Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
Release Date - September 24, 2019

Publisher Website - Raincoast Books

Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  356 pages
**purchased**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

The story is supposed to be over.

Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after…

So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch?

What he needs, according to his best friend, is a change of scenery. He just needs to see himself in a new light…

That’s how Simon and Penny and Baz end up in a vintage convertible, tearing across the American West.

They find trouble, of course. (Dragons, vampires, skunk-headed things with shotguns.) And they get lost. They get so lost, they start to wonder whether they ever knew where they were headed in the first place…

With Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell has written a book for everyone who ever wondered what happened to the Chosen One after he saved the day. And a book for everyone who was ever more curious about the second kiss than the first. It’s another helping of sour cherry scones with an absolutely decadent amount of butter.

Come on, Simon Snow. Your hero’s journey might be over – but your life has just begun.

If Carry On was about being the 'chosen one' and what that entailed Wayward Son is about the after. It questions what comes after you have fulfilled your life's purpose. It captures that feeling of emptiness when something that is such a part of you is over. Simon has no focus because he doesn't know who he is if he is not 'Simon Snow'. He is so adrift in his despair and depression that he is barely recognizable as the hero we met in the first book. This fact makes Wayward Son a worthy follow up to Carry On in that we see our characters and their world from a new perspective.

Those wanting a fun road trip read will find that within these pages. It is an adventure that spans across the United States which gives the story a different feel. The spells that are used are more American. This however is a book that is primarily focused on giving the characters space and time to be fleshed out and to deal with their trauma.

In Baz Rainbow Rowell captures the ache of seeing your loved one hurting. Baz doesn't know how to reach Simon but he can feel him drifting further and further away. Both guys feel this widening distance but are at a loss of how to fix it. There was a line that I felt perfectly captures what Baz is feeling:

“Simon Snow, it hurts to look at you when you’re this happy. And it hurts to look at you when you’re depressed. There’s no safe time for me to see you, nothing about you that doesn’t tear my heart from my chest and leave it breakable outside my body.”

The romance between Baz and Simon is what pulsed the strongest in this story. There are these poetic lines like the one above that resonate like cat nip to readers like myself who have fallen for their love story.  Her writing especially shines in those grand romantic passages. She understands Baz's voice so well and that made his parts my absolute favourites.

As previously mentioned Simon is in a dark place. He is dealing with all his trauma and hurt by not dealing with it. This book is all about how he comes to terms with his issues. How he learns to cope and heal. It allows Simon's to grow and change in this way that felt really earned. His support system is shown as being a vital part of what makes him feel safe.  Simon's journey felt authentic and his struggles are going to resonate with people. There may not be as much magical wonderment in this book but I believe it is to the betterment of the character development and allowing things that happen to have consequences.

Wayward Son is a story of afters. It is the story of carrying on when you feel you can't any longer. It is about falling to pieces and finding yourself again. It is about redefining who you are on your own terms. It offers the next, often unexamined, chapter in the 'chosen one' story  and I cannot wait to see what waits for Simon and the gang next.