Scan barcode
brittanykroeckel's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Great book that is easy to read and follow. I loved how personable the first-person telling was and the realness of April May. The near end had a slightly unexpected turn but then had a predictable outcome. Not an average story which I appreciate and had me even thinking about what this scenario would look like in real life. Didn’t give it 5 stars because character interactions felt childish and bland.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
grizzlysnack's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Hank Green should stick to creating YouTube videos and educational content.
I understand that this story is meant to be reflective and show that humanity is not a horrible thing, but rather something each and every human shares and should create with one another. The way that this story delivered that message frustrates me.
April (our main character) points out multiple times that she is a bad person—she actively shows the audience exactly how bad she is to the people she supposedly loves. April is not a likable character, and yet we’re supposed to root for her.
April is so self-centered that I feel as though she’s incapable of being ‘humanity’s liaison’, which you find out is the role set upon her, after seeing New York Carl.
April acts on impulse, rarely (sincerely) forgives or acknowledges when she’s wrong, and is narcissistic. That doesn’t make me want to buy another book from Hank Green, with April talking in my ear for 9 hours
I will listen to a content creator’s views all day long, but as soon as you throw those views into a fictional character that actively proves themselves to be a morally shitty person, you’ve lost my sympathy for that character’s decisions and reasoning.
0.5 stars because there are a few topics that could be written about and make a convincing story, but those topics are rarely brought up between the 338 pages I just read.
I understand that this story is meant to be reflective and show that humanity is not a horrible thing, but rather something each and every human shares and should create with one another. The way that this story delivered that message frustrates me.
April (our main character) points out multiple times that she is a bad person—she actively shows the audience exactly how bad she is to the people she supposedly loves. April is not a likable character, and yet we’re supposed to root for her.
April acts on impulse, rarely (sincerely) forgives or acknowledges when she’s wrong, and is narcissistic. That doesn’t make me want to buy another book from Hank Green, with April talking in my ear for 9 hours
I will listen to a content creator’s views all day long, but as soon as you throw those views into a fictional character that actively proves themselves to be a morally shitty person, you’ve lost my sympathy for that character’s decisions and reasoning.
0.5 stars because there are a few topics that could be written about and make a convincing story, but those topics are rarely brought up between the 338 pages I just read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship
amyvl93's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I've been intrigued by this novel since Hank announced its release way back in 2018. I'm a huge fan of his brother John's novels, so was interested to see the direction that Hank took his writing in, and there's quite a lot to like in An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.
The novel follows April May, who one evening stumbles across a huge statue on the streets of New York. Along with one of her friends she uploads a video of it to YouTube which, when other statutes (or Carls) appear across the world, places her at the centre of a media storm as governments and people grapple with whether the Carls are friend or foe.
I read this novel very much as YA - I'm not sure what audience it was written for, but it definitely read to me in terms of pace and depth as being a novel that would be great for older teenagers. Written in 2018, it discusses many themes that Green himself has spoken about over the years - largely on the role of media, the role that social media can play and the strange space that someone with A Platform exists within as people look to them for opinions and takes. It also satirises the 24 hour, pundit-led news cycle well. I did find the overall world building to be a little flat, and made me start to lose interest as the novel progressed.
April May is also not your typical heroine, she's not immediately likeable and frequently makes choices which made me want to reach into the novel and shake her. However, it was refreshing to read from this perspective, she felt very honest - she knows what she's good at and she knows what's she bad at, and that felt refreshing compared to heroines of yore who were always surprised by their own talent. I also enjoyed the characterisation of her friends that become drawn into the Carls, especially her on-off girlfriend who was one of the few characters who could speak truth to her growing power.
I did find the ending and its cliff hanger to be a bit messy, and the novel didn't quite make me want to rush and pick up the next one but shout out to the Green brothers for being a power sibling duo.
The novel follows April May, who one evening stumbles across a huge statue on the streets of New York. Along with one of her friends she uploads a video of it to YouTube which, when other statutes (or Carls) appear across the world, places her at the centre of a media storm as governments and people grapple with whether the Carls are friend or foe.
I read this novel very much as YA - I'm not sure what audience it was written for, but it definitely read to me in terms of pace and depth as being a novel that would be great for older teenagers. Written in 2018, it discusses many themes that Green himself has spoken about over the years - largely on the role of media, the role that social media can play and the strange space that someone with A Platform exists within as people look to them for opinions and takes. It also satirises the 24 hour, pundit-led news cycle well. I did find the overall world building to be a little flat, and made me start to lose interest as the novel progressed.
April May is also not your typical heroine, she's not immediately likeable and frequently makes choices which made me want to reach into the novel and shake her. However, it was refreshing to read from this perspective, she felt very honest - she knows what she's good at and she knows what's she bad at, and that felt refreshing compared to heroines of yore who were always surprised by their own talent. I also enjoyed the characterisation of her friends that become drawn into the Carls, especially her on-off girlfriend who was one of the few characters who could speak truth to her growing power.
I did find the ending and its cliff hanger to be a bit messy, and the novel didn't quite make me want to rush and pick up the next one but shout out to the Green brothers for being a power sibling duo.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Biphobia
mangofraiche's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Violence, Biphobia, Blood, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
dreamerfreak's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Death
jaimiejaimiejaimie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75? I found the story compelling, but it was a little too internet culture/man writing a woman for me to fully enjoy it. The look into fame and motivations was interesting, for sure. But I wanted more detail around the central mystery itself! That's my personal preference for genre stuff, so I don't really hold it against the author. The audiobook narrator was... Fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
abbysnofun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i mostly liked this book. i was a bit taken out of the story at times because often the characters talk exactly like hank green, which is not necessarily bad but hank green is not a 23 year old girl.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Biphobia and Gun violence
kitwhelan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
At first I was disappointed that this book was more of a commentary on our times of social media madness and political division, I was hoping for much more sci-fi. But once I got into it, damn it’s so good and smart and funny and insightful and brutal and unexpected. I will happily skip right on the the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
sylvestra's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia and Violence
Moderate: Death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
koplomps's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Confinement, Death, and Violence
Minor: Biphobia and Xenophobia