THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“Sparkling with mystery, humor and the uncanny, this is a fun read. But beneath its effervescent tone, more complex themes are at play.” —San Francisco ChronicleIn his wildly entertaining debut novel, Hank Green—cocreator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and SciShow—spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before … SciShow—spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she’s part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.
The Carls just appeared.
Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her best friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.
Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.
Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring for the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye. The beginning of an exciting fiction career, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a bold and insightful novel of now.
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Fun and full of truth. To be honest, I’m a little irritated at how good the book is. I don’t need this kind of competition.
Funny, thrilling, and an absolute blast to read. I knew Hank would be good at this, but I didn’t know he would be this good on the first try.
By turns joyful, devastating, personal, zeitgeisty, modern, classic, fast-paced, and thoughtful, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing blew me away with its fresh take on first contact in this fragile, ever-connected world we live in. Quick but never shallow, it will stand as a snapshot of an era as well as just a darn good read.
“What is reality except for the things that people universally experience the same way?”
An absurd story that addresses so many current issues: internet, fame, mental health, dehumanization of people in the public eye. It’s really hard to get these things right, but I think Hank might have accomplished a lot more than what he set out for. It is SO complex, I didn’t expect it, even though I’ve been following the buzz around it.
This might have become my new favorite book.
Hank Green hasn’t just written a great mystery adventure (though he has), and he hasn’t just written the most interesting meditation on the internet and fame I’ve ever seen (but he did that too), Hank has written a book in which the page-turning story and the fascinating ideas inform and support each other. This book expands your mind while taking you on a hell of a ride.
You’re about to meet somebody named April May who you’re immediately going to want to be best friends with. And bonus, she spends all her time having incredible adventures with giant robots and dream puzzles and accidental Internet fame. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is pure book-joy.
Every plot element was creative, unexpected, unpredictable. There is an edge of humor that surfaces here and there that I found enjoyable and which I thought added much to the fullness of the book. The ending was utterly delightful–my eyes actually popped wide–and I won’t say anything to spoil that.
This was such a cool story! It reminded me in some ways of Sylvain Neuvel’s Themis Files (but in a wholly different way, if that makes any sense at all).
The appearance of something unexpected with the attendant worldwide consequences that accompany Things We Don’t Understand lends itself to everything from slapstick antics to thoughtful consideration of what it means to be human in the modern world, and in the hands of a talented writer (which Green clearly is) that blend makes for a marvelous ride. I also REALLY enjoyed the exegesis on fame, social media, and the fleeting nature of public opinion in this day and age. Add in excellent writing and spot-on pacing, a clever heroine (who is, in the nature of the best heroines, often too clever for her own good or the good of those around her), a fantastic (literally and figuratively) idea, and the result is a book that pulled me in from the opening salvo and never let go.
There’s a subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) biting wry wit at work here. It simultaneously makes a mockery of our obsession with social media “fame” and pays a reluctant homage to the bizarre power of masses of people to shape the way the world works (for good and most definitely for ill). I found it thoughtful and thought-provoking and infuriating and inspiring – an amalgamation that doesn’t come along in one entertaining package all that often.
I must confess, John Green isn’t much to my taste. I find him a little too angst-y and existential-why-of-youth focused. I’m not his prime audience, so that’s not a criticism so much as a comment. Hank Green is ENTIRELY to my taste though, and I’ll be seeking him out in his myriad fora from now on!
My review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
Hank Green can write the heck out of a book, and I thought this was a most excellent listen. From the main character’s name (April May), to the casual way the artifacts are referred to as “Carl,” to the way the story hints at what’s to come, to the way the narrator assumes we’re all in on what happened as she tells the story, to the sci-fi elements — all of it rang my reading bell.
Highly recommended.
Magical realism to a literary level. It’s a book that I could only see someone with social media experience at the level of Hank Green or higher writing. The commentary on the effects of Social Media and Fame is eye opening. It really makes you rethink what you post, and how you respond to “famous” people within social media. We are all just humans.
