Book Review :: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
ISBN: 9781473224193
Series: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing #1
on 2018-09-25
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 343
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
Find at Hachette NZ
Goodreads

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship--like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor--April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube.

The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world--everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires--and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.

Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.

Last updated on 14 October 2023

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My thoughts on An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Where do I even begin?!

I have no idea what I was expecting from this book. The sole reason I requested it from the lovely people over at Hachette NZ was literally because I saw it was John Green‘s brother, and I know I know that’s a terrible reason to want a read a book, but can you blame me?! I was just hoping that great writing and fun stories run in the family, and to both my credit and theirs, I was not wrong.

Writing

Normally alien invasions and sci-fi genres don’t draw me in, but there was something about An Absolutely Remarkable Thing that was, shockingly enough, absolutely remarkable (and I’m 100% no one has made that joke before, she says sarcastically). I’ve mentioned before that occasionally if a writer is average, or I really don’t want to read about the greenness of the trees yet again, then my eyes will flit over the key words and form an educated guess that the writer intends for me to see that trees are, indeed, green. It was not the case with this book. I wanted to read every single word, and would gladly read them all over again.

“So here’s a really stupid thing about the world: The trick to looking cool is not caring whether you look cool. So the moment you achieve perfect coolness is simultaneously the moment that you actually, completely don’t care.”

Characters

Green’s characters were superb. From snarky, sarcastic main-character April, to bit-of-a-nerd best friend Andy, to sweet-yet-hella-organised Robin, Miranda the science whizz, and Maya the roommate/girlfriend; every one of them was brilliant, wonderfully unique, and insanely well written.

“Even on this most terrible days, even when the worst of us are all we can think of, I am proud to be a human.”

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Overall thoughts

This book had everything: action, mystery, sci-fi, aliens, nerds, humour (sorry, Starbucks patrons, for having to put up with my out-loud laughter), and even a little romance. It was also a very interesting look at fame, and what that can do to your mental and physical well being. Knowing what I know about Hank Green, I could definitely pick out some of his life experience in terms of fame and spotlight, being recognised in the street, and being a ‘Tier 3’ famous person, which he so epically points out in his acknowledgements.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing surprised me, entertained me, made me think, and was thoroughly enjoyable. If I had more than 5 stars to give, I’d give them all. Thank you, Hank Green, for your wonderful story. I’m already so looking forward to the next one!

Have you read An Absolutely Remarkable Thing? What did you think?