Simon Snow Review

I finally got round to reading the Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell, so here is my review of the series.

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 starts 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.

I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was a fangirl’s dream. It is incredibly self indulgent and is a guilty pleasure read. Every trope that you wish could be written into your favourite franchise is here and I love that. The characters are lovable, but wouldn’t survive in a more serious book. I think the biggest thing about this book is that it needs the context given to it by Fangirl to make it make sense. If you try to read it on its own and take it seriously, I feel that it would fall flat and not be an enjoyable read. Also A* British stereotypes.

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. 

I found this book a bit more confusing than the first one. Whilst I like the way of exploring more of the world and enjoyed the way the characters were trying to do Normal things and were not taking themselves too seriously, I found that the plot was a bit contrived and was working hard to bolt itself on to the the end of the first book.

In Carry On, Simon Snow and his friends realized that everything they thought they understood about the world might be wrong. And in Wayward Son, they wondered whether everything they understood about themselves might be wrong. In Any Way the Wind Blows, Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha have to decide how to move forward. For Simon, that means deciding whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages — and if he doesn’t, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she’s smuggled a cursed American Normal into London, and now she isn’t sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough. Any Way the Wind Blows takes the gang back to England, back to Watford, and back to their families for their longest and most emotionally wrenching adventure yet. This book is a finale. It tells secrets and answers questions and lays ghosts to rest.

I love the goat-herding veterinary lesbians! I thought that this book was a wonderful follow on from Wayward Son and liked how it shows what happens to Watford after things are all over for the main characters. Giving history and futures to worlds after the story supposedly ends is somethings that I think all readers want more of, and Rowell does that quite well. I did however want more romance between the goat-herding veterinary lesbians as I felt there scene whilst sweet was short and didn’t have a lot of room for a future in this relationship.