The Carls #2. Book # 4.5 of 2021. (One book straddled 2020 and 2021) this will obviously have some spoilers if you haven’t read the first book, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.
In this sequel, April takes a back seat to the commentary for several chapters. Her friends speak to us of their journey months after April went MIA, assumed dead from the warehouse fire. Maya searches for April in New Jersey, Andy is a public speaker with Robin as his assistant, and Miranda is back at Berkeley resuming her studies. A series of events lead them to Altus, a company founded by Peter Petrawicki that tries to mimic the Dream and more.
I had so much fun listening to this book. I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a bit sat there won’t be any more. Carl gets to speak in his own chapters! And voiced by Kevin R. Free in the audiobook, because of course the AI is (Murderbot). That was so exciting. April gained so much maturity and insight while still being her self absorbed self to some degree. Seeing from the perspectives of the others was refreshing and helped us see more than just what April focused on.
The deeper aspects to this is the social commentary definitely makes one think more about real life as it sort of mimics what is actually going on with the advancement of technology and AR, as well as internet fame. It is all a bit embellished and sci-if-ed.
Fun, silly, deeply thoughtful, unrealistic action, just overall a good read. It is young adult, so it isn’t meant to be too serious. I feel like young adult is meant to be lighter in general even if it isn’t. If that makes sense…
5 Stars!! Even though some things could be done better, I actually wouldn’t change anything. I recommend this to anyone who likes urban sci-fi (that’s how I would classify it anyways).
Rachels Books 