This is one of those reviews that I think really needs a note at the top. I love this book and I probably still would if I read it, but I think it's quite important to acknowledge that Rainbow Rowell is very problematic and that her LGBT+ representation in this book is quite flawed. Being bi myself, I am disappointed at her inability to use the "b" word to describe Simon's sexuality, making it seem like he can only be either gay or straight.

Also the sequel is awful, 10/10 don't recommend continuing.
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“You were the sun, and I was crashing into you. I'd wake up every morning and think, 'This will end in flames.'”

I went into this book knowing how much I love Rainbow Rowell, knowing this is sort-of a take on Harry Potter, knowing everybody and their mom thought it was boring for the first 100+ pages. I finished it realizing that I had complete misconceptions of what it would be like.

1-It was unlike any Rainbow Rowell book I have ever read, except for the amount of kissing and romantic lines. Though, the main difference here is that those kisses and those romantic lines were said in a fantasy setting. FANTASY, GUYS. I have come to the conclusion that Rainbow Rowell can write any genre. I would read her take on a phonebook because, let's be real here, it'd be hilarious and she'd somehow make it shippable.

2-Sure, it is like Harry Potter, because essentially, this is the fan-fiction (I think?) Cath was writing in Fangirl. The book she based her fan-fiction on comes across very similar to Harry Potter, so I really was expecting a knock-off. What I wasn't expecting was a book drastically different from Harry Potter in that there are more vampires, a completely different sort-of villain, and a magic system that doesn't really resemble the Wizarding World's at all. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe consider this a retelling of Harry Potter, given I'm 90% sure she was inspired by it (The other 10% is a safety net if I'm wrong here).

3-It was not boring. Not at all. Every second was a roller coaster I never wanted to get off. The first fifty pages are definitely an info-dump, but I didn't actually find it a boring one. Rowell's prose isn't flowery in the slightest. That means that I am not trudging through her words. The plot is simple; the writing is simple--everything I need in a book to keep the plot moving quickly.

“You have to pretend you get an endgame. You have to carry on like you will; otherwise, you can't carry on at all.”

I have a few small quibbles, but they aren't large enough for the rating to go from four to five. First, it seemed like Rowell was smashing a very long story into a box not large enough for it. That usually doesn't work. This could have been expanded into a trilogy or in the least, a duology.

Second, the spell system was just plain weird. It would have been more realistic if the spells were in Latin or at least pretty. However, I felt like Rowell just sat down to her computer and didn't put any effort whatsoever into creating the phrases.

Third, there's one thing that cannot be fixed by expanding this book: the fact that it started out too late in the story. The whole info-dump in the first fifty pages? Yeah, that's about the page seven or so years Simon and Baz spent at this school together. That can't really be fixed unless she really did copy Harry Potter and made it a seven book series. Though, my complaints about this faded once I got to the rest of the book...

So it may sound like I'm complaining here, but THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. I couldn't put it down. Honestly, I think I carried it around with me at school that day in my arms. I finished it during my history class and could not stop grinning. One of my friends literally said, "I want a guy to look at me how she looks at her books". I was really proud of myself at that moment. God, this book though. THIS BOOK. It destroyed me, but in a good way? I don't know how to describe it. It ended so perfectly and I was just sitting there like, "I NEED MORE". Painfully, I remind the world that there is no more. No sequel. No life after this. It ended. Excuse me while I cry over a book I finished a month and a half ago. Yes, that seriously is how late I am at writing this review. I am crying over that as well.

Anyway, go read this book. There are so many mixed reviews and qualms about the plot being boring, but you might be an outlier like me! You might love the whole entire thing! Maybe the little small things won't even bother you! So give it a try!

-Book Hugger
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