If it were anyone else but Hank, I would probably skip the sequel. For example, while he tried to have April deliver discourses on social justice, April herself was a little too self-centered and oblivious for me to believe it. I loved the moments in which I could hear the voice of Hank underneath April’s. Before she knows it, she is a mirror image of them, engaging them on their level: is she any better? At least she is aware she is now addicted to fame, even if she can’t resist its lure.Īnd what about the Carls? The book expends a great deal of verbiage on trying to solve the mystery of them, but it seems, in this book anyway (there is to be a sequel), that the Carls are beside the point.ĭiscussion: Some of Hank’s insights into current culture, poisonous partisanship, and the exploitation of that conflict for profit, are right on, even if hammered at a little too incessantly. An alt-right group calling themselves “The Defenders” (i.e., of Earth), are whipping up fear and hatred, and April is responding in kind (i.e., when they go low, she goes low too). Meanwhile, now that the Carls have been noticed, and moreover, after their “alien” nature has been exposed, other voices compete with April’s for control of the message about what the arrival of the Carls means for the Earth. She loves getting more followers, loves feeling like she now has a “voice,” and reports candidly (and repeatedly) about how fame changes her for the worse.

Pretty soon April is an internet celebrity, and it goes to her head. The video goes viral, in part because these “Carls” have also appeared all over the world in other cities, but that fact had gone unregistered until April brought it to everyone’s attention. This novel is about 23-year-old April May, who seems to be part Hank Green himself, and part a really obnoxious, conceited young woman who needs to grow up – and, I can’t resist adding – shut up…Īpril, coming home from work late one night in New York City, encounters a gigantic metal sculpture on the sidewalk, which she describes as “a 10-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor.” Since she is interested in art, she decides to ask her BFF Andy to help her record a video about appreciation for the sculpture she names Carl. I thought passages were very good, but in some sections, I wanted to shout, “Okay already! Let’s have some editing!” Hank might have a way to go yet, although he shows promise with this book. John has already proven he is also an excellent novelist.

The talented brothers John and Hank Green are smart, insightful, and funny.

An absolutely remarkable thing 2