Any Way The Wind Blows: Rainbow Rowell

We meet again!

You know what I love about the bookish world? I love that there have been so many careers made out of fanfiction and so many opportunities that have been presented to talented people because of it. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell has always reminded me of that, and the fact that Rowell made the fictional world into three more books was just incredible for me. I finished off the series, and as sad as I am to see it go, (I think?) I am excited to talk about this book. Here we go :)

Brief synopsis:

Any Way the Wind Blows picks up right where Wayward Son left off. Simon, Baz, Penny, Agatha and Shepherd are back in London after their disastrous adventures in America, and Simon’s being Simon. Don’t get me wrong, I love him and Baz so much, but oh my gosh can these guys get it together?

Simon is battling on whether or not he wants to get his tail and wings removed (my vote is a definite no) and he also has a startling realization that the Mage has left some things in his possession. Penny is facing the reality of trying to help Shep with his demon curse and Simon’s issues, while Baz is back with his family and trying to make Simon not block him out.

Simon does more than just block Baz out and finally ends their tumultuous relationship, just to turn around and come back beginning for more the next day. I’m telling you guys, I love these two, but they make their lives so much more complicated than they need to be. Honestly.

Meanwhile, Agatha is working at her dad’s surgery and starts to get close to the surly, grumpy but somehow irresistibly interesting Niamh. She begins to journey with Niamh back to the grounds of Watford to take care of the goats that Ebb used to care for. Which, it comes to pass, are more important than originally believed by the group.

Through some light investigation, Baz and Simon find out that there are rumors of more “Chosen Ones” out there, now that Simon isn’t the BMOC anymore. One such CO is Smith Smith-Richards (awful name). Baz finds out that his stepmother is tangled in the web of this so-called savior, so Baz and Simon decide that they’re going to attend one of the meetings and find out what he’s all about.

This Smith Smith-Richards is supposedly “healing” people that can’t do magic as well as they wish they could. Sounds too good to be true, right? Mhhhmmm.

Penny is busy with Shep, working to figure out this curse for better or worse. That’s a great choice of words here, because it comes to pass that Shep’s curse goes a lot deeper than just your run-of-the-mill condemnation to hell. However, he has Penny on his side, and when has she ever let something like this pass? It doesn’t hurt that the more time she spends with Shep, the more she notices the many, many adorable things about him.

Though the group is separate a lot in this book, they of course end up coming together for the ultimate showdown, which of course also takes place at Watford, because where else would it be? There’s flying goats, a birth (yes, you read that right) Simon flying off being heroic while clutching the bad guy and repelling spells, and the younger generation saving the day for the older generation as usual.

Is this really the last book in this series? Is that a for sure thing? I’m not saying I’m mad about it or anything, but I do think that it has the potential to continue as well.

My rating:

I’m going to go with a solid 7.5/10 here. All the back and forth with Baz and Simon just got tiring for me after a while. I loved everything else though.

Favorite Quote(s):

“Everything about me is something no one wants to talk about.”

“How bored do you have to be to do terrible things for the sake of having a secret?”

“He’s starting to feel more real than everything else. He’s starting to feel like the one thing that’s supposed to be here.”

“It’s almost impossible to hide from someone you love.”

A book I read with similar vibes:

This story and the way that Rowell writes them has always seemed so unique to me, I’m not sure if I actually have a comparison ready here. Bravo to Rowell.

Check out my Goodreads (Traci Bishop) to see what I’m currently reading and to see a good chunk of the books I have already read. My Instagram can be found on the home page and I will share whenever a new post is up as well!

Until next time <3