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A review by itsaripotter
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell
3.0
Not quite the triumphant return to form I'd hoped for, but miles ahead of the second book.
I don't care a lick about Penny, Shepherd, or Agatha, and frankly, neither does the story. For the amount of screen time they're given, there's nothing in their arcs that's of consequence and I was bored making my way through them to whatever Simon and Baz were up to.
Penny spends the entire time helping Shepherd get rid of his curse and developing a romance, and at the end you're like, "Ok, but why did that matter?". It didn't. We're given this plotline as if we're invested in Penny and Shepherd as strongly as Simon and Baz, but I doubt anyone is.
Agatha is also developing a romance and "saving" some goats. We're told how important these goats are, but it in no way plays into the climax of the story. Apparently normals can see the school near the end, so that could be because of the goats, but it's also suggested that it's due to the primary antagonist? And we see that Agatha is becoming the new groundskeeper, but why does it matter? She even admits that she is unsure if she's friends with Simon and Baz anymore, so why is she being given all of this spotlight?
Touching back on the primary antagonist, the new chosen one is SUCH a weak villain. His plan ends up being filled with loads of gaps, the primary one being: EVERYONE WILL KNOW HE'S NOT THE CHOSEN ONE ONCE IT'S REALIZED HIS SPELL DOESN'T WORK LIKE HE'S ADVERTISING. His explanation is literally, "by then, it will be too late." How? Surely all the OTHER people he hasn't made use up their magic would nullify him immediately. You know, all of the strong magicians he's leaving untouched? It would've been more insidious if he were siphoning their power, but the most insidious thing he does is have a mute girl bound in a basement.
What does work is that we finally have some development in Simon and Baz's relationship, and we FINALLY see teenage boys acting with each other like normal teenage boys would. There's romance, and there's fear of that romance (apparently all the feelings in the first book had to be mitigated to create a conflict for the second, all so they could be mended in the third, but I digress). Their relationship feels real, and it's a welcome change from Wayward Son.
That said, Rainbow Rowell really seems to be grasping at straws attempting to continue this series. Instead of having all of these diverging narratives with plots that are boring, inconsequential, and don't contribute to the overall narrative, focus on developing a solid central plotline and have the ensemble resume their previous roles: being necessary physical and emotional support for Simon and Baz.
I don't care a lick about Penny, Shepherd, or Agatha, and frankly, neither does the story. For the amount of screen time they're given, there's nothing in their arcs that's of consequence and I was bored making my way through them to whatever Simon and Baz were up to.
Penny spends the entire time helping Shepherd get rid of his curse and developing a romance, and at the end you're like, "Ok, but why did that matter?". It didn't. We're given this plotline as if we're invested in Penny and Shepherd as strongly as Simon and Baz, but I doubt anyone is.
Agatha is also developing a romance and "saving" some goats. We're told how important these goats are, but it in no way plays into the climax of the story. Apparently normals can see the school near the end, so that could be because of the goats, but it's also suggested that it's due to the primary antagonist? And we see that Agatha is becoming the new groundskeeper, but why does it matter? She even admits that she is unsure if she's friends with Simon and Baz anymore, so why is she being given all of this spotlight?
Touching back on the primary antagonist, the new chosen one is SUCH a weak villain. His plan ends up being filled with loads of gaps, the primary one being: EVERYONE WILL KNOW HE'S NOT THE CHOSEN ONE ONCE IT'S REALIZED HIS SPELL DOESN'T WORK LIKE HE'S ADVERTISING. His explanation is literally, "by then, it will be too late." How? Surely all the OTHER people he hasn't made use up their magic would nullify him immediately. You know, all of the strong magicians he's leaving untouched? It would've been more insidious if he were siphoning their power, but the most insidious thing he does is have a mute girl bound in a basement.
What does work is that we finally have some development in Simon and Baz's relationship, and we FINALLY see teenage boys acting with each other like normal teenage boys would. There's romance, and there's fear of that romance (apparently all the feelings in the first book had to be mitigated to create a conflict for the second, all so they could be mended in the third, but I digress). Their relationship feels real, and it's a welcome change from Wayward Son.
That said, Rainbow Rowell really seems to be grasping at straws attempting to continue this series. Instead of having all of these diverging narratives with plots that are boring, inconsequential, and don't contribute to the overall narrative, focus on developing a solid central plotline and have the ensemble resume their previous roles: being necessary physical and emotional support for Simon and Baz.