my thoughts on wayward son
i just finished wayward son and OH BOY. there’s a lot to unpack here.
my overall opinion: wayward son was an underwhelming sequel, but proved itself to be a very satisfying worldbuilding novel in what seems to be a very promising series of novels.
let’s start with what i liked:
- the worldbuilding! wow. it was so interesting to see the very different ways magic behaves in america. even the little things, such as speakers/talkers/bleeders vs mages/normals/vampires... very facinating
- simon and baz’s relationship. it was a very real and accurate portrayal of loving someone through mental illness. yes, it was hard to read, but it also felt necessary. it felt very fitting for where they are in life, but that isn’t to say that the relationship was perfectly written either.
- SHEPARD. such a fun character who seems to have so much versatility! i can’t wait to see how shepard fits into the next novel/s in this series. also, is it too soon to ship him and penny?
- nownext. there weren’t many things that i liked about this storyline, however i do find it interesting that humans think of vampirism as something cool unlike actual vampires.
- (some) SNOWBAZ!!!!!! BAZ TEACHING SIMON HOW TO DRIVE!!! THEM IN THE TRUCK!!! ALL THE LITTLE INNER MONOLOGUES WHERE THEY THINK THE OTHER IS SO PRETTY. ugh. i love.
- BAZ AND PENNY FRIENDSHIP HELL YES. hahaha they got more canon content than snowbaz lmaofsjdkfd that spell baz used that was a family??/ does that mean that he thinks penny as his family??? LOVE THAT
- AGATHA!!!! hell yes for agatha content. she seems like she’s growing into the person she had always wanted to be. her saving the day in the end was a very nice touch and felt almost as a way to wrap up her arc.
now onto the things i didn’t really like:
- okay, it must be said. i don’t know what it is, but there is something wrong with the way simon and baz’s relationship that makes me feel very uncomfortable. i can’t put my finger on what it is, but there’s something wrong. it almost feels like simon and baz.... but not entirely.
- another significant problem i had was that simon mentioned going to therapy and then all of a sudden stopped. and... it was never talked about again??? HELLO????
- i’m well aware we’re probably getting another book, but why was simon and baz’s relationship treated like that? i understand that they’ve got communication issues and years of teenage angst, but the fact that there was no communication felt understandable up until the point it got infuriating. and when they start to talk, penny cuts in? it felt wrong to me.
- what happened to simon’s personality? it felt like he was more baz’s boyfriend than the protagonist of the story before. it might be just me but simon didn’t feel... right
- but by far the biggest problem i had with the story was that nothing happened. nownext wasn’t defeated. the vampires in las vegas are still vampires. we know nothing about what might happen next. (unlike in hunger games, catching fire, when there was a subtle idea for mockingjay.)
tl:dr - it was a fine book, but i do believe that even sequels should be able to stand alone (to some extent). the ending felt very rushed and i feel almost baited. at the end of the novel i was left thinking: that’s it?
7.5/10 sour cherry scones
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