'Carry On' by Rainbow Rowell

Rowell, Rainbow. Carry On: A Novel. New York, St. Martin's Griffin, 2015. Print.

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Simon Snow is your average foster kid in England, shuttled from care home to care home during his summer holidays from Watford School of Magicks.  Did I say average?  Simon's one of the most powerful mages in England.  Or he would be if only he could get his magic under control.  Usually when Simon uses his magic, the spells don't work or they work too well.  He suspects his roommate at Watford, Baz, is a vampire, and Simon and Baz don't get along very well.  Needless to say, Simon's afraid that Baz is going to sink his fangs into his neck while he sleeps.  To add insult to injury, Simon believes his girlfriend, Agatha, has thrown him over for Baz.  His best friend, Penelope, constantly breaks school rules by sneaking into Simon and Baz's room.  On top of all that, there have been attacks by the Insidious Humdrum and strange dead spots have been appearing all over England where magic has just disappeared.

A series of strange events marks the beginning of Simon's final year at Watford, namely the fact that Baz's dead mother, Natasha, appears to Simon and delivers a cryptic message about the circumstances of her death for Simon to give to Baz; and an obviously ill Baz doesn't show up to the school until eight weeks into the term.  Once Baz returns to Watford, he, Simon, and Penelope team up to try and uncover the tangled mystery surrounding Natasha's death, while also trying to figure out how to defeat the Humdrum.

Rowell first introduced us to Simon Snow in her novel Fangirl, where it's a fictional fantasy series that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Harry Potter phenomenon.  Rather than write the book as the fictional author might have, Rowell has basically written a fan-fiction novelization of a fictional fantasy series she created.  Got that?  The Harry Potter influence is so strong in Carry On, that for the first third of the book, it's impossible not to mentally tally all the bits and pieces that are literary cousins to their Harry Potter counterparts.  Once Baz arrives on the scene, though, the story really picks up and races to the frantic and satisfying conclusion.

It's worth mentioning that although Rowell's magical world somewhat resembles that of Harry Potter, it diverges in significant ways.  Rowell's witches and mages live in the world of Normals, use smartphones, and create savvy Google searches.  Spells are common catchphrases or quotes from popular movies or songs, and witches and mages don't always use wands.

I was a little disappointed that Rowell didn't delve as deeply into the emotional lives of Simon or Baz as she did in her award-winning novel, Eleanor & Park.  Still, Simon and Baz's inner monologues probe their emotional attachments to each other and their families and friends.  As in her other novels, characters are allowed to unfold slowly across the pages of the book.  Character development is not rushed or forced, which also helps keep the reader on their toes as the resolution of the book approaches.

Readers of Rowell's other YA novels, Eleanor & Park, and Fangirl will probably love this novel.  So will readers of the Harry Potter series, if they can help themselves from comparing it to Harry Potter.  There's enough mystery to keep mystery fans engaged, too.