Magical, romantic, humorous and full of adventure--Wayward Son is an excellent second installment to the Simon Snow series.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell | Rating: ★★★★☆

You have to pretend you get an endgame. You have to carry on like you will; otherwise, you can't carry on at all.

Rainbow Rowell triumphantly returns with her latest release, Carry On; taking characters readers were already familiar with in her bestselling novel Fangirl and spinning into a story of their own. I think we’re quite lucky with this one because in spite of its flaws, it is VERY fun and nearly impossible to put down. As always, Rowell’s writing is so on point and full of emotion, wisdom and angst, you can’t help but to see the sparkle in even the most simplest of ways.

She has a gift with words and an even bigger one with breathing life into those words.

Originally a story within a story Carry On is a promising and thrilling ride from start to finish filled with fantastical rides of thrills, romance, chosen ones, danger and unexpected twists. Reminiscent to the Harry Potter series it may be, and legions of its fans will either love or hate that fact, but ultimately it is a story of its own.

And a damn good one at that.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell | Rating: ★★★★★

"I think I can live without you," he said, like it was something he’d spent twenty-seven hours think about, "but it won’t be any kind of life."

I really, really wish that Landline had been my first Rainbow Rowell novel. I loved it so, so much — I honestly did. There’s something charming about the entire story, which is pretty funny given that it follows a marriage that is ‘in trouble’, and just… perfect. Lovely. And if you’re looking to read a book by Rainbow, please — please — start with this one.

It’s everything you’ve come to expect from her and more.

Rainbow could have really overdone this story or it could have been lackluster, but the way she told Georgie and Neal’s story was just right. She ties everything up together — magic and all — in a way that makes the story unique and realistic. Her ever present witty dialogue shines in the interactions between Georgie and her family and her best friend, Seth.

And of course in the flashbacks we see from the start of her and Neal’s relationship. You really, really grow to cheer them on in their marriage and hope for the best but I suppose you expect the worst.

Georgie does something incredibly selfish at the start of the novel — selfish in a completely understandable manner, but still selfish — and almost instantaneously it leads us down our plot path. Instead of going to Neal’s mother’s home for Christmas with him and their children, she needs to spend the days leading up to Christmas writing.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell | Rating: ★★★★★

"Real life was something happening in her peripheral vision."

Fangirl, for me, hits all the right notes that Eleanor & Park hadn’t. And although there were some things within the story that irked me a little bit, it didn’t disappoint and was overall one of the most enjoyable young adult contemporary novels I’ve read. You know, ever. There was just something about this story that was charming and cute and real that made me love it instantaneously and I already am finding myself wanting to reread it.

And I can see this novel making a lasting impression on many teenagers and adults alike. It’s probably the first novel I’ve read that has the main character write fanfiction, too, and I think it’s pretty great to see that side of writing and the age of the internet represented too. Fangirl also has the classic makings of many love stories — not just between the romantic side of things, either.

We see the bond of a pair of twins crumble in many ways, and the lasting scars of having been abandoned by a mother. We see the relationship of a strong father/daughter dynamic. Then there’s the love of writing in an ‘unique’ way, that feeling of your childhood ending in some ways and falling in love for the first time.

It’s genuinely a sweet novel that explores the life of a college aged girl who has quite the difficult time exploring the world outside her own.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell | Rating: ★★★☆☆

As you all well know by now, Rainbow Rowell is on the fast track to be the next It-Girl author. The buzz for her novels is undeniable — she’s everywhere in the literature world; when people aren’t buzzing about her two young adult novels Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, they are discussing their anticipation of Landlines. Her novels go perfectly to the tune of many contemporary young adult novels and can be paired off with John Green’s work.

That being said, I had high hopes for the buzz worthy Eleanor & Park and looked forward to reading it due to its content. Perhaps, my hopes were too high for the novel and upon further inspection I’ll come around to the novel and see it as something different. But with my mindset, as it is now, I found one too many problematic things in the novel to fully love it. Flaws are common in literature and you come to expect that, yet for some things within the pages of Eleanor & Park I couldn’t really ignore.

I’m very, very torn on what rating I want to give this story. That isn’t to say it’s necessarily a bad story — it had moments that were more enjoyable than others and the writing is pretty solid. It’s got all the makings of a proper young adult love story and still keeps it true to life. I liked that Eleanor was relatable and that I could look back and see certain bits of myself in here. I liked that Park wasn’t like most leading males and grew so, so, so bloody much by the final pages. Rainbow, though her writing/views flawed during many moments, really put thought towards these characters and managed to keep the story crisp and clean.