Tags: #vampire #romance #manxman #contemporary #fantasy #fanfiction

Genre: New Adult Fantasy

Blurb for first book, 'Carry On':

"Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here--it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters."

Rae's Review:

It feels a bit weird to say that this series, originally inspired by Harry Potter fanfic, is the most emotionally complex romance I've read in ages. Baz is a traumatized vampire, Simon is an ex-Chosen One with PTSD from years of fighting every monster and bad guy the world of wizards could throw at him. By the third book, these two young men are in their twenties and trying to piece together a relationship in the aftermath.

It turns out that's intentional. In a Vanity Fair interview about the last book of this trilogy, Any Way the Wind Blows, Rowell says:

"There's this feeling (that) you need to get yourself right before you get into a relationship. But when would we ever get there? I feel it's more realistic for you to be like, okay, here's the ways that I'm broken. Can we help each other? Or will we make it worse?... Here's my fracture--what kind of glue do you have?"

If you've read my For Us/For Keeps books you know how interesting I find that story. I love characters who are flawed, growing, learning, and trying to piece together a relationship with another equally flawed human. By the end of For Keeps, Jon's missing pieces are exposed and generously filled in by Kurt and vice-versa. Rowell does a beautiful job of noticing the little details that make or break a relationship and working through those with Baz and Simon.

The atmosphere of Any Way the Wind Blows is also familiar--cozy, intimate scenes, combined with community-wide gossip and paranoia about a new Chosen One on the rise--and there's a reason for that too. Rowell wrote the conclusion of this trilogy during her COVID year, 2020, after jumping off social media and battling her own demons. It's her most personal, messy exploration of mental health and sexuality, and it'll have you coming back to curl up under the covers for a re-read. Baz and Simon, and the magical and mundane world Rowell created around them are too good to ever completely leave behind. (Right, Rainbow? Please tell us you pick up this story again one day!)

Available free on Discord/Libby library app!