User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
“Can I?” he asks.
Can you what, Simon? Kiss me? Kill me? Break my heart?” 
©
So I'm not entirely sure why I am disappointed, but I am...
I'm also not necessarily upset with how this book played out...
But all regards aside, if Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch does not write his boyfriend a list of reasons why he both loves and hates him for their wedding day, I'm going to safely assume we all died in 2012 and this is a simulation. _______________
Idiots to Still Idiots to Lovers I'm almost certain I actually kinda "enjoyed" this.
I did. This is very different to
Carry On. Which I would like to primarily say isn't the main reason I'm giving it 3 stars because I think the book deserved to have a new and slightly dire atmosphere. Rainbow was giving us "the story after the story," and that usually isn't light.
Wayward Son hurt me, it physically ached my heart to turn the pages. I felt like I was chasing something during the entire book but as soon as I finished, I didn't reach what I was chasing for. I wasn't left with the hope that I felt when I reached the last page of Carry On. All my gay heart really wanted was a little biscuit of LGBT+ boldness and courage but it fell flat.
That being said, Rainbow Rowell knows how to write, boys and girls. I don't think I have ever felt the crushing feeling of mundanity written so perfectly. That's what hurts the most about this book, the entire thing focuses on what it's like to be human. It was tragic to say the least.
“I’d give him all that I am.
I’d give him all that I was.
I’d open up a vein.”
Baz and Simon hold such a unique place in my heart and seeing them understand what it means to love in this book was almost too precious. It felt intimate and it stung like a mf at the best of times. Yet, everything felt too rushed. I wanted so much more from their personal monologues and character development. The personalities of each character in this book was something entirely too different from Carry On. There was no transition or movement into the people we meet in Wayward Son and often, many plot arcs hit like whiplash. I struggled trying to understand Baz through this entire book because I felt like we were handed a completley different version of him.
My main theory on why I'm so disappointed with Wayward Son was because this has been one of my biggest anticipated reads of the year. For those who know how long I've been waiting for a Simon and Baz sequel, I can honestly say... too fucking long. I expected the biggest bang, but this hit too close to "second-book syndrome" and the plot felt like it was filling in for something rather than being a story in itself. It almost felt rushed but slow at the same time. Some events seemed to have no significance but were drawn out and the important scenes that I would have loved to keep reading about lasted a couple of pages. There were so many scenes that were glossed over and I didn't know if it was intentional or somehow, we were supposed to just forget those scenes happened?!
©
I love road-trip plots, so when I found out that Wayward Son was going to be the gang's trip to America, I probably got way too excited. So I guess, the moral of all this is; don't let Alex get too excited about a book.
“I’d tie our hearts together, chamber by chamber.”
Another thing I realized was I was very dissatisfied with the ending. It felt like no knots were untied and the book ended very abruptedly. There was little to no resolution, no communication and no overpowering feeling that made me want to turn back to page 1 and experience the story all over again. It almost felt like a novella that an author would gift their readers for signing up to their monthly newsletter. That being said, am I going to read the third book? HELL YES.
Wayward Son wasn't a win for me, but it wasn't a loss either. I have so much hope for my two soft bois that I would read 10 books on them if Rainbow so blessed us. Even though there were a lot of conflicts I had with this, there were moments that redeemed the story for me. Quite unsurprisingly, those moments occurred when I felt like learning more about our characters rather than drifting away from them. I'm not giving up yet, nor do I plan to anytime soon.
©
Rating: really liked it
I loved every bit of this! I went in a little skeptical, but it was such a fun adventure. It was nice to see the characters after everything they'd been through in CARRY ON. I liked seeing how everyone was developing and still dealing with things that happened in the first book. It weirdly felt like a contemporary book at times, but I wasn't mad at that. I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but I liked this one more than CARRY ON. OOP. xD
Rating: really liked it
my sexuality: being attracted to all women and (1) floral suit wearing rat sucker
Rating: really liked it
My only question is... what happened?
This is my first book review, so bear with me. I just feel like I need to write all of my thoughts out. Warning in advance for spoilers.
Carry On is my favorite book of all time. I was shockingly disappointed with the sequel. Wayward Son was a lackluster filler novel that seemed to do its best to destroy all that good that came from the first book. I kept wondering if I was being too harsh while reading it, but I wanted to love it so badly. I've been looking forward to it for years. I tried SO hard to love it, but I couldn't. I know this all sounds dramatic, but Carry On is important to me. I'm heartbroken over the second book turning out like this.
