. Then I re-read Carry On again this year and loved it some more. So I was THRILLED when Wayward Son was finally released in September!!

People love this book. And I really really hate to say this. But to be absolutely, 100%, honest: this sequel underwhelmed me a bit. Just a warning here: this is going to be an unpopular opinion. This review is pretty harsh. It is probably the harshest review I’ve written in a while. I know we all love Simon and Baz but please don’t throw tomatoes at me hahaha XD

Note: This is a spoiler-free review of Wayward Son, however, there may be spoilers for Carry On that are hard to avoid.

The story is supposed to be over.

Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after… 

So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch?

What he needs, according to his best friend, is a change of scenery. He just needs to see himself in a new light…

That’s how Simon and Penny and Baz end up in a vintage convertible, tearing across the American West.

They find trouble, of course. (Dragons, vampires, skunk-headed things with shotguns.) And they get lost. They get so lost, they start to wonder whether they ever knew where they were headed in the first place… 

With Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell has written a book for everyone who ever wondered what happened to the Chosen One after he saved the day. And a book for everyone who was ever more curious about the second kiss than the first. It’s another helping of sour cherry scones with an absolutely decadent amount of butter.

Come on, Simon Snow. Your hero’s journey might be over – but your life has just begun.

Simon Snow was in a slump after the events of the first book, and his relationship with Baz was in a rut. Penelope suggested that they go on a road trip across America, which was fun enough…… until they got into some serious trouble.

• Simon and Baz!! I loved the chemistry between these two ever since book one, and it was awesome to just continue reading their story.
• Baz was probably my favourite character in Wayward Son. I felt that this sequel delved deeper into Baz’s identity crisis as both a vampire and a mage.
• The story was fun to read and light-hearted for the most part. It was fairly easy to plow through the whole book.
• Sounds like there is going to be a third book, so Simon’s adventures will continue!

• I was hoping that Agatha was going to redeem herself in this book, but she was just as insufferable. (I’m just not a fan of this character!!)
• Penelope was one of my favourite characters from book one. She was smart and sassy and full of good ideas. I just felt she wasn’t as awesome in this book.
• Simon Snow was too mopey. And lots of problems would have been solved if he and Baz just talked to each other.
• For the first while, not much happened? And I wasn’t sure what the point of the book was? It took until about the 33% or 50% mark when I finally understood what the main conflict of the story was going to be?
• I didn’t mind the POV switches in book one (I read the print edition), but it got a bit confusing for me at one point in book two (I listened to the audiobook.) It could be because of how the audiobook was narrated, but sometimes I was confused towards the end of the book when the POV switches were very frequent.
• There were lots of vampires in this book. There were also some new rules about how vampires operate (that were different from the previous book) that weren’t explained fully.
• To be absolutely honest, I thought Carry On was an awesome standalone YA fantasy book. The story and character development wrapped up nicely at the end. I didn’t think this sequel was necessary.

My feelings about Wayward Son are lukewarm because of the meandering plot and the so-so characterization… however I still love Simon and Baz, and there is going to be a book three, and I’m going to read it.

2 fishies!

What’s your latest unpopular opinion?

Photo by Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash