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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
Finished reading: May 30th 2024
“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.
Content Warnings
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
nerfie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
This book kept me hooked to my couch with only five minute interruptions for food and the bathroom without Vyvanse. If you have ADHD, you know that this doesn't happen.
The plot structure is absolutely brilliant. In the least spoiler way possible, this book makes you wait a decent amount of way in to resolve something painfully unresolved from its predecessor. This was a brilliant decision made by Hank. It made the necessary exposition and character development fly by just as quickly as the action-packed chapters, and made all the intermittent parts afterward go much faster.
I highlighted so much in this book. There is so many sentences casually meta and on point that would cause me to stop and think about our society.
The book does a great job of broadening the scope from the first novel, but that being said, it is very different. I wonder if some readers won't enjoy it as much, simply because of the much widened world (and not just because of the addition of multiple perspectives). I can see how this book would not meet expectations, but while I would agree that it did surprise me, I'd say it did so in an overwhelmingly positive way.
This is one of those series that I wish I could re-read for the first time, so if this is on your TBR, pick it up and do it for me!
The plot structure is absolutely brilliant. In the least spoiler way possible, this book makes you wait a decent amount of way in to resolve something painfully unresolved from its predecessor. This was a brilliant decision made by Hank. It made the necessary exposition and character development fly by just as quickly as the action-packed chapters, and made all the intermittent parts afterward go much faster.
I highlighted so much in this book. There is so many sentences casually meta and on point that would cause me to stop and think about our society.
The book does a great job of broadening the scope from the first novel, but that being said, it is very different. I wonder if some readers won't enjoy it as much, simply because of the much widened world (and not just because of the addition of multiple perspectives). I can see how this book would not meet expectations, but while I would agree that it did surprise me, I'd say it did so in an overwhelmingly positive way.
This is one of those series that I wish I could re-read for the first time, so if this is on your TBR, pick it up and do it for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Blood
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