wayward son: one big iowa shoutout
- paigenherbooks
- Mar 22, 2024
- 7 min read
4/5
Wayward Son was an intense, emotional, and absolutely chaotic road trip sequel that shook off the fairy dusted cover of the first novel and dived deep into character arcs and angst. It was rough, to be totally honest, but not in a bad way–at all. The sequel to Carry On was one for the books. It dived deep into what makes each and every character who they are, showcasing their insecurities, their weaknesses, and their strengths, wrapped up within a funky Americana road trip. The romance is tricky and punchy, the characters are learning and most times failing, yet Wayward Son delivers everything you’d want in a Rowell novel, magic, witty remarks, random MidWest pit stops, and of course, lots and lots of gay love.
Synopsis: 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.
Let’s get one thing out of the way, my ego is huge.
Why? You may ask.
Not because I am the hottest, most intelligent, funniest, most unique, witty, good time girl to ever exist, no. It’s because in Wayward Son Simon, Baz and Penelope visit Des Moines, Iowa and stop at THE Cheesecake Factory that I myself have seen with my own eyes. It’s located at the Jordan Creek Mall, my favorite mall, and as someone who lives in Des Moines, IA, I was shocked, screaming, and absolutely thrilled that my favorite characters were somewhere so close to my home. It was magical. It was exciting, and honestly Simon and Baz’s differing opinions on Iowa were some of my favorite lines in literature.
The fact that Rowell explored the MidWest was something that was so fun and different about her novel. As someone who avidly kinda detests living in the MidWest, it was oddly comforting and obviously an AHA moment when they named dropped THE Des Moines.
Wayward Son was heavy. It’s the sequel after the “final” battle, the ending to the Chosen One story and it wasn’t what I expected, and I liked that. I haven’t read many “after the final battle” stories and wasn’t totally sure what to expect. Wayward Son showcases the “after”, what do the characters do after they’ve completed their “set” plot line? They journey to America, they kill things (oops) get mixed up in all the wrong and right kinds of things, learn more than anyone could imagine, and miss home more than anything. The thing with Wayward Son is that it’s a story that is so rooted in reality–which I know sounds kinda interesting because it’s a fantasy novel where the main character literally has wings and a tail and his boyfriend is a vampire…oh and their mages. Even with all of that going around, spinning above our heads, the story focuses on real issues that anyone and honestly everyone can relate to. The fear of being known, the fear of not being enough, what to do after everything you’ve ever known is turned upside down, and falling in love. Each one of these topics was explored in it’s raw and excessively messy way throughout the story that not only furthered the plot but gave readers something tangible to think about and relate to.
This book felt like the most sequel sequel to ever sequel, and what I mean by that is that it was a growing pain of a novel, for all of the reason I listed previously. Simon is depressed and is pushing Baz away at a rate that literally had me in tears of frustration. He’s lost: what do you do when you’ve done the one thing you were always suppose to do? The relationship between him and Baz is still one of my favorites because it’s messy, it’s raw, it’s overexposed in the best way and critiqued at every angle. By being in Simon and Baz’s head throughout the novel you get both sides of the story, you feel so deeply and painfully for both of them.
The complexity of falling in love and it being easy because you love the person so much but it being messy due to the existential factors and the things that come up is something that is explored so beautifully within this novel. Simon and Baz are facing a lot, depression, self image, understanding and exploring intimacy, as well as just the intricacies of being in love. We still get moments of tenderness and peace with the two, stolen kisses, and witty remarks that made me giggle and clutch my blanket in a haze of fangirling. This back and forth of realness was something that made the novel heavy yes, yet gave it such a relatability that it was a breath of fresh air. To see the “perfect” couple struggle with such real issues that millions of couples face. I also appreciated that these things Simon & Baz are working through just don’t go away, they have to actually work through them, and sometimes it’s agonizing. It’s endless, it’s an uphill battle, but I am sat down in the front row ready because it’s important. Not only for our beloved characters, but for readers. For it to be normalized that love isn’t alway just sunshine and magic, it’s work, it’s apologizing, it’s learning, it’s talking, and it’s loving. Loving someone even when they don’t love themselves, even when it feels like everything is against you, you still wake up and choose them.
The novel also dives deeper into the beloved character of Penny and how she starts to doubt herself just the slightest. She comes to realize that maybe she isn’t as “perfect” or “put together” as she felt like she was or should be and that it’s totally okay to grow and continue to learn things, as well as be wrong. She starts to question everything she knows and it’s a relatable and agonizing concept that anyone can sympathize with. Seeing that maybe the way your family, institution, community, etc. does something doesn’t mean it’s necessarily right.
The conversation of perception and perspective and how if you’re only living in a bubble it doesn’t mean that it’s the only way to live and that those other ways outside the bubble might be just fine as well. This conglomeration of understanding oneself and fighting against and for the things that we hold so dear and have indoctrinated as parts of “ourselves” is a theme that is very well touched on within Wayward Son. This feeling that all the characters are THE wayward son, the one’s moving on and doing something different, the Chosen One’s “fallen from grace”, the prodigal that may or may not return and they will for sure be different. Within the novel there’s a deep feeling of growth and it’s painful. To see these characters shift and question and move in ways that they are also trying to understand is humbling as well as engaging. To know that this fictional character I hold so close is also struggling and learning values, who they are, sexuality, love, relationships, questioning themselves and everything they know about anything, is reassuring. It makes a reader and a person feel less alone.
One way that Rowell really really showcases this to the readers is through the new character of Sheppard. Sheppard was so annoying within this novel but he grew on me, and that is do to Rowell’s perception and perspective of the novel for the readers (remember my artistically put together rant about this from A Ballad of Song Birds & Snakes? The whole Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy complex—same thing) Sheppard literally appears out of nowhere and starts to contradict everything the trio knows about magic, friends, their world, as well as their station and class system. Sheppard teaches them curiosity, genuineness, how to be friend, and how to question everything, because that is essentially all Sheppard does. He is truly on the hunt for new knowledge and stories, collecting them like infinity stones as a 20 year old homeless Thanos. Like I stated, Sheppard annoyed me quite a bit, I felt like his character was too flat and cookie cutter (because this is how he is suppose to feel, because this is how everyone else see's him, a simple Normal) but through the end of this story and the final installment Any Way The Wind Blows, the reader gets to see a new and deeper side of Sheppard that makes him very likable.
Wayward Son is all about questioning everything. It’s about going off on an adventure and coming back truly changed. Coming back with even more questions than when you left, returning as a new version of yourself that you’re not quite sure about, coming back with an understanding and appreciation of things that you might not have had before. It’s all about the journey.
The ending of this story was rushed, truly. They save the day in a matter of pages, epic pages I’ll add, and then return home. The most Heroes Journey to ever Journey, but that’s the point. Who cares where they started or where they ended, Rainbow Rowell makes it so evidently clear that the point of Wayward Son is the journey.
The middle.
The growing, the grief, the ickiness of it all.
The pains and scars we try to hide, the things we are unsure of all out for everyone to see, but it works. This is a story of love, of relationships, of friendship, of understanding, trying new things, remembering old ones, questions, knowledge, agony, heartbreak, and how hot Baz looks in his mothers silk scarf.
Wayward Son was one hell of an American sequel.
xoxo,
paige
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