Carry On:
BY: MADISON SECKMAN Staff Writer
Rainbows in the wizarding world
Magic, vampires, dragons, and a sprinkle of gay romance. Fantasy book lovers need to add Rainbow Rowell’s high-action novel Carry On to their reading list. This novel follows the struggle of young Simon Snow, the Chosen One, who is the most powerful mage ever known. It’s Simon’s last year at Watford School of Magicks, and he is fighting against the Insidious Humdrum while uncovering secrets of the magic world’s past. At this point it sounds like a rip off of Harry Potter, but there are differences. Between battles, romance, friendships, and plot-twists, Simon Snow endures a long journey of self discovery. For a society that is becoming more accepting of the queer community, it is uncommon to find a LGBTQ+ novel that is more than a cliché romance. Nonetheless, the gay romance is there in the background to help represent the LGBTQ+ community. It is nice to sit down and read a sappy romance novel every once in a while, but it is good to have a normalized representation of the LGBTQ+ community within the book world. Not everything is a romantic drama. There are many other things that make up life, and that is what this novel is all about. In our current society, representation for various marganalized groups has been growing rapidly with the release of many loved movies and books. As far as the books go, many people know of Love, Simon and Call Me by Your Name which were both later made into well known movies. We’ve seen lots of representation in major motion pictures such as the crowd favorites Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther. After Black Panther came to theaters, it was all the media talked about. The movie
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has done so much for black representation in media, and has helped American society to become even more accepting of a group that receives outrageous amounts of hate. Carry On has the potential to do the same thing for the LGBTQ+ community. Many queer people have a hard time finding stories to connect with. Many are not able to closely connect with characters in romantic ways when most are heterosexual, and Carry On has the possibility to be a story that many in the LGBTQ+ community can connect with. Carry On was packed with action from start to end, and readers can easily insert themselves into Simon Snow’s life with Rowell’s outstanding use of tone and other
literary devices. The novel acts to highlight a part of the queer community to people who may not know much about the community as a whole. People can have a hard time understanding worlds that they are not a part of, and literature can help with that. Movies and books with queer characters normalize the community as a whole, and for a group that is widely marganalized, it is necessary for the community to have better representation. The plot of Carry On most closely relates to that of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because Simon is fighting the empty, evil side of himself who takes the form of Simon at six years old. Carry On is not only a novel about a magic society, but is also a story of power and why people do not need it, which makes this novel unique. Despite how phenomenal this novel is, there are certainly some parts that could be better. Readers never get clear answers to what happened to Simon’s mom and what caused his dad to wind up a little crazy. Also, the lack of accuracy to current day acceptance of those in the queer community may make it difficult for some LGBTQ+ readers to connect with. The LGBTQ+ movie and book Love, Simon was more accurate in representing the day to day experiences of queer teens. If Carry On could have done this, it would have been more benefittial in creating a conducive environment for minorities. The sequel Wayward Son continues off of this plot line and was published in Sept. ember. Whether you are into books with amazing plots, LGBTQ+ inclusive literature, or just fantasy, Carry On is the book for you.