Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

**SIMON SNOW IS COMING BACK, AND HE'S COMING TO AMERICA!**

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.

This description comes from the publisher. *Wayward Son* is the second book of the Simon Snow series, the first of which is *Carry On*; the Simon Snow idea first appeared in *Fangirl*.

I enjoyed this sequel a lot more, it reads less like a Harry Potter clone and more like its own world. Some reviews state that it has a different feel to it and I completely agree, but I feel it's an improvement. I went into the first book blind, not knowing it was an HP fanfiction, so it left me confused about why it was so popular and professionally published - however, I enjoyed the story and the characters so much I couldn't complain too much. I also read this one rather than audio at work (how I “read” the first one) so that might have made a difference in how much I got out of it as well.
The conflict between Simon and Baz was a little confusing because it seemed like it was just from Simon being depressed (and with good reason) and Baz not sure how to deal with it, but they should know each other a lot better than this book portrays after living together for all their formative years - even if they were “frienemies” most of that time. The side story with Agatha falls a bit flat but I think only because we spend so little time with her, maybe 2-3 chapters from her POV where the rest is Simon, et. al. and their road trip adventures. I'd actually like to know a little more about that group, and it was a complete surprise when they ended up being **ires, as well as more about all the stuff BTS of Las Vegas. Penny's little side drama with her internet boyfriend also seemed pointless and unnecessary, especially when we never hear about it again or see Penny really process it in a healthy way.
It's like Rowell knew that people were mostly here for Baz and Simon but felt she needed to shoehorn something for the ladies to do, but they were both basically McGuffins in this story. As I'm a reader here for Baz and Simon as well, I'm not complaining. The chapters from Baz' POV are my favourites, but I do enjoy all the characters and want to know more about the newly introduced ones too.
Overall, a really fun book but die-hard fans of the first may feel like it's missing something.

Euan Morton is an excellent audio narrator, making these books even more enjoyable thanks to his great acting. A little slow to start but another fun entry into this world. Ends on a predictable cliffhanger to take you into her planned third book. A fun diversion.

It was very childish but also had a lot of gory scenes so it clashed with itself a lot. This story wasn't for me, I'll just go on pretending that carry on is a solo book <3