In Fangirl, the Simon Snow series is a thinly-veiled Harry Potter analogue — the beloved children’s fantasy series whose final volume is about to be published, whose fandom Cath has devoted years to. Rowell wrote excerpts of both the official Simon Snow books and Cath’s fan fiction within the novel, and they were charming and funny and made you want more.

Carry On is more. It is the full Simon Snow novel — not Cath’s fan fiction, but Rowell’s own telling of the last year at Watford School of Magicks, Simon’s final confrontation with the Humdrum, and what happens when the Chosen One and his assigned nemesis finally stop pretending they hate each other.

Here is the thing I didn’t expect: it is genuinely, properly excellent.

The Premise and What Rowell Does With It

Rowell knows that Simon Snow begins as a Harry Potter joke. The series-within-a-series was designed to echo that shape — orphan boy, magical school, dark lord, chosen one — and Carry On could have played that straight and coasted on the familiarity. Instead, Rowell interrogates the tropes. She asks what it would actually be like to be the Chosen One — the exhaustion of it, the alienation of being the person around whom a prophecy organises itself. Simon is not enjoying his destiny. He has never enjoyed his destiny.

And Baz — his nemesis, roommate, and the boy he has been furious with for seven years — turns out to have been doing his own suffering in parallel.

Baz

If you read Fangirl, you know that Cath’s fan fiction was explicitly a love story between Simon and Baz. Rowell’s version is too, but it arrives at that love story through genuine characterisation rather than wish-fulfilment shortcut. Baz is aristocratic and dry and carrying a secret that he’s been managing alone since fifth year. The chapters told from his perspective are some of the best Rowell has written.

The relationship between Simon and Baz develops across the book with Rowell’s characteristic care — slowly, with friction and misunderstanding and then, finally, with the specific relief of things being said out loud.

The Magic

Watford’s magic system — words and phrases from human language, common use giving them power — is one of the most inventive in YA fantasy. Spells are song lyrics, advertising slogans, nursery rhymes, anything that has been repeated enough to accumulate resonance. It is clever and funny and occasionally moving, particularly when Rowell uses it to make a point about how meaning accretes.

Why YA Readers Will Love This

Read Fangirl first. Not because Carry On requires it — it doesn’t — but because arriving at Carry On having spent time with Cath’s love for these characters gives the book an additional dimension. You know, reading it, that someone has been waiting for this story. That feeling enriches everything.

For readers who love magic school settings but want one with more subversion and less nostalgic safety: Watford delivers. The rules of Rowell’s magical Britain are distinct from their obvious predecessor, and the way she handles the Chosen One arc specifically is worth the whole book.

For LGBTQ readers wanting YA fantasy where the love story between two boys is the centre of the narrative and is treated with the same romantic seriousness as any heterosexual YA love story: this is essential.

Wayward Son and Any Way the Wind Blows continue the story, and they go to unexpected and interesting places.

Published: October 2015 · Genre: YA fantasy · Series: Simon Snow, Book 1

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Carry On and how does it relate to Fangirl? Carry On is Rainbow Rowell’s full realisation of the Simon Snow series — not the fan fiction character Cath was writing in Fangirl, but Rowell’s own telling of Simon’s last year at Watford School of Magicks and his final confrontation with the Humdrum. The review advises reading Fangirl first, not because Carry On requires it, but because knowing someone has been waiting for this story enriches the reading experience.

How does Carry On subvert the Chosen One trope? Rather than playing the Chosen One arc straight, Rowell interrogates it — asking what it would actually be like to be the person around whom a prophecy organises itself. Simon is not enjoying his destiny and has never enjoyed it. The review describes this as Rowell asking the questions that the familiar trope usually avoids.

What makes Baz a compelling character in Carry On? Baz is aristocratic, dry, and carrying a secret he has been managing alone since fifth year. The review notes his chapters are ‘some of the best Rowell has written,’ and that the Simon-Baz relationship develops through genuine characterisation rather than wish-fulfilment shortcut — slowly, with friction, misunderstanding, and finally the specific relief of things being said out loud.

How does Watford’s magic system work in Carry On? Watford’s magic system is based on words and phrases from human language — spells are song lyrics, advertising slogans, nursery rhymes, anything repeated enough to accumulate resonance. The review describes it as ‘one of the most inventive in YA fantasy’ and notes it is ‘clever and funny and occasionally moving, particularly when Rowell uses it to make a point about how meaning accretes.’

Is Carry On recommended for LGBTQ readers? The review explicitly recommends Carry On as ’essential’ for LGBTQ readers wanting YA fantasy where a love story between two boys is the centre of the narrative, treated with the same romantic seriousness as any heterosexual YA love story. The series continues in Wayward Son and Any Way the Wind Blows.

Further Reading from Authoritative Sources

  • Rainbow Rowell — Wikipedia’s Rainbow Rowell article provides biographical and bibliographical context for the author, including the Fangirl connection and her wider body of work, which is essential background for understanding Carry On’s unique origin and relationship to its predecessor.
  • Chosen One narrative trope — Wikipedia’s article on the Chosen One trope contextualises the narrative convention that Carry On is consciously engaging with and subverting, giving readers the framework to appreciate what Rowell is doing with Simon’s relationship to his own prophecy.