mandaraffe's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0


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jodunn_'s review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

A beautiful, truthful, heart-achingly wonderful foray into what it means to be human. By highlighting some of the world’s seemingly inconsequential things (like the world’s biggest ball of paint), John Green evaluates what life has to offer. However, he never shies away from the more damning aspects of humanity as well. Ultimately, the Anthropocene Reviewed is hopeful for the best, but honest about our faults. 

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readandfindout's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 5 stars

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bujo_bellel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

I liked it, but it took me too long to finish it since its sooo long

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mollywill's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0


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caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

 - Honestly, who gave John Green the right? Who let him make me experience the fullness of the human condition via audiobook?
- So many essays in this book had me thinking, oh this will be silly. Rating the Disney Hall of Presidents? This will be a laugh. Yes, but then he'll take a roundabout through a seemingly unrelated anecdote and suddenly you're crying while commuting to work.
- I do think a lot of the power of this book comes from the fact that Green wrote much of it during the early stages of the pandemic, and he frequently references that in the text. But it also adds more layers to the essays, helping to bring our current moment into the context of the whole of human history (whether or not that makes you feel better about the state of things...I'm not sure).
- I do recommend the audiobook for this, as Green puts so much emotion into his reading. Plus, you must hear the call of the extinct bird included in one of the essays. I hear the print version has additional notes, though, so I'll be checking that out as well. 

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

This was an interesting collection of short essays in which John Green reviews all sorts of things on a five-star scale. When I say “all sorts of things,” I really mean all sorts of things related to humans and their experiences in some capacity, but especially to Green himself. I’m inclined to say there was almost a memoir-like quality to this book, considering how much self-reflection is involved.

I didn’t hate this collection, but I didn’t love it either. I realize Green really wanted to attend to the importance of care and empathy, as well as to instill a sense of wonder for the world, but I think after ten or so essays, I got tired of the formulaic writing: random object, facts, musings, a literary quote or two, more facts and musings, star rating. Rinse and repeat.

One thing I did enjoy was how he went about addressing life during a pandemic. I thought Green approached this with a lot of care and thoughtfulness that he wove in throughout this book. If anything, I’d say that’s what will really touch a lot of people is this validation of struggling during such a time and acknowledging that. 

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annabellehimstreet's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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alyssasaurus's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5


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moonytoast's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

Considering I’ve been a fan of John Green for almost exactly a decade now and I’ve owned this book for a hot minute, it’s about damn time I read it. This book has made me tear up multiple times. There’s just something about John’s writing that reveals such vulnerability and heart, particularly—likely on account of my own current feelings as a disillusioned and depressed twenty-something—the chapter on the film Harvey. I cannot in good conscience give it any less than five stars (4.5 on Storygraph, but I'm rounding up). 


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