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nahlaaly56's review against another edition
5.0
A beautifully foolish endeavor
The "The Carls" books are so captivating. I first heard about them from Hank Green himself on the Philip Defranco podcast. I got so intrigued and downloaded the first book on audible and started listening instantly, and preordered the second one once I got my next credit. With both books, I couldn't stop listening, I couldn't "put it down". The world building, the storytelling, the characters; everything was just so engaging, interesting, and different. I can't write much without spoiling the events of the books and thus spoiling your experience, but I'll just say this. Go read The Carls. Also, do NOT read A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor without reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing first, you won't understand a thing. Honestly, if I had a problem with the books, it would be their names, it's really hard to remember their names off the top of your mind if you want to recommend them to anyone without checking first.
The "The Carls" books are so captivating. I first heard about them from Hank Green himself on the Philip Defranco podcast. I got so intrigued and downloaded the first book on audible and started listening instantly, and preordered the second one once I got my next credit. With both books, I couldn't stop listening, I couldn't "put it down". The world building, the storytelling, the characters; everything was just so engaging, interesting, and different. I can't write much without spoiling the events of the books and thus spoiling your experience, but I'll just say this. Go read The Carls. Also, do NOT read A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor without reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing first, you won't understand a thing. Honestly, if I had a problem with the books, it would be their names, it's really hard to remember their names off the top of your mind if you want to recommend them to anyone without checking first.
keinserotonin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
I already ranted about the first book and that I was scared the second one was going to let me down, but it didn't! I loooved the different perspectives and the insight I got into all of the characters. It was so different to the first book and getting everything from April's perspective in the best possible way. I also really liked the way the plot developed. Did it get chaotic? Yes. Did I understand everything? No not at all, but I think that's also the way the characters experienced it and makes me excited for a potential re-read.
This book as well as the first one has really interesting perspectives and points on society and human interaction while still being light hearted and genuinely fun to read! It deserves the 5⭐ <3
This book as well as the first one has really interesting perspectives and points on society and human interaction while still being light hearted and genuinely fun to read! It deserves the 5⭐ <3
laurendeen's review against another edition
2.0
Not bad, but way too many things going on all at once. I did really like the conversation at the end of the audiobook with Cory Doctorow.
"slow and then all at once, like ketchup" - please tell me hank green is making fun of his brother
"slow and then all at once, like ketchup" - please tell me hank green is making fun of his brother
baoluong's review against another edition
5.0
i would have been fine without a sequel but damn did i need speculative science fiction during a pandemic
Hank is back at it again with indeed another banger which I often don’t describe books. I know the first book was open ended and I was prepared to live with things being unresolved. We may not truly know what the Carls are and why April was the figurative chosen one. And to some extent that allowed me to ponder cool existential questions.
In the sequel we get a rather bizarre wrap up with lack luster enemies. If we can call them that at all. They’re more just power hungry ego maniacs who want attention no matter the cost. That might just be the most obvious analogy we have to our current climate. The integration of advance communication has connected so much knowledge but at the same time, people have found a way to exploit this tool. While Hank by no means is attempting to blame technology itself for the rampant surge of disinformation, there is something to be said when that it is not a coincidence the frequency of lies being told in a targeted manner. Anyone is susceptible to believing in the improbable given the right circumstances and with little evidence but faith to go on.
I was more or less disinterested with the battle for the future of humanity. The showdown was convoluted and the cathartic climax we hoped to get by slaying the big bad guy behind the curtains was of course disappointing. This issue stems from the very notion that we are only individuals unconnected to each other. As online platforms have proved, this is definitely not the case. So the idea that we’re all in this together and if few are suffering that is enough to rethink and change the way our system works. Yet, we face a challenge when it comes to collective wellbeing as not a loss of the person but a net gain for the whole.
I found the writing to drag a bit at times especially with the large cast of characters who I sometimes lost track of. Literally, a character was stuck in another realm for months and we just never heard from her until we needed her access to the building and general knowledge of how things worked in the lair of evil. Some of the characters were definitely annoying. Particularly, April who never manages to shake off this self aggrandizing regard only to have an epiphany that she’s not so special. I understand it’s a writing tool and it’s much deserved as she does go through hell and back to reach this inner peace. It’s just the whole speech I’m not here for and are any of us? That was a joke.