My main issues are the pacing, the characterization, and the romance (or lack of).
PACING
I really think Wayward Son could have used 100 more pages. Everything. Happened. So. Fast. I wanted more description, more of the character's inner thoughts, more everything. The few good moments were ruined by how rushed all of it was. There was so much eating and driving and hotels to the point where it all blurred together. None of the romance or character-based moments were drawn out enough.
Simon impulsively kissing Baz after the first vampire fight? HELL YEAH, but give me more than a few lines! Especially when it's been who knows how long since they've last kissed. That moment could have been huge, but it was glossed over, just like everything else, making it forgettable in the end.
In Vegas, when Simon had to "pretend" to be enamored with Baz while the vampires were watching? If that had been turned into an entire scene, it would have worked so much better. It might've made me hate their current dynamic less. (Maybe. Okay, unlikely.) It seemed like Baz and Whoever-The-Fuck-Vampire-King talked more with each other than Simon and Baz even looked at each other. The author does know we're all reading this book for Simon and Baz, right?
Basically, every moment in Wayward Son could have been slowed down and drawn out. Hell, we found out that Simon might be a DRAGON in a sloppily written way and then it was never brought up again. What? Who allowed this to be published?
THE CHARACTERIZATION
What. The. Fresh. Hell.
I don't know where the Baz, Simon, and Penny that I fell in love with were, but this didn't feel like them. They drifted into situations with no plan or discussion, depending on others to save them half of the time, never really learning or growing. I know a lot has changed in their lives since Carry On, but that shouldn't warrant the characters being watered down versions of themselves. That shouldn't warrant them being idiots, and honestly? They acted like idiots.
You seriously expect me to believe that Penelope Bunce went to America with zero plan? No money? No knowledge of how magic works there? You're telling me they didn't even put thought into how Baz would feed? And since when is Penny okay with breaking magickal law after magickal law? Also, how could they possibly decide to go along with Whoever-The-Fuck-Vampire-King at the end? (I genuinely couldn't be bothered to learn his name.)
Listen, I know people don't know as much about America as Americans think people know about America. But they thought they could drive across the country in three hours? PENNY HAS BEEN TO AMERICA BEFORE. In all of their years at Watford, they were never taught that magic doesn't work if there's no people around? They were never taught that British phrases don't work outside of Britain? Why is the UK so cut off from the rest of the world? Why is the magickal climate in the US so barbaric and unorganized? Why were they surprised by this? Shouldn't they have been taught about it? HASN'T PENNY BEEN TO AMERICA? HASN'T SHE BEEN TALKING TO MICAH FOR YEARS? The worldbuilding was so messy and it made the characters look stupid. Penelope, Simon, and Baz are not stupid. To make it wore, I was incredibly disinterested in everything that was going on in America because I was so thrown off by the characters not being themselves.
Baz felt like a watered down, weak version of Baz. He wasn't the confident, witty, smart, ruthless Baz from Carry On. That Baz fought for Simon at the dance, insisted that they were going to stay together even when Simon was unsure of himself. That Baz would scoff at any random, old ass vampire man who sought his attention or flirted with him. Because that Baz hates vampires. Because that Baz only had eyes for Simon. BAZ'S DEFINING CHARACTER TRAIT IS THAT HE'S MADLY IN LOVE WITH SIMON! WHAT HAPPENED?
But, right, Simon and Baz aren't even speaking to each other. Side note: If Baz really is immortal, I don't think I'll be able to take it. I don't think he'll be able to take it, either. Now this is a crazy thought, but could Rowell maybe allow for some... happiness? Not everything has to be the worst. Especially when LGBT+ audiences who are desperate for representation are usually left with angsty stories and depressing endings. I was hoping the Carry On series wouldn't fall into that, but here we are.
Overall, the characterization felt so empty and wrong. In the first book, I could clearly hear all of their voices. I knew them. I understood them, even the side characters. Everyone had their own way of talking and thinking and acting. In Wayward Son, I had to keep checking whose POV we were in because they character voices blended together. They weren't nearly as strong or clear. My favorite characters' personalities were watered down. The writing was weak.
THE ROMANCE
I miss them. I miss Simon and Baz and their dynamic. I spent the entire book missing them, because this wasn't right.
