Simon Snow #2

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Publication Date: September 24, 2019

Summary from Goodreads:

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

This is the second book and while I promise not to spoil this book there are spoilers ahead for the first book. Proceed at your own risk.

“How have I lived through so many happy endings without ever learning how to save the day?”

First confession is that I kept hearing the song in my head while I was reading this. You know the one I am talking about. Think about it, you know. And then I kept flashing back to Sam and Dean driving across the country killing vampires and encountering other supernatural creatures. Hopefully that gives you an idea what it was like reading this book.

Second confession, I read the first book Carry On (yeah, now you get it) four years ago when it first came out, and don’t remember it at all. So I was a bit confused at first by some facts I had forgotten, like Baz is a vampire? Simon has lost his magic but also has wings and a tail? How could I forget that? Well, I am glad to say that not remembering the first book very well didn’t diminish my enjoyment of this one.

“Simon Snow, it hurts to look at you when you’re this happy.
And it hurts to look at you when you’re
depressed.
There’s no safe time for me to see you, nothing about you that doesn’t tear my heart from my chest and leave it breakable outside my body.”

Simon and Baz spend most of this book just being as awkward as ever with each other, with some awesome sweet scenes between them scattered through out. I still really enjoy both of their characters and their relationship. They both discover so much about themselves and each other through out the book. Plus they still have each other’s back and help get each other out of some pretty sticky situations.

“I usually am right. It’s just good sense to go through life assuming that I am. It’s the law of averages. Better to assume I’m always right and occasionally be wrong than to fiddle about doubting myself all the time, saying to everyone, “Yes, but what do you think?”

I don’t remember Penny at all from the first book, but I certainly enjoyed her character. She is so strong, but a little self centered. She always thinks that she knows what is the best for everyone. She really doesn’t understand how people or the world works which gets her into some trouble. Her budding relationship with Shepard was wonderful. I think he has a lot to teach her. I really liked Shepard, he was often the calm in the storm, and even though he was a Normal he often understood what was really going on way before anyone else did. He is a nice addition to the group.

“We literally have three “pickup trucks” in all of England, but here they’re everywhere. What is it that Americans have to pick up that the rest of the world doesn’t?”

This book is basically a road trip across the American west. It was so cool seeing their reactions to that part of the county, especially Baz’s who was often spot on in his observations. And as often happens with road trips, the characters discover so much about themselves and each other. There are a lot of interesting creatures that they meet along the way. I had forgotten how the magical system works in this world, but it becomes a really big factor in their travels. Sorry about this minor spoiler, but I loved that Las Vegas was full of vampires! It was awesome.

So, if you are like me and have forgotten much of Carry On, I would recommend that you read it again before picking this one up. I will probably read both before the third one comes out. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another four years for it.