Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

This book was so different to the first one. It still tackled similar issues but the vibe was different.

Whereas the first book was about community, fame and working together to solve a mystery - the second book was more about society & social criticism while trying to avoid a war / complete human subjugation.

I took a break when I was about halfway through this book. Mostly because I wasn't in the right headspace to read about a possible war and so many bad people. This book is very realistic in it's approach. There is a lot of scientific knowledge and also social critisism done in a clear and well thought through way. It is obvious that Hank Green knew what message he wanted this book to have and he didn't incorporate it subtly at all. I didn't mind that though. The message was obvious but also fit into the story perfectly and gave the characters more depth. I loved the different POVs and how every character had a unique and explored personality. Also they are all flawed but still choose to do the right thing. It sometimes got frustrating to read about annoying, powerhungry and bad people but at least you knew that they would eventually loose and in reallife that doesn't really happen.

I listened to this book and I would highly recommend the audiobook experience. There are multiple different voice actors with easily distinguishable voices. Also Hank Green himself narrated the part of a podcast which was pretty cool.

I had a review almost twice as long as this but I accidentally deleted it... Anyways I think that was mostly what I wanted to say. I might add some stuff later on.

Oh also I would recommend this duology very much! Still I know that many people won't like it. It has a very particular narrating style and also the characters can be frustrating. It is definitely not a book you can read or listen to with only half your brain. You will need to think about it and analyse it. I know that I will continue to think about it for a long time to come.

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jenarae's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious reflective 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

samchase112's review against another edition

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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.

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