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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel
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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel
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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel
Audiobook9 hours

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

In his much-anticipated 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 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 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.

Editor's Note

Entertaining debut…

Hank Green — whose videos have collectively garnered more than 2 billion views on YouTube — draws from his own experience as a beloved internet icon to comment on fame and the current political climate. The result is a multi-layered, highly entertaining, and thought-provoking debut novel.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 25, 2018
ISBN9780525641797
Unavailable
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel

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Rating: 4.2006408830769235 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When April May leaves the office totally exhausted at 3am to return home, she comes across a surely true remarkable thing. She calls her friend Andy to meet her and to bring his camera so that they could film this big sculpture which suddenly was just there in the middle of New York City. April names it Carl and Andy uploads their short video to YouTube. What both of them do not have the least premonition of at that moment is what happens afterwards. All over the world, Carls have appeared, but New York’s one is considered the first and April May somehow the connection to these strange and unmovable figures. This could be the story, but not in our times anymore because the internet is yearning for idols, for people to worship and follow and April May has become exactly that. She is not the 23-year-old design student anymore, a brand replaces her personality and obviously, for the Carls, she is the human being to communicate with.Hank Green knows what he is talking about in making the internet and different social media platforms the centre of his debut novel since he himself has become famous as a video blogger and with different web projects. “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” is often classified as a science-fiction novel, I would like to disagree here because there is not much that isn’t real today in it. Just the one aspect, aliens making contact, yet the rest of far from being futuristic and imaginative but all too real.No matter which genre you assign the book to, it is a great read that offers food for thought on several levels. Normally, I prefer novels with realistic settings and plots that create the impression of authenticity. Well, this is not really the case here with those Carls showing up unexpectedly. Yet, I was immediately hooked and couldn’t put it down anymore. April May – I have to say it here: did I ever come across a protagonist with a more ridiculous name? I don’t think so – is quite an interesting character since, on the one hand, she surely is a bit naive or at least does not anticipate the extent of her doings. On the other hand, she seems to be quite natural and acts on impulse which I liked at lot since it made it easy to sympathise with her in a certain way. Her development from young woman to brand is remarkable and gives you a great idea of media and internet dynamics; I also liked the marketing background coming with it which was masterly integrated into the novel. I you ever wanted to explain to anybody how the internet community works and what the advantages and dangers of social media are, just hand over this novel. I think it is a wonderful example of today’s communication mechanisms and of how nobody can control these processes anymore once set in motion. The internet is not a separate space any longer where you can have something like a second life, it has become a part of our real life and certainly has an impact on what happens in the real world nowadays. It is flattering that Green makes his alien believe that there is some clever and beautiful life on earth, yet, for me the more important message to take from the book was certainly the question of how we can synergise those two worlds that we are living in without forgetting who we are when creating ourselves. In several respects a great read that could have an important impact and make us readers ponder about our behaviour.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved philantrop's review and perhaps not coincidentally, am in the same age bracket. I figure out who Hank Green must be from other reviews--I'm not part of their online fan club and not particularly a fan or hater of John Green's books. On the spectrum of enjoyment of this book, I found myself more eye-rolling than venomous. I thought the plot was sort of interesting on its face: girl sees what she thinks is a life-sized, Transformer-like art installation on the streets of NYC (which turns out to be alien contact), livestreams about it, goes viral and becomes a huge celebrity, upending her life and relationships. I thought this might be a send-up of Millennial obsession with being 'internet-famous,' living for likes and the costs of that in real life. But, I was wrong. If anything, it's sympathetic to it. Cue the eye-rolling to the point where they nearly bleed:The main character, April May is possibly the most narcissistic, ungrateful, callous, talentless hack there is. Philanthrop describes her as a tool and she is indeed quite a douche. Though she's done absolutely nothing more with her life than to randomly discover a statue, she becomes in short order, wealthy, globally-famous, coddled by those who stand to make money off of her. The President gives April May her personal line so they can talk. She is treated as and sees herself as a sage to be admired, even revered, on all Things and with every Passing Thought she has.If this were written ironically or as an allegory for modern celebrity and Insta-fame it would've been great, possibly razor-sharp satire. Unfortunately, that's not the case.It's not the worst book I've ever read, but this is a case where the book contract is based on internet fame and connections (and their ability to move books) rather than talent or something important to say.Plastic, not fantastic.