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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
2.0
“It's important to remember that we all change each other's minds all the time. Any good story is a mind-altering substance.”
WARNING: it's another unpopular opinion review!!
I know that this isn't exactly my typical read, but I was pleasantly surprised by the first book back when I read it two years ago. I then discovered that the sequel fitted more than one 2024 challenge, and I decided to pick up A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor on a whim. I'm not sure if I was simply in the wrong reading mood or if this sequel is really quite different from the first book, but the fact is that I ended up struggling immensely with this story. I came close to DNFing more than once, and I kind of wish I had to be honest. Don't get me wrong, this series in general has a very interesting concept and the Carls were fascinating to read about. It was in the execution and plot structure where this story lost me... A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor uses a multiple POV structure on top of mixed media pieces inserted into the plot, and the result ended up being a bit of a muddled and chaotic mess. The plot jumps all over the place, and certain POVs are extremely tedious and slow down the pace a LOT. There was an overdose of focus on politics and social issues, and at times it felt more like propaganda rather than a YA sci-fi read. Seriously, I was bored to tears at times, and I caught myself skimreading more than once. The social media angle and virtual reality addiction was neat, but it kind of got buried under too many other elements to make a real impact. The plot itself was slowgoing with so much focus on the 'propaganda' part, and as a result the story dragged considerably and was simply way too overlong. I confess that I skimread most of the second half, and I kind of wish I had just DNFed it instead... There is no doubt that A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor and me REALLY didn't get along. That said, I seem to be in the minority, so it might just be my fickle reading mood acting up again.
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Racism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Grief, and Physical abuse
shoohoob's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Grief, and Kidnapping
cosmicwillow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Kidnapping, Violence, and Death
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
- speculative science fiction
- set in New York City
- follows main character 23-year-old messy bisexual April as she takes a video of a “Carl,” a 10-foot Transformer wearing samurai armory, and then goes viral
- more Carls pop up all over the world and people begin having similar dreams, which they decode together
- April navigates viral global fame and figures out her relationships along the way
- cw: violence, death, biphobia
- 2nd book picks up a few months after the 1st & April’s friends (Maya, Andy, Miranda) find clues about April’s current status
- Audiobook has a conversation wth the author (that is allegedly not in the printed version!)
Graphic: Biphobia, Violence, and Death
mangofraiche's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Murder, Body horror, Classism, Vomit, Violence, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content
casira's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping
Minor: Violence and Gun violence
szote's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Body horror, Addiction, and Violence
Minor: Kidnapping and Racism
lizziaha's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Addiction
Minor: Classism, Colonisation, and Grief
grammarnerd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Violence
chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexism, Confinement, and Addiction
Moderate: Stalking and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Animal death