Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

17 reviews

thecrimsoncorsair's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I would give the book a much higher rating, but Hank Green managed to write one of the worst protagonists I've ever come across. Fuck, April May is just awful. I was rooting for her death from beginning to end of this damn book. She's just a pure scumbag to everyone around her. Annoying. Selfish, narcissist who was still worrying about views in the midst of dying!! Her character alone brought the entire book down. Had it been written from the perspective of literally any other character the book would have garnered a much higher rating. But as it is...

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cleot's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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grizzlysnack's review against another edition

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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.

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