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c95newman's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
[This is a sequel, MAJOR spoiler alert for the first book, an absolutely remarkable thing]
Following April's death the gang is attempting to pick up the pieces of their former lives and learn to live without her. But then they start getting mysterious books that seem to know exactly what they are going to do, and has some clues and advice for them. Cue an adventure with a few 20 somethings, a cyborg, a monkey, and a potato plant.
I REALLY loved this book. One thing I think Hank Green does super well is mix his huge life-changing stories with a bit of whimsy. It reminds me a bit of hitchhiker's guide. And it makes the story more fun in the heavy parts.
Each chapter of the book changes the narrator, and is titled with the name of the narrator. I like how we get the thoughts of all of the flawed characters, and I really resonate with Andy's character development. I feel like his flaws are easy to criticize from the outside, but are way more relatable when you see his inner monologs. I wasnt a huge fan of Carl's chapters, mostly because they were extremely confusing and while obviously Carl's powers are not real, Hank Green still tried to explain them in a scientific way that didn't make sense to me as a non scientist.
It focused really heavily on fame, the power of social media, and society. I really like how the themes carried over from the last book.
The queer representation in this book was perfect. Its really hard to find a book with queer characters that are characterized well and thoughtfully, especially by a (presumably) not queer person. Just like the first book, the relationships were realistic and the queer characters had traits other than "queer".
Following April's death the gang is attempting to pick up the pieces of their former lives and learn to live without her. But then they start getting mysterious books that seem to know exactly what they are going to do, and has some clues and advice for them. Cue an adventure with a few 20 somethings, a cyborg, a monkey, and a potato plant.
I REALLY loved this book. One thing I think Hank Green does super well is mix his huge life-changing stories with a bit of whimsy. It reminds me a bit of hitchhiker's guide. And it makes the story more fun in the heavy parts.
Each chapter of the book changes the narrator, and is titled with the name of the narrator. I like how we get the thoughts of all of the flawed characters, and I really resonate with Andy's character development. I feel like his flaws are easy to criticize from the outside, but are way more relatable when you see his inner monologs. I wasnt a huge fan of Carl's chapters, mostly because they were extremely confusing and while obviously Carl's powers are not real, Hank Green still tried to explain them in a scientific way that didn't make sense to me as a non scientist.
It focused really heavily on fame, the power of social media, and society. I really like how the themes carried over from the last book.
The queer representation in this book was perfect. Its really hard to find a book with queer characters that are characterized well and thoughtfully, especially by a (presumably) not queer person. Just like the first book, the relationships were realistic and the queer characters had traits other than "queer".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Vomit
Several characters loose control over their bodies or minds. Its a key plot pointlily1304's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I did NOT want to like this book as much as I did. I was skeptical, and then I was totally sucked in. I love that the sci-fi plot is SO absurd, and yet pieces of it are so familiar. Yeah, Altus is a very obvious metaphor for social media and this book is really just Hank Green's soapbox - the plot is a vehicle for the philosophy. But it's a really fun soapbox, and Hank's ideas are fascinating even if I don't always agree. I'm looking forward to rereading it eventually.
Not sure if this is a bug or a feature, but the book's philosophy tries to yell "humanism!" while the plot yells "cosmological dualism!", and I'm not sure how I feel about it - it certainly contains theological ideas and metaphors even though Hank is an atheist. I also actually don't lovehow much Carl is explained in detail - I liked how mysterious Carl was in the first book.
Not sure if this is a bug or a feature, but the book's philosophy tries to yell "humanism!" while the plot yells "cosmological dualism!", and I'm not sure how I feel about it - it certainly contains theological ideas and metaphors even though Hank is an atheist. I also actually don't love
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Vomit
Frequent descriptions of derealization and dissociationsamchase112's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
People will just share the things that confirm their ideology, and those things will always exist. Our reality isn't about what's real, it's about what we pay attention to.
This is not a book about aliens or science --- it's a book about community, power, compassion, and how humanity uses and abuses the tools we have created in order to manipulate those things. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is deeply weird, yet profoundly true. I want to go back and highlight about 65% of Hank's words. It is obvious this is all coming from a place of caring and social media/celebrity experience; as well as the human experience we can all relate to. I cannot recommend this book and its insanely relevant messages enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Confinement
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Stalking, Police brutality, Gun violence, Cursing, Blood, Addiction, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit, Outing, and Grief
mxfahrenheit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, and Racism
livreads54's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Racism, and Violence
scruffie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Police brutality, Medical content, and Blood
Minor: Vomit, Death, Cursing, and Sexism
morganperks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Racism and Sexism
adriannamarguerite's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
laurenwerlinger's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book feels exactly like it was written by Hank Green, and I mean that in the most positive way possible. His unique perspectives and experiences make for a book nothing like anything I've read before.
I've found that usually, sequels don't live up to their predecessors, but in this case, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor was better than An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I think this is mostly due to the fact that we get a few different POVs. While I'm not usually a fan of switching between the perspectives of different characters, it was done so well here.
On top of that, Hank Green's wisdom and observations are so smart, meaningful, and comforting. This is exactly how I want my sci-fi to be written.
I've found that usually, sequels don't live up to their predecessors, but in this case, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor was better than An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I think this is mostly due to the fact that we get a few different POVs. While I'm not usually a fan of switching between the perspectives of different characters, it was done so well here.
On top of that, Hank Green's wisdom and observations are so smart, meaningful, and comforting. This is exactly how I want my sci-fi to be written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gore, and Forced institutionalization
lalu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
read for the first time in 2021
Warning: Spoilers for the first book
The Carls are gone and April is dead - but then Andy recieves "The Book of Good Times" what's written in there suggests that April is still alive... Meanwhile Peter Petrawicki (the former leader of the Defenders) founded a company named Altus which recreates the Dream.
It's a great book, but I liked AART better. I felt more invested in the fight between groups of people in the first book, than in the fight between aliens Also I wish I could have learned a bit more about Bex or Rob of whom we only got a tiny glimpse compared to the main characters.
Warning: Spoilers for the first book
The Carls are gone and April is dead - but then Andy recieves "The Book of Good Times" what's written in there suggests that April is still alive... Meanwhile Peter Petrawicki (the former leader of the Defenders) founded a company named Altus which recreates the Dream.
It's a great book, but I liked AART better. I felt more invested in the fight between groups of people in the first book, than in
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Cursing and Racism