Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow Trilogy Book 3)

Top positive review

The sequel we’ve been waiting for!

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2021

I loved this book SO MUCH! I loved Carry On. A lot. It’s one of my favorite books. But I was disappointed by Wayward Son the first time I read it. (I enjoyed it much more when I recently did a re-listen.) Wayward Son served it’s purpose, it gave us Shepard, and it made me like Agatha and brought her back to London, and it gave them all a fun side quest. But this book is the sequel we’ve been waiting for. It ties up all the loose ends. It was emotional and it dug deep into relationships and was exciting and full of revelations. It was absolutely wonderful!!! I can’t wait to listen to the audio version. Euan Morton has done an amazing job narrating this series. This trilogy has just been awesome. I can’t wait to see what Rainbow comes up with next.

20 people found this helpful

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What a mess...

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2021

This book is... not good. It's really all over the place and try as I might, I can't find anything to like about it. The first book in the series was a clever deconstruction of "chosen one" narrative. The second was an arguably more interesting story about a group of young adults learning to deal with their trauma. This one... I don't even know what it's supposed to be. The chosen one narrative and the trauma are back and fighting, very lazily I might add, for attention with several other sub-narratives. It's never clear at any point what the main story of this book is. In fact, I count something like six sub-plots competing with eachother throughout the book, with no central theme tying them together - unless that theme is a lack of any satisfying resolution. The narrative prespectives are muddled, the plotting is poor and untimely, with what passes for "resolution" scattered haphazzardly throughout the latter sections of the book, totally unrelated to any of the events unfolding around them. I'm honestly surprised that the story was published in this condition. I was hoping that this story would tie up the series in a satisfying way and I was badly disappointed. I cannot recommend this book to anyone.

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Rocinante

The sequel we’ve been waiting for!

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2021

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20 people found this helpful

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Julsjenny @bookhoardersbook

Wonderful ending to a wonderful trilogy

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2022

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Wow! The final installment of Rainbow Rowell's Simon Snow Trilogy "Any Way the Wind Blows" definitely topped the first two books of the trilogy.

"I'm always holding on by a thread! I thought the important thing was that I'm holding on!"

With everyone back in England, book three takes the reader into a deeper understanding of each character that we have all come to like (or dislike) through this trilogy. The characters building is such a wonderful end to this trilogy, showing us the human side of themselves,whether it be within love relationships, friendships or even within themselves in their personal growths. I also loved how Simon Snow truly does not define his sexuality and that it doesn't really matter in the realm of his love for Baz, showing the readers that love is more important than defining your identity with a specific sexuality.

"I suppose I'm gay; my therapist says it's not even in the top five things I have to sort out right now"

I highly recommend this Young adult, fantasy fiction. There is a definite LQTBQ+ theme but the story goes deeper than that. It shows connections between friends and families, whether magical or Normals.

"We can't come apart like this. We're not made of pieces that come apart."

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Steven from Cleveland, OH

A Wonderful Addition

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2021

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I've waited well over a month to write a review.....it seems everything to be said has been said, so I'll make this brief. First of all, this volume really moves the Baz/Simon relationship along significantly - finally! It was getting a bit boring in the last book and I advocated for some progress in their story in my review back then. What I, personally, had little use for was the sub-story of Agatha and Niamh - that all left me unimpressed and even bored, except I really did like what happened between Agatha and the goats and Ebb's grave. And Penelope dealing with the Demon was great - although I think she deserves a mage to be romantically involved with! So, what I really wanted to write about is this: in several ways, this book opens the door to another book in the series. Things like Simon finding a real family (let alone his relationship with Baz growing all the time and so well), the love between Simon and Baz, the whole notion of Simon being drawn to having Baz "feed" on him and he tasting Baz's blood: fascinating! Could Siman become like Baz - a vampire/mage? And is Baz really a vampire.....with all of his human qualities like eating real food, etc.? I hope there's more to come......this entire story is so cool!

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Andrew C Stackhouse

Beautiful & Healing End to the Simon Snow Trilogy

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2021

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“Any Way The Wind Blows” by Rainbow Rowell is the gloriously queer & beautiful conclusion to her Simon Snow Trilogy. A book that I never thought would exist a few years ago. What started as an homage / parody / deconstruction of Harry Potter Drarry fanfiction became a wonderfully humorous & yet deep thing of its own. I love this book, & frankly, to me, it is perfect (or as close as I need it to be). Penelope & Shepard, Simon & Baz, & Agatha & a new character all get their own separate plot lines that weave in & out of one another. I love these & so many of the secondary characters so much. This is a book of healing & love & loss & courage. There’s boy x boy kissing, & girls kissing girls, & a badass witch kissing a Normal. There’s also so many tender family moments. I can’t recommend this series enough. I look forward to re-reading it too many times & shoving it in anyone’s hands I can. It makes me believe or wonder (maybe?), that I’ll find love again too.

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Suzyqtexas

Got James Blake playing on repeat

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2021

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Just fantastic. I loved these books and will be a bit sad that the story is over. Such a creative storyline and delightful writing style. Cheers to a good read!

4 people found this helpful

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Krios

Stunning work.

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2021

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I got this book a few days ago and set to reading it yesterday. It took me 9 hours (with breaks) to finish the entire thing. I LOVED it but I do kind of feel like maybe she forced a relationship or two. I love everything that happened, don’t get me wrong, it just felt a tiny bit forced. I’m SO glad Simon and Baz worked everything out and finally have the relationship they deserve. I’m sad that it’s over now, but I’m also happy that I got to be a part of this adventure until the end. I read Fangirl first, YEARS ago and then got Carry On after that, and then Wayward Son 1-2 years ago, and then finally Any Way the Wind Blows a few days ago. I’m glad I got to read the entire thing from start to finish.

