By far my favorite book of the series, Any Way the Blows is the perfect ending to an otherwise tumultuous journey for Simon Snow. He’s dealing with rather mundane problems, such as an inheritance that he doesn’t believe he deserves, but also the emergence of a new Chosen One. The chosen one promises to fix the magic of weak mages, something that obviously appeals to Simon, given that he had lost all of his magic in order to save the World of Mages; Baz is more skeptical. Worth the read, the penultimate book strives to give readers a little bit of everything from magical deviants to a happy ending.

Unlike the first two works of the series, the third installment tackles issues that are more common among people than most realize. For example, the book largely centers around identity issues, as Simon believes everything he is hearing about the person that claims to be able to heal magic. As readers, it’s clear that Rowell is making a statement regarding his self-preconceptions, but ultimately he comes to peace with this new version of himself. This allows him to actually fall in love with Baz, and their ending is as adorable as you can expect from Rainbow Rowell. 

In addition, Simon, rather begrudgingly, learns to accept himself for who he is after being born into a role that he was not quite ready to grasp as a child. He does this with the help of his friends, and the show of friendship throughout the work from Baz is something to strive for. We know that they end up together in the end, but Baz was there for Simon, whenever he needed him as a shoulder to lean on, and if that’s not true friendship, I don’t know what is. 

Amidst all of the chaos surrounding our heroic trio, Agatha quietly blossomed into who she was meant to be all along. She wasn’t the girlfriend of the hero or the damsel in distress, but rather a strong willed magician, who finally found her path in life. She was the only one to get an epilogue, which was a little bit of a bummer, but if I had to pick one character to have a happily ever after, it would’ve been her. She was perhaps my favorite part of the work, because I truly enjoyed getting to see a female character that was allowed to blossom into herself. We had seen Penny be independent and learn how to navigate life on her own, but the third book definitely allowed Agatha some room to grow, which I’m sure fans of science fiction can appreciate. 

Overall, I thought that the book was a perfect wrapup to the story. Simon and Baz are allowed to ride off into the sunset, with Penny following close behind. Agatha had her version of a happy ending, and the gang is content with their lives. There’s not much more you can ask for from Rowell in this series, because everything turned out okay. 

This book is well deserving of a four out of five stars, and has persuaded me to look into more Rainbow Rowell works. This series definitely had a little bit of everything and I can’t wait to see if I can find more like it!