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    “I don’t think I actually felt any of those ways, but it seemed on-brand.” This book actually is a remarkable thing. Remarkably horrible, in fact. Or maybe it’s the generation gap – at least if we’re not talking about biological age because Green is just about four years younger than me. This “Thing” deal with the appearance of aliens in every major city on earth and a young adult woman, April May (seriously?), who becomes an Internet celebrity for dealing with the implications of this “visit”. I chose the initial quote because everything in this book is pretty much superficial and only deals very shallowly with all the possible implications of physical confirmation of the existence of intelligent life beyond Earth. (Well, intelligence is relative – as anyone reading to the end will find out when “Carl” utters a single simple word as “judgement” on mankind.) The entire book is basically Hank Green trying to build upon his clout as an Internet celebrity (at least I guess he is; I’ve never heard of him) and tries to stay “on-brand” just like his not-very-likable heroine. Oh, and April May is, of course, bisexual. Now, don’t get me wrong: That's perfectly fine with me (hey, I am, too!) but the way Green writes her makes it very obvious that April is just bisexual because Hank thinks it’s “trendy” and “modern”. She’s a tool on many levels... April is terrified of intimacy, nevertheless often lonely, insecure, neurotic and egotistical (traits many of which she most likely shares with the majority of the nerd-ish target audience). In short, she’s a mess. A mess with Thoughts, though: “We’re going to skip around the timeline of the story a bit here, but I have now been on the news a lot, and I have Thoughts.” Yes, brilliant, the audience is oftentimes directly addressed which I find almost as HIGHLY ANNOYING AS THE SHOUTING (in net-speak) which occurs often. I actually hate it when literary figures address me as the reader. Do not break the fourth wall unless you have a really good reason for that or the writing talent that Green very obviously lacks. What he lacks in talent, he tries to make up for in preaching liberal ideas: “But in those manic moments when I thought I could be some kind of vessel for truth, I’d thought about what I’d say if I someday got a soapbox. That income inequality is out of hand. That all people are pretty damn similar so it would be great if we stopped hating each other. That prison sentences for nonviolent crimes are dumb and that drug addiction is a health problem, not a crime problem.” Yes, Hank, I agree with all your points and so probably does about 95% of intelligent mankind with me. Even for an Internet celebrity “stop hating each other” is a bit on the intellectually “thin” side, eh? The entire book seems solely written to build upon Green’s status and to appeal to his “Nerdfighteria” (read: fanboys and –girls) from the “millennials” generation. Parts of the book are probably meant as (self-)criticism or reflection on this oftentimes Pavlovian reflex to jump on pretty much any bandwagon that (seems to) remotely make sense, no matter what the consequences: “Of course, I was pulling this all straight out of my ass. I didn’t know if the Carls were dangerous or if my mind was being controlled. Who cared as long as my made-up shit wasn’t as poisonous as Peter Petrawicki’s made-up shit. In the end, my brand was me, so whatever I said became something I believed.” Ultimately, though, this will more likely work self-affirmatively – after all, the “Nerdfighteria” are just sitting behind their keyboards and surfing the net; it’s not like they’d ever act like that “IRL” (in real life). Even when Green tries to do more than scratch on the surface of things, he doesn’t get beyond a single sentence at best before falling back into his comfort zone of writing with the philosophical depth of fortune cookies: “I’m honestly worried, because I think we’re just starting to get used to the impact that the social internet is having on us culturally and emotionally and socially.” Green caters to his audience so much that he even includes verbatim tweets of dubious value to the story, transcripts of interviews and, most annoying, lists, e. g. “Here are a list of thoughts I had in the space of five seconds”. I could forgive all that stuff if only Green had some talent for writing and something resembling style in between lists and tweets but it only gets to this level: “I reached under my shirt to feel my own skin, warm and soft and as fragile as air.” “Fragile as air”? Her skin? What kind of comparison is that? Have you ever managed to break air? Let’s see how a competent author handles a very similar feeling his heroine experiences: “I felt like a newly laid egg, all swishy and gloopy inside, and so fragile that the slightest pressure could break me.” (From: “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine”, by Gail Honeyman) That makes much more sense. All that mess basically boils down to one simple truth that seems to apply to both creation and creator: “I was really, deeply, honestly, and truly infatuated with having people pay attention to me.” Don’t get me started on the ending, by the way; it’s the coup de grâce for the entire book. So, if you’re a teenager up to a twenty-something (and daft to boot), you might enjoy this thing. If you’re above the age of 40, find a real book. P.S.: If you intend to include senseless, meaningless gore in your book for no reason but to cater to violence freaks, at least have the decency to just write it. Or, better even, just leave it out because, honestly, if you’re aware you should warn your readers, it’s a pretty good indicator you’re doing it wrongly: “This chapter is going to contain some graphic violence. I will tell you when it’s coming. I will not be offended if you skip it.”
