Carry On: Simon Snow Trilogy, Book 1

A few notable characters die or are injured, usually during magical duels or fights. One character is kidnapped and kept alive but under frightening conditions. Magical persons and creatures kill one another in occasionally bloody ways. A vampire hunts for animals to feed on so he doesn't have to drink from humans and sully his family name.

A few passionate kisses between two teen boys. One jokes that their relationship isn't the "erotic gropefest" he dreamed of and is mostly holding hands and kissing. Flashbacks to a couple who conceive a baby for a particular purpose. A male character recalls thinking he could "wank" his feelings out so he could stop obsessing about his crush.

Frequent strong language includes "f--k," "f--king" (as an exclamation, not a verb), "s--t," "arsehole," "arse," "bloody," "wanker," "tosser," "tit" (as insult, not body part), "git," "bastard," "bitch," and so on. Given the life-and-death circumstances these characters live in, the language doesn't seem gratuitous. The word "fags" is used the British way: as another word for cigarette, not a pejorative term for gay.

A couple of characters smoke cigarettes or fondly recall smoking. An adult woman occasionally rolls her own joints. A character describes sharing someone else's power as feeling drunk.

Parents need to know that Carry On is best-selling author Rainbow Rowell's third young-adult novel, a fantasy spin-off of the story-within-a-story in Fangirl -- with her own twist. What started out as a tribute to Harry Potter in Fangirl gets its own fleshed-out final story in an imagined franchise. The book contains some fantasy/magical violence that kills or injures a few characters and threatens the magical world of the book. The central romance plays out between the protagonist and his male roommate, who share a few passionate kisses. Strong language is used throughout (including "f--k" and "s--t"), and a couple of characters smoke cigarettes.