Review: Carry On

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rainbow Rowell is one of those authors to have caught my attention on countless occasions. So many of my friends have read and enjoyed her work, many have suggested her books to me, and I’ve found myself considering them on shelves more than once. Despite my continued curiosity, I always seemed to pick up something else instead. The curiosity was there, but it never seemed to reach the intense desire that pushes me over the edge where I go and make a purchase.

Then my sister decided she wanted to read Carry On. Throughout her reading of the book I received countless updates regarding her enjoyment. My sister is not the big reader I am, so for a book to grab her attention in the way this one did is something rare. It was the necessary step to push me over the edge, the thing to make me read the book. Thus, I decided to borrow my sister’s copy of Carry On.

Before starting Carry On a part of me was worried. My understanding of Carry On is that it’s a very meta book. It’s the fictional story of a fictional character in another fictional story. It’s the kind of information that has me thinking of the exploding head gif, and a part of me was worried I would not get the story without first reading Fangirl. Fortunately, an understanding of Fangirl is not needed to understand Carry On.

I will be honest and say it did take a while for me to get into this one. In fact, for quite some time, I feared I would not enjoy the story. I think my biggest issue is that I felt as though I was entering a series at the end. Sure, we were given references to what had happened to the characters in the past – but it took some time for my understanding of things to develop, and I felt as though my understanding was not what it could have been. When my understanding started to develop the story became more enjoyable, but it still took a wee bit more before I found myself lost to the story.

You see, it was slow at first. There was a lot of information to be given, and this meant it was a while before things started to progress. A part of me questions whether reading Fangirl would have changed this any, but at the same time I believe it was just a case of the way the story was told. It was slow to start, information was given to you at a very leisurely pace, but it is worth it in the end.

Sure, things were a bit predictable. It was possible from quite early on to work out some of the secrets that were to come to light later in the book. There were some elements that felt too much like other books in the genre, with it fitting a checklist of elements that need to occur in a young adult fantasy novel. At the same time, it had plenty of unique elements that left you wanting more.

Once you come to understand the characters and the world, you’re sucked in deep. You fall in love with what is happening, you want to know more, and when the story ends it sticks with you. I may have started this book fearing I would not be able to give a rating any higher than three stars, but, in the end, it managed to receive a rounded up four-star rating from me.

Carry On may not have been everything I had expected it to be, but it was a fun read and I’ll certainly be reading more Rainbow Rowell in the future. In fact, I’ve seen the library has Fangirl, so I may satisfy my curiosity regarding the meta nature of Carry On.

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