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed the writing style and the mystery of the Carl’s. I hope we get some more answers in the sequel. I like April May but I am ready to know more about why she was chosen.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When 64 mysterious statues appear around the world, the first to report on it online is April May, who originally assumes them to be a massive art installation. Upon further investigation, the 'Carls' as April calls them, turn out to be of alien origin, and they have set a puzzle for mankind to solve.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green 2018 Penguin 4.0 / 5.0 What a good damn read!! I took a chance on this.....I have read so many great reviews. Im glad I took the chance because this was awesome. Part mystery, part sci-fi, part fantasy-these parts converge with brilliance, twists and a cast of characters that are relatable. This book is about the effects on a person who attains sudden celebrity.April May, a 23 year old girl I loved/hated, is roaming the streets of NYC at 3AM, when she comes upon a 10 foot tall metal statute that resembles Transformer. Fascinated and perplexed, she call her friend Andy, and they make a video of themselves with the statute and post it on YouTube. Overnight the video explodes with popularity and soon April finds herself a celebrity. The statute, called Carl, begins appearing in major cities worldwide, starting a phenomenon....and thats just the beginning for April, Andy and Carl.....Amazing and fun. recommended, esp the grape jelly part.....
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Reread February 2018: I LOVED IT SO MUCH. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. I LOOOOOOOVE IT. I read the last 60 pages of this while watching Bohemian Rhapsody which seemed very fitting.OH MY GOD.I JUST FINISHED THE BOOK AND I HAVE TEARS IN MY EYES AND I AM CHOKED UP BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK. YES, I HAVE TO YELL. AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!This is 100% my favorite book of the year and one of my favorites of all time. ALL TIME.This is an EXTREMELY long review. To sum it up, I absolutely loved this book with my entire heart and soul and I want everyone to read it.I picked this up from the library because I saw it while I was walking to get something else and I was curious how Hank was going to write. I know that for a vast majority of books, you shouldn't base your possible liking of the book on your thoughts on the author. I felt it hard not to initially feel this way about Hank writing a book. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't dislike Hank. My only thoughts on Hank come from when I was younger, and I religiously watched Vlogbrothers. Hank wasn't my favorite. I believe teenage me found him annoying and pretentious.Does 23 year old me feel the same? Nope! Now he's just Hank Green. I know who he is and that's the end of it. These are generally things I do not put on the internet because they're not the nicest things but I want to be 1000% transparent with how I went into this book. I believe that makes how I came out of it all the more genuine. So, I went into this book not expecting to love it, not expecting much at all, all because I couldn't put my feelings aside and I came out with one of my favorite books of all time. So here is my formal apology to Hank Green: I apologize. DEEPLY.I did pick this up from the library and I started tabbing it for review, like I do with most books. 80 pages in, everything felt magical. I knew I was reading something that was going to be monumental for me and my reading experience. I've never loved a book so much that while I was reading it, I wanted to run around and tell everyone to read it right then. I think at page 112, I had already tabbed it 31 times. I went through two and a half packages of blue tabs. I finished the book (literally 15 minutes ago) and immediately purchased the book. I closed the book and sat with it in silence for about a minute while I teared up and just felt what I had read. I then opened my laptop and bought the book so I can move all of my tabs over into my own personal copy. I initially bought it on Amazon but halfway through writing my review, I cancelled that order and ordered it for Barnes and Noble store pickup so I can have it in my hands today. That's how much I loved this book. I'm already anticipating rereading the book so I can underline and annotate to my heart's desire. Before I go into depth, I only have one minor complaint. April said she was "snarky" a few times and I felt it was unnecessary because we could see her being snarky and I didn't need it described to me. That is literally my only issue with this book.The plot is so well constructed. We are given so much information throughout the book but nothing felt overwhelming or infodumpy. Each piece of information felt natural and when things were explained, I understood them. There was a lot of scientific and mathematical information that gets presented to you, but everything is written in a way that you can understand it and it doesn't come with that barrier that I sometimes encounter when reading science fiction. This book makes important