A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor Review

I was very excited for this follow-up. So much so that I made my first ever non-Stephen King preorder of a book once this was available. While I had my criticisms for An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, it was an enjoyable book overall, and I had faith that Green would write a stronger second novel. And I was correct.

Set shortly after the end of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor manages to expand on the previous novel in almost every conceivable way: The story is told through the perspectives of multiple characters instead of just April and expands the action so that the stakes feel appropriately epic in scale. This novel has a book giving orders to people, a person trapped inside a simulation, and a character casually becoming a billionaire and none of it feels forced. I cannot stress how wild that is to write: that's not even everything crazy that happens in this novel.

If Green had done a phenomenal job in the first novel of making the side characters independent of April despite it being her perspective - and he did - then this opportunity to delve into each of those character was not one to be wasted. I can't fault a single one of them: every decision they make - even the bad ones - feels character appropriate as they make them. And plenty of bad decisions are made. While the first novel was notable for April making an outright terrible decision towards the end of the book, Green isn't afraid to let his characters be selfish or make poor choices. This allows them to feel real and human, despite all of the crazy things happening around them.

The plot, without giving too much away, expands on the first novel with the Carls being a test - one that humanity didn't exactly pass - and the response to that 'failure.' Each of the characters responds to their various circumstances without having a clear idea of what is happening to the others, which keeps the greater plot mysterious enough that the reader doesn't become frustrated even as they learn new things along with the characters.

In fact, I'd hazard a guess that this is the exact sort of novel that rewards a reader who comes back to it multiple times. Minor details or offhand comments might make a stronger impact once the reader knows what is coming. But the novel works just as well on a single read. It's the best of both worlds.

If I have any critiques, they would primarily be some ideas being under-explored while spending too much time on subplots that, while necessary, feel overly-long. I'd like to not only know more about the simulated world and how it works and less about the funding for/attempt to purchase said world. Trust me, that sentence will make sense once you've read the actual book.

A great sequel, one that makes me hope we get more from Hank Green.

4.5 out of 5

Author Link:
https://hankgreen.com/