Carry On by Rainbow Rowell was definitely a fun read. I’ve never read her book Fangirl, so I don’t know how that one shapes Carry On, but I may have to start reading it. Especially if there’s more Baz and Simon.

If you want what this book is about in a nutshell, just imagine Harry Potter, but slightly gayer. And with vampires.

Simon Snow is the Chosen One, but he’s a pretty terrible Magician. He can’t properly control his magic and is living with the fear of “going off” and hurting people around him—basically losing control of his magic and causing a huge explosion. He’s being hunted by this monster called the Insidious Humdrum, Humdrum for short, who terrorizes magicians and eats away their magic.

Though, to be fair, I’d be a little evil and vengeful too if I had a name like Insidious Humdrum.

So, woven through this adventure tale is the love story between Baz and Simon—roommates and enemies. We later learn that Baz is actually totally head-over-heels in love with Simon, and Baz is very open about his queerness in the book. Simon, on the other hand, starts the story off with his girlfriend Agatha. They eventually break it off (because Agatha has a thing for bad boys?). Obviously, Baz and Simon end up together, but how does a seemingly straight guy end up dating a boy?

Well, the short answer is that Simon was always gay (or bisexual) and then didn’t realize it until he and Baz were finally becoming friends and not trying to kill each other. Most of the books I’ve read, if a male who thinks himself straight starts being attracted toward another male, they go into heavy denial. Simon does the complete opposite. He just totally roles with it.

He questions whether he’s actually gay or not (and then concludes he’s in love with Baz so who cares?), but it doesn’t stop him from kissing Baz or acting couple-y with him. Which is super nice. I love that Simon is just aware that he’s probably always been attracted to Baz but hadn’t really realized it yet. Plus they’re adorable, so seeing them together makes my heart warm.

The only complaint I have is I wish they would’ve gotten together sooner!