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amandasbookreview 's review for:
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
by Hank Green
This is the book humanity needs right now. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green has been a book that I have been looking forward to for about a year now. If you don’t know, Hank Green is John Green’s brother (author of books like The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down.) Hank and John also have a youtube channel called the Vlogbrothers. Hank also seems to have a ridiculous amount of jobs that I could never possibly list. In short, he is an amazing human and when this book was announced I jumped with joy!
This book introduces us to April May, a 23-year-old, graphic designer who lives in New York. On her way home from work, she notices a sculpture. Upon studying it, she realizes how truly remarkable this sculpture is. The sculpture looks somewhat like a transformer. She calls her friend Andy, who then videos her discussing the sculpture who they name, Carl. Overnight, April May and Carl go viral. However, there is not just one Carl. There are many Carl’s all over the world. April May and Andy then set off to discover more about the mystery and embrace their newfound fame. It turns out fame is not all its cracked up to be and that the mystery is more mysterious than any of them could ever imagine. April May discovers the pressures that come with being famous. However, the more important thing is Carl’s. What is their purpose, should the be feared or is their purpose something different?
Again, this book is everything I need and more. I laughed and I cried. The book is definitely filled with Hank’s sense of humor. I also sense a lot of his frustrations while reading this book. Frustrations that we all share. This book touches on so many important things. The effects of social media are huge in this story. How people treat each other and completely dehumanize those who have fame. There is a pressure to please everyone and they begin to slowly dehumanize themselves. Another theme is fear mongering and hateful rhetoric. Hank Green shows how hateful speech and rhetoric can spawn attacks and that people will act on those words. We see this in our lives right now and we can relate to this in our current political state.
However, he also truly grasps this generation. April May is not a typical woman. She is smart but makes questionable decisions. I truly enjoy Any’s character, as well. However, all the characters have their flaws. It is wonderfully refreshing. The characters are not cookie cutter characters. They are real and relatable. I also appreciate all the Freddie Mercury references. So this book receives 5 out 5 stars. I will conclude my review with this: That ending though…
This book introduces us to April May, a 23-year-old, graphic designer who lives in New York. On her way home from work, she notices a sculpture. Upon studying it, she realizes how truly remarkable this sculpture is. The sculpture looks somewhat like a transformer. She calls her friend Andy, who then videos her discussing the sculpture who they name, Carl. Overnight, April May and Carl go viral. However, there is not just one Carl. There are many Carl’s all over the world. April May and Andy then set off to discover more about the mystery and embrace their newfound fame. It turns out fame is not all its cracked up to be and that the mystery is more mysterious than any of them could ever imagine. April May discovers the pressures that come with being famous. However, the more important thing is Carl’s. What is their purpose, should the be feared or is their purpose something different?
Again, this book is everything I need and more. I laughed and I cried. The book is definitely filled with Hank’s sense of humor. I also sense a lot of his frustrations while reading this book. Frustrations that we all share. This book touches on so many important things. The effects of social media are huge in this story. How people treat each other and completely dehumanize those who have fame. There is a pressure to please everyone and they begin to slowly dehumanize themselves. Another theme is fear mongering and hateful rhetoric. Hank Green shows how hateful speech and rhetoric can spawn attacks and that people will act on those words. We see this in our lives right now and we can relate to this in our current political state.
However, he also truly grasps this generation. April May is not a typical woman. She is smart but makes questionable decisions. I truly enjoy Any’s character, as well. However, all the characters have their flaws. It is wonderfully refreshing. The characters are not cookie cutter characters. They are real and relatable. I also appreciate all the Freddie Mercury references. So this book receives 5 out 5 stars. I will conclude my review with this: That ending though…