Credit: Vanity Fair
Summary:
After Rowell's Fangirl, many readers, including me, wanted to see so much more of the world of Simon and Baz. Even those who did not read Fangirl but love Rowell's writing and fantasy will fall in love with this world. This book did not disappoint in the slightest, including magic, monsters, and even romance.
This story is set in the Magical World of the United Kingdom. Sound familiar? Yes, the setting has many parallels to the world of Harry Potter, but with Rowell's added style. It's refreshing to see a YA version of a magical world, with one of the romantic plots the author is famous for.
The story's main character, Simon Snow, is a teenage boy who attends the Watford School of Magicks. He loves attending school, except for the fact that he has to live with his assigned roommate and enemy, Baz Pitch. He and his friends, Penelope and Agatha, are convinced Baz is a vampire.
Simon is not the greatest at controlling his very powerful magic, though he is often called "The Chosen One" by many in his community. Baz often says Simon is the "Worst Chosen One that has ever been chosen," and Simon can't help but agree.
With his friend's help, Simon must figure out his life, including how to face the biggest, most mysterious threat to the magickal world, the Insidious Humdrum.
Told in multiple perspectives, this book explores the many experiences of Simon and his friends alike, and how the group connects.
Review:
I thought this book was incredible, quite comparable to Harry Potter. At first, I thought the world was far too similar, therefore it would be boring, but I was dead wrong. The introduction of new creatures was exciting, and it was quite nice to see magic from multiple perspectives, something that was not included in Harry Potter books.
I also loved the romance aspects and friendship aspects of the book, for they were very well-written, and more realistic that the romances of many books, for they had flaws, but also high points.
I felt very connected to the characters of this book, and I felt for them through every chapter. When a book makes you really care about the characters, you know that the author has done a great job, and this was a book where I very much felt this.
The book had very emotional parts, but at other times I felt myself laughing out loud at the character's thoughts. The book went up, down, and side-to-side, back and forth. I don't know how else to describe how many emotions the book can appeal to.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Fantasy, Romance, Drama, and almost any type of Young Adult book. This is a great first book to what will be a Trilogy, and it is the first book I tell my friends about when they ask for a new book to read!