Hi Readers! After 10
difficult days, I have finally finished reading Hank Green’s ‘A Beautifully
Foolish Endeavor’, which was a sequel to ‘An Absolutely Remarkable Thing’. First
of all, I want you all to know that I love Hank Green. He is the kind of
nerd-king I worship. I also immensely loved his first book ‘An Absolutely
Remarkable Thing’. This is why I had HIGH HOPES from the second book. But, imagine my pain, when I didn’t
like it AT ALL. I am really CONFLICTED about my
disappointment in the book & with my love for the author. S0, Hank, if you
find this post, please don’t read it. It won’t be good for either of us.
You can check out my book review for the first book here!
~~INTRODUCTION~~
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is a much-awaited sequel released 2 years after the first novel. The first book ends on a cliff hanger so interesting that you can’t not read what happens next! In this book, we see the aftermath when the Carls disappear. We see how every character in the book copes differently with it & how they move on in their own lives. This book is divided into chapters for all of April May’s friends, so we get to see their point of views & their current happenings.
~~CHARACTERS~~
We have Andy Skampt how is rich
& has become somewhat of a philosopher preaching people to be kind. Then
there is Maya who is still hopeful of April’s existence. Miranda is again
immersed into her research. And soon, April comes into the picture being half-human & half-alien.
We also have Carl who is like that old retired scientist who only like to
talk about science with his grandchildren.
As the story progresses, each of the character sets on a journey that progresses toward the climax of the book. Andy becomes a billionaire so that he could spend it all on an important cause. Maya goes on a scientific adventure only to discover some unusual white stones. Miranda applies to work for a company started by April’s archenemy Peter Petrawicki. All of them are doing something, but none of it is remotely intriguing, but more like unbearably dull.
~~OVERALL THOUGHTS~~
Let’s start with how I
found this 483-page novel. The first 30% of the book goes in
setting up how all the characters felt post Carls’ disappearance. And, also,
after that 30%, we get to see April May. I hated that I had to wait THAT LONG to know what
happened to her. And the waiting was not at all interesting. It was
incredulously boring. Now, for the next part. NOTHING HAPPENS in the book in
the first 60% of it! Yes, there are minor things going on in their lives, but
those things are not enough to hold the reader’s attention, rather on the
contrary. Even after April & Carl enter the story, the chapters somehow become
even MORE BORING. I was expecting some brilliant mind-blowing
explanation of Carls, but instead it was so purely scientific that it just did
not work for me. The thing is that the author was so overworked into setting the right
theme for the novel, that he spent the better part of it in that
instead of creating even an average story. And, as for the remaining 40%, it
was much more JUVENILE than anything I have read. The whole rescuing Miranda
by invading Altus plan was just that. I have read Adventure & Sci-Fi &
Action, but this was neither of it.
Now, I am going to break down
the parts which I found disappointing. When Carl & April came into the
story, I was glad. I thought I will finally have some answers. But this only
led to Carl explaining everything in such a manner that any average person
would not understand. And, this wasn’t like a quick brief, it was LONG! A load
of crap about pelagibacter & neuroscience & what not! This was a big BUMMER for me. I
liked the vision of Altus Space & also liked how Hank has made its dual
impacts clear. It makes you wonder about how it will change everything, but it
also makes you wonder about the inequalities, mental health issues & other
problems it creates. This book was basically 70% SCI & 30% FI.
Apart from the lengthy scientific explanations which helped
me only in dozing off, there were also lengthy non-scientific explanations.
These were more about humanity, but they were written as if they belonged in a non-fiction
philosophy book. Yes, he has talked about possibly all the problems
with humanity, such as climate change, pandemics, bigotry, inequality, wars, data privacy,
concentration of power, gun control & so many other
things. And, when he connected SOME of these issues with the story, it aligned really well
& also the message was clear. But, when he just plainly rambled on about them,
that was NOT FUN.
I also want to talk about
the 5 Character-wise separated chapters throughout the novel.
Maybe the point of doing that was to bring all of them together at the climax,
but nothing great happened there either. That’s when I realized how that kind
of writing SLOWED the story immensely. So many unnecessary details about all
of them because they themselves are telling their own stories connecting those
to the one big story. Usually when the chapters are separated with 2
characters, it is a good change, but to separate it in 5, was not really
clever. I would have even allowed it if the end was something massive & if
the end required that kind of writing, but NOPE.
The thing I LOVED about An
Absolutely Remarkable Thing was CARL & everything that surrounded him like
the Dream. In A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, everything is again surrounded by
Carl, such as The Book of Good Times, unreal white stones, Carl in monkey form,
Carl’s sibling, April’s half-alien body and so on. There wasn’t one absolutely
remarkable thing, but there were multiple absolutely unremarkable things.
None of them made an impact significant enough as it did in the first book.
~~CONCLUSION~~
I rated Hank Green’s A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor at 1.5/5. I am done feeling guilty about it. This book was supposed to take me out of my reading slump, but instead it put me far down below & put rocks over me making it difficult to get up & go on! I’d now welcome any book recommendations that have helped you guys get out of the slump!
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