I think we all fell in love with Carry On because of Snowbaz. We fell for the desperate pining, the enemies-to-lovers, star crossed, epic romance. The stargazing, the kiss in the forest, holding hands by the fire, "you're wearing jeans", "because we match", "you were the sun and I was crashing into you". Where was that? Carry On is packed with these iconic, swoon-worthy, unforgettable moments between Simon and Baz. Wayward Son was just... forgettable.
I feel like Carry On was their beautiful love story, and Wayward Son took a sledgehammer to it.
Of course Simon and Baz have their issues to work out, but never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine that they wouldn't even be talking. Or touching. Or even fighting! Instead, their dynamic was awkward. It was regressive. It was miserable to read. I would go as far as to call it toxic.
I get the need for conflict and tension, but miscommunication is the cheapest and most cliche way to do that, and it wasn't executed well. It was painful. Everything felt so wrong, and not in the "I can't wait to see how this is resolved!" kind of way. It was more like, "I just want this to be over. Should I stop reading and pretend Carry On is a stand alone?"
The other cheap way to add relationship conflict is a love triangle. Thank God we didn't have to suffer through that– OH WAIT!
Again: Never. In. My. Wildest. Nightmares. Did. I. Imagine. This. Happening.
I can't seem to put into words everything that was wrong with Whoever-The-Fuck-Vampire-King and the Whatever-The-Fuck-That-Was-Love-Triangle. Whether or not Baz actually had feelings for him (which was bizarrely vague), it was still awful, unrealistic, and unnecessary. Not to mention uncomfortable. Baz from Carry On would despise Baz from Wayward Son.
I wanted to scream at Simon and Baz, "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER!! OR KISS IT OUT LIKE YOU USED TO! DO SOMETHING!" But don't get me wrong. I wasn't compelled their dynamic at all. I wasn't eagerly turning pages to see how it would play out. I was just... sad. I wanted it to be over. They mean so much to me, and it hurt to see them like that. I couldn't even get myself to care about the plot because I just wanted Simon and Baz to love each other like they used to. To have the complicated, loving, chemistry-filled relationship they once had. How can SIMON AND BAZ not have chemistry? How did the writing go that wrong?
I could get more into the issue of LGBT+ suffering in media and the many problems with Rowell's representation, but I won't. Let's just say Simon and Baz deserved better. I don't really care that things will probably be resolved in the next book. This was a bad direction to take their relationship in. It wasn't them, it wasn't right, and it was downright depressing.
Wayward Son felt so disjointed from Carry On that I'm hoping I'll be able to pretend nothing in the second book even happened. The characters were sad, less interesting versions of themselves who regressed instead of learned. The plot was boring to the point where I can hardly even remember what happened before they got to Vegas, and I read it yesterday. LA vampire bros running a pyramid scheme? Okay, then. Does any of this even matter now that they're going back to the UK? None of the loose ends from Carry On were addressed in this novel, making the whole thing feel pointless.
And last but not least, the entire story was a disservice to Simon and Baz's relationship.
The release date for Wayward Son was initially set for 2020. Obviously I don't know anything about the writing and editing process of this book, but maybe changing it to 2019 contributed to the fact that it was rushed and an overall disappointment. Then again, could this book even be salvaged by more time? I'm not sure it could.
You're not supposed to feel anxious and upset when you find out your favorite book of all time is going to be a trilogy, but that's how I felt at the end of this book. Maybe everything will be fixed in the next one, maybe it won't, but nothing will change the fact that Wayward Son was a huge let down. I wish Carry On had been the end.
Rating: really liked it
Okay I decided that my rating is actually 2 stars. This book just really fell flat for me. So many things that made Carry On amazing just weren't present in this book. This book is just
so incredibly different to Carry On. The tone of Carry On is fun, fluffy and it doesn't take itself too seriously whereas in Wayward Son, the tone completely shifts to a more serious tone with the characters going through their own struggles. I appreciated what it was going for, but unfortunately it just didn't work for me and what I personally wanted out of the sequel.
I feel like it's hard for me to articulate my thoughts and feelings on this book but basically Carry On was
everything and Wayward Son was jarring and lacklustre (I'm really sad about it).
-------
So many mixed feelings ah!!! I will try to write a review once I feel like I can better articulate my thoughts.
Rating: really liked it
Happy Pride Month y'all! Click the booktube link to check out my favorite PRIDE books
The Written Review 
“Ha! Does Agatha know we're coming?"
"It'll be a surprise!" Penny says.
"Surprise!" Baz singsongs. "It's your ex-boyfriend and his boyfriend and that girl you never liked very much!"”
