Fantastic performance!

TL;DR: I’m a fan of the series, so I’m along for the ride all the way. If you liked Carry On, and liked Euan Morton’s narration, then this is definitely a worthwhile audiobook to get. Having Morton’s superb performance got me through the more dull bits much better than when I read silently. I just hope Morton will return to weave his magic for the audiobook of Any Way The Wind Blows.

So, the longer version:

As usual, the narration is utterly 1st class. Morton reads brilliantly and it’s an utter pleasure to listen to.

As far as the story itself goes, while everything still knits together in the end in the same, satisfying way that is Rowell’s prowess, it all just felt much less…impressive than Carry On. The book feels a lot more meandering than its predecessor, and sadly the very last line cements it as what I most despise about middle books in trilogies: a “bridge book:” a boom that exists purely to set up the final book and the bridge the gap between the first and the last.
Alright, it’s definitely not the worst as far as bridge books go. I enjoyed getting to see Baz and Simon having to act outside of the established roles they had in school. Some of the new characters introduced are interesting enough, but they don’t “pop” the same way the cast of the first book did. They’re not outright boring but not very memorable. Everything feels much more flat, much more sporadic. When the action scenes happen, they seem to appear out of nowhere - as opposed to building naturally - and then vanish while our trusty trio wander around a bit (even though they have a goal, it FEELS like aimless wandering) into the next action that explodes out of nowhere. And until you get to the end, where everything is tied together nicely, it all feels kind of dragged out. Carry On had me wrenching through the pages to get to the end; Wayward Son has parts where my attention definitely wanders. It’s not Rowell’s best, but it’s a decent read for sure.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!