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.

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.

[1] 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".

They drive until their car breaks down; they find themselves in a Quiet Zone, or a place where there is no magic due to the lack of "Normals" (non-magical people) in the area.

Simon, Baz, and Penny do not take too kindly to Shepard until he saves them from American cryptids that rule over the quiet zones.

To find out more about the NowNext, or NextBlood (a group of self-made vampires), she tells them to go towards The Katherine, a hotel in Las Vegas.

After some harsh conversation, Lamb, whom the group learns is the vampire Governor of the US, leads them to the NextBlood so they can rescue Agatha.

By the time they reach the lab where they work, Shepard is asleep and Penny and Simon learn that they are in a Quiet Zone.

They are able to defeat the NowNext vampires using magic, Baz killing the leader, due to the Burning Man festival.

They spend a few days there and, in that time, Penny learns that a demon cursed Shepard while Simon tries to break up with Baz.

He still has the red dragon wings and devil tail he gave himself in Carry On and is described as laying on the couch all day, drinking ciders, watching day-time television, and eating.

[3] Penny and Baz collectively care for Simon, but because of his loss of magic, their constant use of it starts making him grumpy and distant.

[6] Wayward Son is the second part of the Simon Snow Trilogy, with Any Way the Wind Blows being its sequel.

NPR's Caitlyn Paxson described it as "a very enjoyable read, rendered even more fun than its predecessor by the fact that it isn't encumbered by its inspirational material."

[8] Vox reporter Constance Grady agrees that the story is much like Harry Potter, but praises Carry On's fanfiction-esque qualities, noting "it's enormous fun to read, a delirious candy-coated romp of a book that you can devour in a single evening.

[10] It was also nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2019)[11] and was included on the American Library Association's "2020 YALSA Teens' Top Ten Titles".