I just did a review of AWTWB on my bookstagram, but i felt that i wanted to do a more comprehensive one here with minimal spoilers cos I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS OMFG so here we go:
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This is it. The end of the Simon snow trilogy that I have grown to love and treasure for the past 4 years. I’ve got to say, Rainbow Rowell really did it with this final book, which I thought was a perfect conclusion to the series that tied everything up neatly. Rainbow mentioned that this book was “an ending about endings, about catharsis and closure, and how we choose to move on from the traumas and triumphs that try to define us.” I couldn’t agree more.
Everything that I found to be incomplete and unsatisfying in Wayward son (Simon Snow Series #2) was handled relatively well in this book, at least to me. Simon and Baz’s relationship felt much more real, as they both started to tackle the complex issues that were holding them back from having the solid relationship that they both desired. Not gonna lie, the first half of the book gave me a lot of pain, especially with all the pent up grief and pain Simon was struggling with, but I soon realised that it was essential for Simon and Baz to overcome these obstacles in order to properly find closure and comfort in each other. Seeing how their relationship evolved throughout the series is extremely heartwarming, as now I am glad that they both love & treasure the true, raw versions of themselves, which I think is essential in a healthy and loving relationship.
Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was Shepard. I don’t remember seeing much of him in Wayward son, which made his character very distant to me, but this book fixed it. His character was just CHEFS KISSES n ngl i wish there was more of him!! what a hottie Penny and Shepard’s relationship was one that I definitely saw coming, and I am so glad that Penny got the ending that she deserved.
And Agatha!! Oh my god i was so happy for her, she finally got the ending she deserved and i am so happy for her After all that she was put through, Im glad she got her own happy ending.
Even though this book might seem too real to be true (esp with all the happy endings), I still think it was the best way to wrap up this whole story, with everyone getting the life that they deserved. There was a small part of the ending that I wish was elaborated on morebut other than that, this finale met most of my expectations.
With this, Thank you @rainbowrowell for creating this magnificent and beautiful series, for it is one that will continue to live on within me for as long as possible.
I GOT SO EMOTIONAL WRITJNG THIS becos it just dawned on me that this is the last simon snow book……lord…
okay but why does it feel like RR wanted to write the agatha pov epilogue from like a realllllly long time and now she’s just rubbing her hands together and cackling ??
good morning to half-dragon guys, gay-harry-styles vampire dudes, cursed black guys with a truck, biracial girls with glasses that got dumped and blonde beauties that got kidnapped by next gen vampires ONLY
I regret not hinting at a future romance for Jamie. There wasn’t enough time to line anybody up.
I like imagining him with Beth
This is a good idea.
Probably better than my idea of tracking down Trixie the Pixie …
I could see him with Beth or Pippa. But the peak awkwardness of frequent Pippa & Baz interactions at Salisbury family dinners is just too tempting to contemplate.
This is an older fic and I’m honestly surprised it doesn’t have more hits. I know some people have read it but it you haven’t check it out!! It’s one of my early favorites and one I come back to again and again.
Summary:
“If you don’t meet your spouse at Watford, Penny says, you could end up alone – or going on singles tours of Magickal Britain.“
Ten years after Watford, Simon is lonely and magic-less, and ends up doing exactly what he vowed he would never do - going on a singles tour of Magickal Britain. The only problem is that out of all the mages in England, he’s been matched with Baz Pitch, who seems just as moody, rude and annoyingly attractive as he used to be.
This is a post-Wayward Son fic that imagines the gang back at Watford after their return from America. It tenderly confronts the idea that Simon retains some residual magic, explores his Salisbury family connections, and gives such a lovely snapshot of this found family, and the depth of love between Simon and Baz. It’s a very healing fic. Canon divergent now that AWTWB is out but oh so worth the read. Just lovely.
Ok, full disclosure, I am so fond of reading domestic fluff and this totally hits the domestic fluff buttons, but it also is a very healing fic to read? It’s like an epilogue to AWTWB. It addresses some of their past Watford-era conflict and it features body worship and intimacy and just go read it! (Also, it’s this author’s first fic in the fandom and I’d like to see more from them.)
Summary:
A night at home a week after events of AWTWB. Simon and Baz in bed. An exploration of scars. Memories of their time at Watford. Confessions. Boys in love. Mostly fluff but a little hint of more. AWTWB spoilers.
We gotta talk about Baz vampire strength and speed like the boy could rip off and throw away a fucking tree and could snap a gun (can’t be bothered to remember what kind) in half and then he could run and catch up with a moving truck in the highway to rip off a monster from it!!
I know his struggles with his own “monsterhood” makes him repress his vampire powers, especially in battle, where he refuses to fight as anything other than a mage. Only Simon getting hurt makes him “go berserk” in a way. His friends being in danger has made him rely on his vampire powers too, but he still holds back then (hence Penny being like “you really forget how scary Baz can be” when he runs alongside the truck and Simon “Mr I will kill a bitch first and ask questions later” being like “Baz never learned how to fight with his fists” and when they were cornered by the monsters in the desert “Baz is the stronger person here so why the fuck isn’t he snapping these fuckers in half”).
Bazcould snap a bitch in half, but he doesn’t want to. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t want to learn how to “properly fight” with his fists in the first place (even though he finds Simon, who knows how to fight, beautiful in battle, but that’s because it’s Simon) because he most likely spend his entire life repressing his super strength, scared as hell of what could happen and how monstrous he could be if he didn’t hold back and bad shit happened. I keep thinking about dumb teenage Simon and Baz getting into physical fights, and it would have been so easy for Baz “I can rip off trees” to lose control and accidentally kill Simon with a punch, meaning that even when he “hated” Simon, even when Simon broke his fucking nose, he was under unbelievable repression and self-control, especially for his age. Which farther proves how Baz was never really evil: he could’ve caused serious damage, but instead was getting into stupid shoving contests with a human boy while clearly using just normal human strength (otherwise we would have learned of Simon fucking flying into another room and getting srly hurt whenever Baz pushed him!)
Anyway, I wish this could’ve been explored more, and that Baz got comfortable enough to unleash his vampire powers in a fight too because honestly they’re cool as fuck! (especially given that the person who has them genuinely cares about not hurting others, so when he does use it, you know it’s cuz a bitch has it coming)
“I huddle close to Baz, half in his lap, while the shock of still being alive passes. He holds me there, a little too tightly. Usually I forget Baz is so much stronger than me. He doesn’t carry himself like he’s that strong. He doesn’t touch me that way. He never pulls or pushes me, not like that. Not any harder than I can push back. I push in a little closer.” Ch. 30, WS