If I ever got to meet Rainbow in real life I’d probably cry and thank her for writing this trilogy.

2 people found this helpful

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Lee

What can I say that would do this book justice?

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2021

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To put it simply I loved everything about this book. I loved carry on. I loved wayward son(though it broke my heart at times) and I loved anyway the wind blows. I never would have that thought that reading carry on half heartedly would lead me here, three books later. I don't think I've ever read a trilogy so fast before( I'm a bit impressed with myself and a bit shocked to say the least) Rainbow truly did something here with the world she created and I am honored that I was given the opportunity to experience it. The mending of broken hearts and interactions with old and new characters made this book so enjoyable that I wish I could read it a second time. I found my self placing a sticky note on every part that I liked but i decided that I probably shouldn't because then I would run of of sticky notes. (Spoiler warning)The intimate scenes between Baz and Simon really made the book for me. It pained me the way they were in waywardson and the beginning of this book just hit me while I was down. But I loved the reconstruction of their relationship from the ground up and the challenges they had to overcome together. My heart is now at ease and I hope that Rainbow will continue to make beautiful worlds like this one, with even more beautiful written characters.

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Fitting Conclusion to the Simon Snow Saga

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2021

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NOTE: There are some spoilers for the book and the series in this review. If you haven't read the book yet, go read it, and then come back to see if our thoughts about it are similar!

To say I was eagerly anticipating the release of this novel would be a massive understatement. I loved the first two books in this series, and Simon and Baz are some of my favorite characters I've ever read. The first novel was a fun deconstruction of the Chosen One story. The second story was not what I expected but turned out to be a really interesting look into the psyche of someone who loses everything they've ever known. I don't think I've ever read a book quite like it that explored what happens to the Chosen One once he's fulfilled his role and is no longer 'chosen' anymore. So, I was excited to see what the finale of the narrative had in store, and, for the most part, the book lived up to my expectations.

The pace of the book was lightning fast. I never really wanted to put it down, and the overall plot was interesting and kept me hooked. There was a lot going on because each of the main characters had their own subplots that sort of came together in the very end. They were all enjoyable to varying degrees and seemed focused on a central theme for all the characters: identifying who they were and what that means for their life moving forward. For the most part, I enjoyed getting the multiple POVs throughout the story, but there were times I think it was used a bit too much. For example, one chapter had multiple POV changes during the same scene, which created some confusion in keeping up with the dialogue because I couldn't remember whose POV it was to know who was talking at times.

All of the characters really shined in this book and exhibited quite a bit of growth and change from where they were at the start of the novel. Simon was still struggling with determining who he was after losing all of his magic and spent most of the book on a journey of figuring out his identity. His hardships and growth were compelling to read, and the book's exploration of his sexual orientation and his struggle to attach a label to himself were great representation for people still unsure of how to define themselves. Baz spent a good bit of the story coming to terms with some of the bad things he did in the name of his family, and Penelope learned how to color outside the lines a bit by breaking more rules than ever and being more independent from Simon. Agatha also grew to find her place in the world now that she is no longer the girlfriend of the Chosen One who is always getting kidnapped. Overall, all their stories were engaging, but I did miss having the entire gang together. They spent most of the book on their individual journeys, which resulted in a loss of the spark their interactions as a group gave the two previous books.

The main plot of the book about the arrival of new Chosen Ones was interesting and created a great dilemma for Simon. It also acted as a good reflection of some current political affairs with its focus on conspiracy theories and leaders who promise salvation and restoration of former glory but instead bring nothing but lies and deceit. Although, I can't make up my mind if the ending was somewhat repetitive or just a great mirror of the first story to bookend the series. The ending also left quite a few things unanswered and felt a bit rushed. I would have liked more time to see what Simon does with the information he learns at the end of the book, and the book never answered what got amplified within him from the spell.

The best part of this book was undoubtedly the relationship between Simon and Baz. The writing does a great job of conveying how difficult it was for the characters, especially Simon, to build intimacy and connection. The book also shows excellent examples of how consent works within a relationship, and I was happy to see it explored in such depth. ***MAJOR SPOILER***They really were great together, which I was happy about after how horrible they were together in the last book. The first part of this book continued their relationship problems from the last novel with the rest of the book focusing on how they overcome them. If I have one major complaint, I think the first part of this book should have actually been the ending of the second book. It would have made some of the turnabout in their relationship seem less sudden and drastic, especially if their was a slight time gap between the two stories. Despite this flaw, the growth of their relationship in this book was a joy to read and made me happy for them.

Overall, I enjoyed this book just as much as I expected. The relationship between Baz and Simon was front and center while also giving each individual character an interesting arc of growth. I still have some questions and think some things could have been done differently to improve the story. But I'm sure I will re-read this book and the entire series over and over again. Therefore, I rate the book 4 out of 5 stars.

6 people found this helpful

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Luongo

A great ending to a great series

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2021

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Loved it! After how depressing Wayward son was with regards to Simon and Baz's relationship, it was great to see them working at it all through the book, addressing the issues they have (especially Simon). The other plots (Penny and Shepard, and Agatha with the other character) were pretty damn good, too. The reveal near the end felt a bit tacked on, but eh. Overall, great experience.

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Kim

The End of The Era

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2021

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I've been reading the Simon Snow Series from the very beginning. I actually teared up when this book was delivered to my Kindle at 12 am. It did NOT disappoint! Ms. Rowell called back moments of the previous books and weaved an excellent new tale to bring closure to her characters. I highly recommend this series.

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Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow Trilogy Book 3)

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