HP Wannabe

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

A couple of years ago, I read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and LOVED the book. When I saw this had come out, I thought it was a follow-up, so I had to have it. In a way, I guess it is, since Fangirl is about a girl obsessed with the Simon Snow books, and writes fan fiction about them. This book is her fan fiction.

My biggest problem with this book is that it is a rip off of Harry Potter. Both take place in England. Both have a special, magical school. Both main characters are orphans and are the "Chosen One." Both have a know it all girl who is a best friend to the main character. Both have a best friend who come from a large magical family. Both have a school nemesis, and both have a nemesis who is out to upset the magical balance. Both have erratic headmasters.

One would think that being an HP fan would mean that I would automatically love a book that was trying so hard to be like one that is loved by millions worldwide, but I didn't. Mostly, I was aggravated. In fact, I started this book months ago, got eighty pages in, and put it aside because of my aggravation. I decided I needed to get it off the back of my couch, so I gave it another shot. I didn't start over though; I just picked up where I left off.

For the first four hundred pages, I complained about how much this was a wannabe of a book series I love. It's about Simon Snow, the most powerful mage, who is being hunted by the Humdrum (yes, a very scary villain name). He is coming back to his magic school, Watford, for his final year. His nemesis, Baz, hasn't shown up, and this is causing Simon some unrest. On Halloween night, the night that the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest, the ghost of Baz's mother comes to Simon by mistake to tell him he needs to find out who killed her/caused her death. When Baz finally gets back, Simon tells him about this visit, and they call a truce to discover this information. Meanwhile, they are also trying to figure out this thing with the Humdrum. Blah, blah, blah.

Where this book finally got good for me is where this became less like HP. Baz is the Draco character in this scenario, and he has a thing for Simon. He doesn't want Simon to know. He tries to hide it, but is ultimately unsuccessful.

There is, obviously, more to the story, but it wouldn't be any fun if I told you everything.