April is annoying af. Her voice drove me insane, which is why it took me so long to get through this book, but that is a huge credit to the author. He did an amazing job at pushing the early twenties girl voice through his words.
I also feel that this is exactly what would happen if the events in this book happened, so the realistic air of the book for me was spot on. That says volumes about the human population, and the current state of affairs. Read this book, share it with your friends!
What a fantastic read! This one reminded me of Ready Player One in its fun, snarky voice and clever puzzle-solving adventure, though in my opinion, this one is smarter and wiser and has more of substance to say. It’s about fame and ambition and being loved and our public dialogue about serious issues… and about giant alien robots from outer space.
What an enjoyable and funny read. Sci-fi without the drowning sci-fi-ness that can sometimes occur. I follow Hank on social media and his ability to relay complex concepts at an elementary level shines here. Also his quirky personality is felt through this whole book. Today young millennials and gen-x young adults will struggle with the power that is social media and how it can corrupt minds and personalities. This is a love letter to encourage reliance and acceptance of SELF. Loved it and can’t wait for the sequel!
It was indeed an absolutely remarkable thing. I expected nothing from it and loved it.
Novel story line, good character development, contemporary or current culture. Sci-fi and scientific but believable concept. Need to read the first book of this two book series ”The Carl’s” in order. Definitely recommend!!!
I loved this book from start to finish. It’s realistic fiction meets science fiction and follows a character whose choices feel authentic and original. I have recommended it to all of my friends and they have loved it two. A sequel just came out this past summer!
Evocative. We need more April in the world – not because of her self-nature, but her mission to make the world be driven by inclusion rather than fear.
A fun, surprising book. I suspected it would take a speculative twist, and it did, which I’m fine with. A couple of things bugged me a bit.
First, I’m not a fan of characters who grew up in good homes with good families and all of the comforts of life who become inexplicably self-centered and terrible people who emotionally hurt everyone around them — it doesn’t make sense to me. For me, it feels like a ploy, as if it was just added to create conflict. That’s April May.
There were also some sections that felt overly informative to me; fun information, but I don’t know if they were needed. They seemed to slow down the book.
I wasn’t fully satisfied with the ending, but I just found out there’s a sequel, so that might help. Overall, though, I enjoyed the story. Fun and quirky. I’m not really sure who to compare him to, but if you liked this book you might like Christopher Moore.
R-rated for language and adult themes.
Reading this book during the pandemic is a little eerie, as somehow it echoes a lot of what is going on right now, despite a completely different plot. I loved the complexity of the characters, even though the overall vibe was upbeat.
I didn’t care for it.
3.5 stars
The one thing that I must mention from the beginning is this story was utterly unique, fascinating and had an incredibly original plot. I have no idea how authors can come up with these storylines. I’m truly impressed and in awe!!
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing had so many wonderful things going for it!
It was witty and its dialogues were smart and funny. I was laughing out loud more than once. The storyline was absolutely fascinating and the format more than interesting.
I was stuck to my phone for hours, listening to the audiobook, not able to put it down. That’s one of the best signs of a truly fascinating and gripping story.
Unfortunately April made it impossible for me to really LOVE the book.
Fifty percent of the time I didn’t like her. She made decisions without thinking first, she was self-centered, incredibly focused on her online persona and how the world would perceive her. Her addiction to all things social media was OTT but also maybe to a certain amount the very image of how some people feel about being an online influencer. Having the attention of millions must be truly powerful and addictive.
But this behavior made her extremely unlikable to me. Foolish and genius, stupid and brave, self centered and caring. At least she admitted her flaws, and she did have the greater good at heart. I just didn’t like the way she went about it.
Also, sometimes An Absolutely Remarkable Thing felt more like an essay than a plot driven story. It had some interesting but also dragging philosophical moments. And all in all, it didn’t fell like a sci-fi story to me. Only maybe half of the book had anything to do with science fiction, the rest was April trying to find a way to be the center of attention.
But that’s just me.
Besides all of the above mentioned, I WILL read the next book. I’m HOOKED!!! And I need to know what is going to happen next. Because even thought the ending sucked, it might have just been the beginning of April’s journey, and not the end.