Sooo...Simon did what he set out to do. He defeated the Big Bad, restored peace to the lands and even snagged a hot vampire boyfriend out of it...
so why does he feel so empty inside? Baz did what he set out to do - figured out the mystery of his mother, finally showed up the mage society and snagged a super hot chosen-one boyfriend out of it...
so why does he feel so helpless? Agatha did what she set out to do - survived the Big Bad, escaped to America and began her new life as a normal
...so why does she feel so dissatisfied? Penny did what she set out to do - kept Agatha alive, kept Simon alive and kept Baz alive. Yet, she knows something is wrong. Possibly with Agatha, probably with Simon and Baz too.
So, Penny (being Penny) decides unilaterally what they need to do - and that something is a road trip across America.
Go ahead and shoot me. This isn't my favourite shirt.
So.
I'm seeing
a lot of mixy-reviews for this one.
People seemed to LOVE it or HATE it - and it seems pretty aligned with their expectations.
If you wanted another
Big Bad and Giant Showdown, then this book really isn't for you.
If you wanted more screen time of
SnoBaz and Penny making mayhem in a foreign country - then this book is perfect.
Ultimately,
I really enjoyed the second book.
I love it when established characters from series that I love literally just up and go on an adventure.
I really liked seeing Simon deal with his post-tramatic-saving-the-world shtick and I felt like it really rounded out his character.
It was so neat to watch Baz become more comfortable in his own skin - especially after so many years of repressing himself.
Agatha...to be honest, I've tried to like her but I just don't click with her too much (she tends to whine) but this book I liked her quite a bit more than usual, so there's that.
And Penny? What can I say buy she was the Penniest-Penny she's ever been.
All in all, I'm really happy with this book and I'm ITCHING to get my hands on the next!
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Rating: really liked it
HOLY MOLY!!!
ARE YOU AUTHORS TRYING TO KILL ME???!!!
First there's going to be a 3rd SoC book and now
THIS!??!!??
I'm having a heart attack right here!!!
I love Simon and Baz!!!
I FREAKING LOVE THEM!!!! If this is true I'm going to die!!! <333
OH JEEZ!!!
My heart can't take this anymore!!!!
__/\__/\__/\__/\__________________
P.S: Am I the only one who thinks about Kansas' "Carry on Wayward Son".
"Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more."Is this a pun Rainbow? Ingenious... So damn ingenious. *lol*
Rating: really liked it
FUCKING SHIT I JUST HAD A HEART ATRACK 
My SPN fandom heart is extremely happy with this title
2019? Better than 2020, I know that the year is almost over already, but still...
Simon and Baz look SO GOOD in this cover
My babies are coming back to me!
Rating: really liked it
wayward son HURTS. in the best way. and to me, it's one of the most important books rainbow has ever written. full review after i reread carry on so i can read this a second time and read the series back to back
Rating: really liked it
Why is Baz wearing a carpet
Rating: really liked it
Well. That was disappointing. In fact, ‘disappointing’ is putting it mildly.
I knew going in that this wasn’t going to be a happy road trip story. I was prepared for a frank and honest look at characters dealing with depression and PTSD. What I wasn’t prepared for was a book that offered no hope, no resolutions, no healthy coping mechanisms and no communication. Even a bleak book can be enjoyable, but
Wayward Son isn’t because there’s no catharsis. Instead, we’re dragged through Simon, Baz and Penny’s relationship problems and post-war identity crises for 300 pages only for it to end abruptly on a cliffhanger. Presumably Rowell wanted to save all the cathartic moments for the surprise third book of the series, but she’s done so at the expense of this instalment.
Alongside the lack of communication between the characters, I also felt that there was a general lack of introspective character-driven moments. Simon, Baz and Penny seemed cold and two-dimensional in comparison to their characterisation in
Carry On. Of course, that could have been a deliberate writing choice - to show that these aren’t the plucky young teenage heroes they once were - but it was just one more thing that made reading
Wayward Son an uphill struggle.
Maybe I’d have liked
Wayward Son more if I’d known in advance that this was a middle book and not the end of Simon and Baz’s story - then, at least, the lack of satisfying scenes would have made more narrative sense. As it is, I just grew more and more frustrated as I neared the end of the book and realised that the pay-off I’d been waiting for was never coming.
Wayward Son is clearly a set-up for the next book in the series and doesn’t stand well on its own.
