“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.”
Author: Hank Green
# of Pages: 452
Rating:
When I got back into reading at the end of 2020, I didn’t really know what kind of books I liked to read. I thought that my love for the Sci-fi/Space genre in movies would carry over into books. Luckily, I was right.
I have always been a fan of the Green Brothers, who both pretty much taught me everything I needed to know about AP Psychology and AP World History. I was not a big reader of John Green’s books, but the movies were all spectacular. (Definitely hit or miss books from for me) However, his brother Hank Green knocked it out of the park on both his first and second try. The first book in the Carl’s series was “remarkable,” and it gave me high hopes for the second novel that had just come out in 2020. It is usually rare for the second installment of a series to be favored over the first. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing has become one of my favorite books EVER immediately after reading it, but little did I know that I could love A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor just as much.
In 2020, not only did I learn what genre I liked to read, but what perspective I liked to read in. There is something about the first-person perspective that is so satisfying. Hearing a character’s inner thoughts and seeing the world through their eyes is extremely personal. You learn information that would have never been mentioned if from an outside source. With Hank Green’s books, multiple characters have their own chapters told through their perspective as if they were writing this novel in their version of Earth. They write from the future, looking back, and documenting the events that changed their lives. In simpler words, it is a book within a book. Like I said in my last review, April and other characters leave hints scattered throughout the text about other chapters and storylines of other characters. There are even parts in this book where the character Miranda stops and lets us know she googled the correct name for the color of someone’s eyes just to write this book. That was a lot of description to say that I like how Hank Green conveys this story through his characters’ eyes, and I hope he puts out more books like this in the future!
In the first book, there is no one specific villain. Green is able to show us both good and bad sides to every character without one of them specifically being labeled the antagonist. At least, that is how I see it. With this second book, there are definitely two solid antagonists who are trying to “destroy the world.” I won’t spoil anything about them, as they are mentioned in the first book, and that would ruin all the fun. With this addition, there was definitely more of an “OMG what is he going to do next!” element that wasn’t as prominent the first.
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is the answer to all the unsolved questions left in the last book. There is definitely a lot of science and technological terms and descriptions used to back up everything “alien-like” going on in the book, which makes the science behind the Carl’s so real.
Every time you read a series or watch a series, the scariest part for the viewer and the fans is the ending. Sometimes you read an entire 13 part book series only to get to the end, which is entirely unsatisfying. It is the best feeling in the world when a series ends with a conclusion that wraps everything up nicely but also leaves you a little bit empty inside. The ending to A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor made me UGLY CRY, and that's all I can ask for.
Hank Green is not only great at teaching AP Psychology but at creating a world with an atmosphere that makes me never want to stop reading. Is it bold of me to say that Hank Green is one of my favorite authors? To me, he has earned that place in my heart.
Quotes:
“You will always struggle with not feeling productive until you accept that your own joy can be something you produce. It is not the only thing you will make, nor should it be, but it is something valuable and beautiful.”
“The most impactful thing you can do with power is almost always to give it away.”
“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.”
“You are a story that you tell yourself, and even if it is not always accurate, it is who you are, and that is very important to you.”
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