I do recommend this for fans of the first book. This is a cool science fiction novel that explores the idea that humans are indeed insignificant but that doesn’t diminish or invalidate the meaning we’ve managed to inject into our lives.
Hank is back at it again with indeed another banger which I often don’t describe books. I know the first book was open ended and I was prepared to live with things being unresolved. We may not truly know what the Carls are and why April was the figurative chosen one. And to some extent that allowed me to ponder cool existential questions.
In the sequel we get a rather bizarre wrap up with lack luster enemies. If we can call them that at all. They’re more just power hungry ego maniacs who want attention no matter the cost. That might just be the most obvious analogy we have to our current climate. The integration of advance communication has connected so much knowledge but at the same time, people have found a way to exploit this tool. While Hank by no means is attempting to blame technology itself for the rampant surge of disinformation, there is something to be said when that it is not a coincidence the frequency of lies being told in a targeted manner. Anyone is susceptible to believing in the improbable given the right circumstances and with little evidence but faith to go on.
I was more or less disinterested with the battle for the future of humanity. The showdown was convoluted and the cathartic climax we hoped to get by slaying the big bad guy behind the curtains was of course disappointing. This issue stems from the very notion that we are only individuals unconnected to each other. As online platforms have proved, this is definitely not the case. So the idea that we’re all in this together and if few are suffering that is enough to rethink and change the way our system works. Yet, we face a challenge when it comes to collective wellbeing as not a loss of the person but a net gain for the whole.
I found the writing to drag a bit at times especially with the large cast of characters who I sometimes lost track of. Literally, a character was stuck in another realm for months and we just never heard from her until we needed her access to the building and general knowledge of how things worked in the lair of evil. Some of the characters were definitely annoying. Particularly, April who never manages to shake off this self aggrandizing regard only to have an epiphany that she’s not so special. I understand it’s a writing tool and it’s much deserved as she does go through hell and back to reach this inner peace. It’s just the whole speech I’m not here for and are any of us? That was a joke.
I do recommend this for fans of the first book. This is a cool science fiction novel that explores the idea that humans are indeed insignificant but that doesn’t diminish or invalidate the meaning we’ve managed to inject into our lives.
alli_thebookgiraffe's review against another edition
2.0
To me, this was not the best follow up to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I did not like the multiple POV's. I didn't think they were distinct enough from one another. I am not sure how much it really added to the story either. A big issue for me was that I had a hard time imagining what anything looked like. He described emotions a lot and not visual elements. I wish there were more sci-fi elements than there were. Most of what I have to say are spoilers so I will add them below.
Spoiler
When April was reintroduced, I didn't think he described what she looked like enough. I was mostly confused by it. Also, the Space. I couldn't imagine what it really looked like. Could people interact with one another or were they only alone? What did people do with the virtual stuff they would buy? I am not sure. I didn't think it made sense that Andy went into the Space and just automatically knew how to use it. That subplot with The Thread was basically pointless. I didn't like how he would randomly add the word 'like' into sentences. I assume he was doing this to make the characters sound younger. The parts with Bex and Jason felt as if they were thrown in to create meaningless conflict. They foreshadowed the entire ending of Carl dying which cheapened it for me. I couldn't really care that Carl died because I felt like I was spoiled earlier in the book. I wish Carl was more alien and less of an infection, if that is what he was. I don't usually care for sci-fi but I was wanting MORE sci-fi elements. Fish didn't feel like a threat because we never really saw them. We didn't really know what they were capable of or how powerful they were compared to Carl.nicolef78's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
vindi's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
judithholzapfel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
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
3.5
kashstephanie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
abbyl819's review against another edition
4.0
The insane amount of detailed description of extremely intricate and complicated things that aren't real is so impressive, I cannot even imagine how much research and creativity had to have gone into reading this book. It was all very well explained, but there admittedly were sections where I got a little bored of all of the dense explanations. I did enjoy the multitude of perspectives, and they each provided a unique and important part of the story.