1.74k reviews for:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams

4.36 AVERAGE

jappoco's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny relaxing medium-paced

4.25 solo perché tutti i 5 libri guidano al 42. Fantastico. altrimenti lo voterei 5 stelle per 42 volte

karin_cc's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams

817 pages | 5 novels + 1 short story | absurdist sci-fi existentialism with a towel 🪐🌌

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

I did it! 💥 I finished The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide. All five novels and the bonus short story. 817 pages of intergalactic absurdity, philosophical nonsense, aliens with questionable agendas, and brain cartwheels. What a ride! 🛸

At first, my brain was mush – just a total mishmash of “what is happening?” But I adjusted quickly, and once I got into the rhythm, I was hooked. It’s chaotic, hilarious, weirdly profound. The first half had me absolutely flying through it. I read huge chunks in one sitting - high-energy, full of ensemble chaos and galactic detours. Whatever this specific genre is... I’m into it. 🌀

But then the pace shifted. The tone softened. Less adventure, more reflection. More “what does it all mean?” and fewer towel jokes. My reading slowed, but not because I lost interest – it just became a different kind of story. And honestly? I liked that too. It made me realize I like consistency… but I also appreciate when a book challenges that. This one bends itself – in theme, structure, tone – and somehow teaches your brain to flex with it. I feel like I walked away more open-minded. I found wonder in simple things, and simplicity in complex things. A total paradox. A total vibe. 🌈

In a way, The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide isn’t just a book about a guide - it kind of is a guide, in disguise. A ridiculous, sarcastic, wildly cosmic one. A guide to absurdity, to curiosity, to accepting the unknowable. It did its job. And I let it.

Although reading this felt like my brain was doing somersaults and folding into quantum origami, somehow it all fit and somewhere along the way you get so used to it that it becomes normal. From complex to simple, wonderous all around! There’s so much packed into it and yet, it never felt bloated. Every concept, every ridiculous situation, seemed to carry some deeper truth underneath the chaos. 🧠✨

Everything you see or hear or experience in any way at all is specific to you. You create a universe by perceiving it, so everything in the universe you perceive is specific to you.

And then came the ending.

That final scene in the club? It felt like the story was getting sewn shut. The last few stitches pulled tight before the universe (and the book) closed. I didn’t know whether to cry or smile or just sit in silence. It wasn’t even sadness. It was acceptance. That strange calm when you know: this is the end, in every way that matters.
Strangely enough, I didn’t crave more. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it was enough. It ended right. (Maybe because there was nothing left... But hey, no need for sequels or spin-offs!) Just a quiet mental nod. My brain, which had been expanding and twisting through galaxies of nonsense and philosophy, folded itself up and went: "Yeah. I got it." ☄️

Anything that happens, happens.
Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen.
Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again.
It doesn't necessarily do it in chronological order, though.

Every character brought something strange and singular to the table – ridiculous, tragic, hopeful, petty, brilliant. They shouldn't make sense together, but they do. The scope is massive: character-wise, lore-wise, existence-wise, but somehow, the book never loses its pulse. 🫀

Sometimes if you receive an answer, the question might be taken away.

So yeah. I finished it. And I liked it. I liked it a lot. It was ridiculous. And brilliant. And, in its own odd way, deeply human. Mostly harmless! 😉💫

Let the past hold on to itself and let the present move forward into the future.

Content Warnings

countingbabaas's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Classic
Reread

mizhasthebiz's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

FORD PREFECT MY GOAT‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

In all seriousness, though, amazing satire. Absolutely hilarious, yet with subtle undertones of nihilism of the funny kind

(that really ramp up around #5)

. Little tidbit: the Infinite Improbability Drive is a pretty cool take on interstellar travel, too.

sleuthysloth's review against another edition

5.0

There will never be a time I don’t recommend this series again and again.

lorivan's review against another edition

3.0

I read this book for Carter. It is one of his favorites that he wanted to share with me. It is totally not my genre of books. I did not love it but I can see why he did. It is clever and funny. If you like this sort of book, I'm sure you will love it. For me it was just so-so. (I only read the first of the five books)