The group leaves for the United States after their final exams. (It is unknown at this time, but NowNext is also known as NextBlood, a vampire cult.) It is also in an attempt to bring Simon out of his shell, as he has become obviously depressed. Agatha tells them not to since she will be out of town at a NowNext retreat for members and guests.

She suggests that they go to the United States for a holiday to visit Agatha, who now lives in California. Wayward Son begins with Penelope wanting a change of scene. There are interludes from new characters as well, including Shepard. The story is narrated by multiple characters, including Simon, Baz, Agatha and Penny.

Wayward Son opens about a year and a half after Simon Snow's final showdown with the humdrum and shows that a lot has changed since he fell from grace as the 'Chosen One'. The novel is the second book in the Simon Snow trilogy, which is a spinoff of the novel Fangirl. The story is narrated by multiple characters. The group finds themselves in the United States under the guise of visiting their friend, Agatha, in California, but the story takes the characters on a road trip filled with cryptids, self-discovery, and a new friend. It explores their young adult lives and how they navigate them now that Simon destroyed the biggest threat to the World of Mages, the universe's British sect of magic.

The story follows Simon Snow and his friends a year and a half after the end of the first book of the trilogy, Carry On. And I’ve listened to it a lot.Wayward Son is the fourth young adult novel written by Rainbow Rowell, published in 2019. So you can have all these “I love you, don’t touch me” feelings when you’re with someone you love.Īs Simon describes it - “that static that I usually feel, like what’s happening between us is a building I have to run out of before it collapses on me.”

Just letting someone into your physical space can make you panic. “It’s just that I fell in love with a warĪlso, trauma, abuse and neglect kind of train you to keep other people at a safe distance. It doesn’t transform you from someone who fights into someone who loves. It doesn’t erase all your previous damage. You love me so hard, and I still can’t sleepįor me, this song is about how being in love - even being in love with someone wonderful - doesn’t fix you. Like, I heard this song and thought, “That’s it. This song sums up Simon so completely in Wayward Son that I didn’t add it to the Spotify playlist until after the book came out.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell