(4 to 4.5/5) 
 At first, I struggled to get into it. Having read Fangirl, I expected something quite different. It's a big task Rainbow Rowell had set herself to tackle, writing what was supposed to be a fanfiction based on a beloved, non-existent series, and I felt that Carry On didn't successfully pass as such. Also, Simon Snow's world really seemed too close from Harry Potter's, and the attempts to differentiate itself from it too obvious, and didn't always make sense. (such as the absence of structure of the wizard's world) 
 However, once I got into part 2, I managed to completely forget about what I thought the book was supposed to be, and got lost into the story itself. Which I really loved. Some of my initial criticism still stands, but everything else, I grew to like: the characters, their adventures, as well as the romance, even though it felt rushed at times. 
 The ending is also great, and I love the few twists Rainbow Rowell purposedly gave to the genre. In a way, it kinda works as a criticism of previous Chosen One stories, what they got wrong. And even if this one doesn't get everything right, it's still a nice improvement on some fronts.