Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Carry On
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: October 6th 2015

Summary from Goodreads:

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

Review

I was a bit hesitant when starting this one because I loved Fangirl but was not the biggest fan of the fan fiction that started each chapter; however, I have enjoyed all of Rainbow Rowell's works so I figured I had to give it a go.  Carry On is a wonderful fantasy story full of friendships, adventures, magic, kisses, and heroes; I was not disappointed.

Carry On is told through multiple point of views, which really gives the reader a well rounded story line.  Baz and Simon are the stars of the show, their constant fighting/banter that evolves throughout but never disappears is truly fantastic. The secondary characters, Agatha and Penelope, were full of personality and great fit to the team. Similar to her other works, Rowell's dialogue and overall readability is on point, it was easy to get transported into this magical Harry Potter-ish world and watch all the scenes unfold.

Carry On was not at all what I expected, it was much more.  It truly was a magical adventure story with old friendships and new relationships, that I would highly recommend.

Stacking The Shelves (146) - October 17th

Stacking the Shelves - hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews - features books that you bought, borrowed, rented from the library, received for review, etc.

Upcoming Reads

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Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11) by Meg Cabot
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

 

What books are stacking your shelves??

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: July 8th 2014
Pages: Hardcover, 320 pages
Source: BEA2014

Summary from Goodreads:
Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

Review

Besides loving the simple cover for Landline, I was a little hesitant after I read the summary.  A phone that lets you talk into the past could of gone terribly wrong, yet it didn't.  Rainbow Rowell captured a beautiful story between a working woman and her husband that just lost a little something in their relationship. 

One of the strongest aspects and one of my favorite aspects of the book are the characters.  Georgie and Neil are real people with real struggles; they are far from flat characters, the have layers upon layers of personalities and dimensions.  Rowell peels back their layers through Georgie's flashbacks and phone conversations.  Below is an example of a flashback that just made me smile, the characters are funny in the most natural, unforced way.

"What are you doing in a fraternity?" She'd asked.  "Comedy writers don't join fraternities." 
"Don't pigeonhole me, Georgie.  I'm infinite."
"Yea, but why?"
"The usual reasons.  Backup friends, navy blue jackets-- plus someday I might run for office."

The plot was not full of crazy drama or action, it was just tension that kept me flipping through the pages, the strong desire for a happy outcome.  I am happy to say that Landline had a fulfilling and satisfying ending that had left me with a feeling of completeness and a couple of tears. 

She picked up the receiver and held it to her head.  No dial tone.  Well, of course, no dial tone -- it's not plugged in.  It's not plugged in to the space/time portal in the wall behind my bed.  (Cue maniacal laughter.) 

Oh, a bonus is that Georgie is a writer for a comedy tv show.  Her fast wit, sometimes dry humor, and ridiculous inner dialogues just made the book even more enjoyable.

Bottom Line

Rainbow Rowell is easily one of my favorite authors at this point.  Landline did not disappoint!  It was a beautifully real story about a tough time in a couple's marriage.  A simple land line phone paired with some magic time traveling powers made for a unique and page turning read.

Stacking the Shelves (74) - May 31st

Stacking the Shelves - hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews features books that you bought, borrowed, rented from the library, received for review, etc.  

Upcoming Reads:

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Landline by Rainbow Rowell
We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a true story by Josh Sundquist

 What books are stacking your shelves?

ARC-REVIEW: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher:  St. Martin's Press
Release Date: September 10th 2013
Pages: Hardcover, 438 pages
Source: ARC from BEA

Summary from Goodreads:
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

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• I truly love the way Rainbow Rowell just pulls the reader right into the story.   The plot is engaging throughout the whole book, I did not want to put it down. The sub-plots are weaved throughout the entire book and create such a well developed book I couldn't give it less than 5 stars. 
• The characters are dynamic; they grow and change through the book.  As a reader you get to experience and believe the changes that Cath and her sister Wren were going through.  College is a big life change and Rowell captures it perfectly.
• I think one of my favorite aspects is the love story.  It was cute and romantic.  AHH I JUST LOVED IT :)  While there was drama, it was all believable.  I thought Cath's reaction and slowness in building the trust was respectable and showed a strong female character.  
• Similar to E&P, the dialogue was fantastic.  It really brought the characters to life.  I felt like a fly on the wall experiencing Freshman year again.  The whole awkward exchanges with roommates, parting ways with HS friends, and the overall nervousness of a huge new school. It was all captured perfectly.   

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• Umm... There was not much I did not like.  I would really say the only thing was understanding what exactly is fan fiction (Yes I kinda had no idea what FanFiction  was :( ) 
• On that note, I did have to understand that the fan fiction parallels Harry Potter but is not fan fiction for Harry Potter.   

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I LOVE Rainbow Rowell's writing.  Everything about it was great!  Fangirl was a funny, realistic book that combines cute romance with the awkwardness of Freshman Year College.   

REVIEW #83: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Eleanor & Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: February 26th 2013
Pages: Hardcover, 325 pages
Source: Audiobook from the Library

Summary from Goodreads:
"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused, then dead."
''I love you," Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

AHHH so many thoughts about this one it’s hard to put into words. Eleanor & Park is a simple yet powerful story about two opposites that change each other’s life. Park has been living in his same house his whole life, his mother is Korean and his father is American. He comes from a happy home with two loving parents and while he is not the coolest kid at school, he still gets by pretty unscathed. Eleanor on the other hand is a bit overweight, has bright red unruly hair and pretty much follows her on rules when it comes to fashion. Eleanor shares a room with her many siblings while her mother gets yelled at and tossed around by her drunken step-father. By fate, Eleanor ends up having to sit next to park on the bus to school one day and that is how their friendship unfolds.

I loved this story from the plot pacing to the character development, to the writing style; everything was so beautifully real. The narration switches between Eleanor and Park allowing a deeper look into their individual lives as well as their thoughts. The writing style was so different from what I usually read, with short sentences, dialogue, thoughts, and blend of just everything.

The story flowed perfectly with the romance and love building gradually. I was left wanting so much more of Eleanor and Park. They are probably the most memorable characters I have read. I was thinking about their story all day long, just wanting to get back to listening to the audio book. The audio was fantastic, there are two narrators (one for Park and one for Eleanor) that read accordingly; the audio just enhanced the greatness of the story.

GAHH, the ending though… I wanted something else but was still quite okay with it. It is the only reason I just couldn’t give it 5 stars, I want more closure!! It left me thinking about the story long after finishing. Even though Eleanor and Park are so different, they are so perfect, so real.

Source

I absolutely 100% recommend Eleanor & Park even if you do not usually read contemporary books (I don’t and I LOVED it). Rainbow Rowell’s writing draws you into the lives of Eleanor and Park and pulls you deeper and deeper into their struggles and against-all-odds relationship.