Wayward Son

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.