Heh, turns out I never wrote a proper review of this book the first time around. Better late than never, I guess. ("Better late than never" would be a great spell if you were running late to something.) 
 ANYHOW. Simon Snow is the Chosen One, but he doesn't really want to be. He's having problems with his long-time girlfriend, but at least he still has Penelope on his side. And, unexpectedly, his vampire roommate Baz is also coming over to his side...it's confusing, but whatever, they have bigger things to deal with. Like the Insidious Humdrum, the entity that sucks magic out of the world and also resembles a messy young Simon. And finding the person who killed Baz's mum, there's that, too. And the fact that Simon and Baz seem to be developing feelings other than loathing--unadulterated loathing!--for each other. (Oh man, now I'm imagining a much gayer version of Wicked and why is that not the version on Broadway?) 
 The great part about Carry On is that it's a real novel based off of fictional fanfic based off of a fake book series in the fictional Fangirl. Which is awesome. Even though I read in 2015 during the weekend when I was practically eloping, I'm really glad I re-read it in audiobook form. Euan Morton does a fabulous job with the characters and I got to spend weeks in the World of Mages, instead of inhaling it in a few days like I did the first time around. 
 Which brings me to my only real complaint about the book...because there's just the one (and ostensibly final book in the hypothetical eight-book series), the reader has little understanding or affection for how the magic actually works. In Harry Potter, you spend the first four books learning alllll about the magic and how it impacts things, but there wasn't really a sense of that in Carry On. (Also, I think the spell system of common phrases is kinda dumb, but I'm pretty sure that's just me.) But I wouldn't be surprised if there will be a sequel of this sooner rather than later, so I may just get my wish after all. 
 The real strength of the book is in the character dynamics. It's all so good. I love how Rowell manages to make this book a triple threat...it's all at once a convincing homage to Chosen One stories, a skewering of the same thing, and a real, fascinating story in its own right. And that's pretty amazing. 
 Sidebar: We discussed Carry On in book club last week because if there's one thing my teens can all agree on, it's gay wizards. For our introductory activity, I made the teens think of a new spell based off of a meme. Two of my faves were "One does not simply..." for when you want to make something more difficult for somebody and "Oh rly?" as a sarcasm spell. One of my teens made rainbow fudge and it was a really stellar book club.