If you’re not particularly invested in the characters, there’s still plenty of magickal hijinks in this book - and new character Shepard is a lot of fun - but if you’re a fan of
Carry On and you like how it ended, I’d suggest skipping this sequel (or perhaps waiting until the third book is out, so you can read both in one go and get the closure this book doesn’t offer).
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Rating: 2 stars | ★★✰✰✰
Review originally posted to Paperback'd Reviews.
Rating: really liked it
. : ☾⋆ — 5 ★ READ THIS REVIEW ON MY BLOG!!!
https://bit.ly/34MQB4D
I finished reading this book almost a month and a half ago and I still can’t truly wrap my head around it. I can’t stop and think about it long enough to write a review and it’s made me stop writing altogether because I seem to be absolutely stuck because of this one review that I can’t write and I just can’t bear it any longer. I don’t know how to put my thoughts into words but I’ll try my best.
I finished Wayward Son in a single sitting after waiting years for it to come out, and I also received my copy in the mail almost a week earlier than I was supposed to. it was exciting to get to dive into this book long before anybody else could and it felt like Rainbow Rowell and I were in on a little secret—I knew stuff that could potentially spoil the reading experience for everybody else (it isn’t something that I would actually do, but it was nice knowing that I was one of the few people in the entire world who knew what lied ahead for Simon and Baz).
and then the book actually did come out. days passed. then weeks passed. then a month passed, and it was around that time that I realized that I genuinely couldn’t write ANYTHING about Wayward Son that actually represented how I felt about the book because nothing has ever really come close to it. it isn’t what I expected from a sequel to such a remarkable first book, but I think that kind of was the point of it.
the tone and rhythm of Wayward Son was so different from Carry On but it worked. knowing before anyone else did that a third book was on its way also helped, because I was able to see this bit of the story as a sort of bridge between what happened in book 1 and what’s going to happen in book 3, which we get little hints of throughout the book: healing, restoring, finding the place and the people that make you feel safe. the realistic aspects of Simon’s depression and his dwindling relationship with Baz as a consequence of it were one of my favorite parts of Wayward Son, because it felt authentic. it was so different from Carry On in every way you can think of, but I loved every second of it.
Wayward Son gave these characters and this world the time they needed to fully flesh themselves out. it brought them to life in a way that I didn’t know was possible, and I hate that it took me so long to figure out how to write this review when it was actually so simple: I love how this book is about growth and love. God, I just love everything about it. the third book can’t possibly come soon enough.
// ORIGINAL REVIEW
i woke up and saw this on instagram as soon as i opened the app and i'm not gonna lie i thought i was dreaming???
wake me up when it's 2020
Rating: really liked it
That feeling when you’ve been anticipating a book for over a year and it’s, well, lackluster...
Some background: a few years ago Rainbow Rowell wrote an amazing book called
Fangirl . One of the main characters in that book wrote fan fiction about a Harry Potter-esque character named Simon Snow and his nemesis/crush Baz (think Draco Malfoy).
Rowell then wrote
Carry On , which followed Simon and Baz, Simon’s best friend Penny, and their battles to save the magickal world.
This book is the sequel. It chronicles what happened after the events in
Carry On , what it’s like to be the Chosen One when what it seems like you were chosen to do is all but done, and how to move on.
Simon and Baz are in love with each other but they’re reluctant to fully express it. And Simon has been so depressed and unable to do magick that it’s taking a toll on all of them. So Penny decides they need a road trip to America and they’ll go see an old friend, Agatha (Simon's ex-girlfriend of sorts), who’s in San Diego.
What they get is far much more than they bargained for. Their magick, their relationships, their lives will be tested by circumstances they would never have expected, as they try to rescue their friend and each other.
I love these characters. Simon and Baz make my heart melt and there were so many tender moments I loved between them. But those moments were fleeting, and their relationship is in such stress, that it was hard to enjoy the highs as much as I wanted to.
This book is narrated by five or six people, which also irritated me, because I didn’t feel enough of a distinction between their storytelling. And the whole storyline with Agatha really didn’t catch my interest until the end.
I’m disappointed but of course I've hyped this book up for a year, so it's partially my fault. This clearly has been written to set up a third book, which of course I’ll still read, because I love the way Rowell writes and I can’t get enough of Simon and Baz. Others have felt differently so if you’re a fan of the series give it a go and let me know what you think.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2018 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2018.html.
You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Rating: really liked it
reading my twitter followers' most disappointing books of 2019
Rating: really liked it
are they like ... lost on the moon
did their cranky convertible fly off like the flying lawnmower?
