![]() Cassidy Serhienko After the FOUR FREAKING LONGEST YEARS of my life, I finally got Wayward Son last Wednesday. Cut to four and a half hours later when I’d finished the book, there’s me feeling every emotion possible and not knowing what to do with any of them. Where’s my figurative chapter 61? WHERE?! WHERE IS IT?! Now, logically I understand that the uncommunicative standstill Baz and Simon’s relationship is at in this book is rationally where it should be. With any other coupling I probably would’ve been praising whoever is listening for the narrative arc the author had chosen to realistically portray the mental health of someone in Simon’s situation (probably not though, cuz I’m thirsty). But this was just so much of Baz and Simon noticing each other and hating themselves that I had the recurring urge to set something (myself?) on fire. Arguably in a good way, because that’s basically what Carry On was, I was just hoping for a more explosive culmination after all that build up. Preferably a grope-y one. However, Baz’s style pretty much made up for whatever conflicting feelings I was feeling about their feelings (so many feelings). Now, on the one hand Baz and Harry Styles are nothing alike. HS is all “Treat People With Kindness” while Baz is a straight up bitch. But when it comes to Baz in floral shirts and truly ridiculous suits, a Harry Styles reference has never made more sense. After reading the line “Go ahead and shoot me. This isn’t my favourite shirt.” I can die happy, because nothing else will ever measure up. Was Wayward Son all that I was hoping for? Not necessarily. We all wanted Snowbaz smut, and the novel is admittedly lacking on that front, but when it comes to each characters personal journey, Rainbow Rowell has worked her signature magic. Not only with Simon, where we see the emotional fallout of fulfilling your life’s purpose and losing your identity in the process, or Baz who’s snark can barely cover his self-consciousness, but Penny’s faced some major challenges. In Carry On her confidence that borders on arrogance makes her a stable counterpoint to Simon and Baz’s tempestuousness. In Wayward Son her rigid opinions on magic were challenged by Shep (a delightful addition) and she had to confront her own personal failings in a way she never had before. And while we didn’t get cute couple Simon and Baz, they both kept fighting tooth and nail for each other. We’re all in love with how much they’re in love, and those feelings didn’t change or fade. So while Wayward Son may have not been what we were expecting, it is in no way a let down. Plus Agatha is less annoying. So.
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