Reviews with content warning for Sexism - An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

This is a quirky one! It was fun seeing all of the crowdsourcing that powers the Carls mystery. That is a very fun element of this read. The social and political commentary is also interesting as opposing groups form to challenge the Carl situation. I didn't like April very much, sadly. She seemed like someone wasn't sure what 20 year olds are like and used YouTube and Instagram to research

📘The Gist 📘: April May is down on her luck until she and her friends make a video about a mysterious art instillation in New York. She becomes a quick success after that, and is embroiled in an international crowdsourcing puzzle and incident.

📒Representation📒: bi mc, bipoc mc

💕 For readers looking for 💕: a quirky read, crowdsourcing, social media, social commentary, aliens, giant robots, shared dreams

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kylieqrada's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I didn't even intend to ever read it, really. I like the Green brothers, who doesn't! But I've never really vibed with John's books, and I figured Hank's were going to be more of the same. But An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is not just more John Green YA contemporary romance, in a few ways: 1) This is not YA. It is adult. Granted, new-ish adult, the characters are in their early 20s, but it is very much not YA. 2) This is not contemporary romance. It's contemporary, but more like speculative/sci-fi in a real-world setting with dashes of satire. 3) Hank definitely has his own voice, and I LOVE that voice. It's edgy, and meta, and self-aware, and very raw. I do not think it is for everyone, but it was perfect for me, especially the humor. I also deeply enjoyed listening to this on audio. If I continue the series, I will certainly do so via audiobook, because Kristen Sieh IS April May, and quite honestly her voice reminds me a little bit of my friend Chessa, which I loved, but I digress. This book also had some parallels to life in America in the 2020s that were weirdly apt. It's like, there are no giant robots named Carl on our city streets, but the way people are acting, you would think that there were. I don't want to spoil anything, but essentially, July 13th has an eerie real-world analog that hit close to home.

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