points that relate to society, gender, sexuality, race, and humanity as a whole. Everything felt natural and felt like it came at the time it needed to come. Nothing felt forced. I absolutely loved the characters. April May was phenomenal. She was snarky, she was funny, she was relatable. I felt so connected to her in every way. I'm so happy I got to read about a 23 year old while I am 23. I feel like I've never read from a character who is the same age as me. She did and said unbelievable things but none of it was unbelievable. She was so incredibly self-aware. She did things she shouldn't and she reflected on that. Her journey was so emotional and I am so happy I got to experience this alongside April. April is bisexual and it is never an issue for her. It is a part of who she is, who she has always been and who she is always going to be. It was not a plot point. It was just a fact about April. As someone who also isn't straight, each part of the plot that touched on her sexuality hit so deeply for me. At one point, I was so heated I got up from reading and had to go speak to someone about what April had experienced or I would have given in to the urge to whip the book across the room. "Sexuality is complicated and fluid."Yes. Yes. Yes. A million times yes. April spoke about how she believed, or wanted to believe, that she lived in a bubble world unaffected by things that happened on cable news. She spoke about how she'd be living her normal life, being inside of her the way she had always been and then remember it wasn't that way anymore. She spoke about how she felt about herself and how she experienced others liking her and wanting to be with her. I have never related to a character more than I have related to April and I feel so understood and so seen with this novel. April's relationships with Andy and Maya were so beautiful and so human. Maya was the person who would call April on her bullshit when no one else would and it was so incredibly refreshing. I wish we had seen more of Maya and expanded on her character more but given the circumstances, it was clear why we didn't. April and Andy were such good friends and you got to see how their relationship developed from being friends to being friends who had discovered something amazing, friends who had entered the spotlight together, friends who were heavily different yet remained close, and friends who had begun to craft April's public identity together. As the book progresses, we are introduced to Robin, Miranda, Jennifer Putnam, Peter Petrawicki, April's parents, and a multitude of others. Robin and Miranda are who we get to see develop the most because they join our main team of characters. They are both absolutely wonderful and I loved seeing their contribution to April and the mystery of the Carls. This book was SO FUNNY. It's rare I read books that have a large focus on humor and usually when humor is introduced in a book, it's not incredibly funny to me. Boy was this book different. There were multiple points where I was laughing out loud reading and it was so wonderful. I did not know going into this book that it was part of a duology. I did find out around page 80 that it was. At page 80, I was just excited that I looked up everyone's reviews for fun and someone had mentioned that it was a duology! Knowing that, I lessened my expectations that everything was going to be wrapped up neatly with a bow. The ending is so great. It's SO GREAT. I'm so happy that this is a duology and that at some point, I'm going to get another story in this world with these characters. I've exhausted everything I can say intellectually about this book. Everything else I have is just a million exclamation points climbing up my throat to escape my mouth and let the world know how I feel. I absolutely loved it and I think it's something everyone should pick up.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Audiobook was a fast-paced, enjoyable listen. April May's adventures into the world of social media fame and political punditry were both funny and disturbing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    April May is on her way home from work late one night when she notices a giant metal robot on the sidewalk. She thinks it's an art installation and gets a friend to come record a video of her talking about the robot, and instantly becomes an internet celebrity. Identical robots appeared all over the world simultaneously, and it becomes clear that they are not from Earth. As the world falls into conflict over what to do about the robots, April uses her fame to try to keep the world positive, alienating most of her friends along the way.Ostensibly, this is a book about first contact, but actually, the first contact story is just an excuse to tell a story about what it's like to be famous on the internet.This is a fun and engaging read..... but April is a really annoying character. Almost every chapter has some sort of statement about "The next thing I did was really wrong" or "I shouldn't have been such a jerk to my friends." She is selfish, self-centered, and horrible, and it's all the worse because she knows it and often tries to justify it. She keeps realizing her errors, but never seems to learn from them or grow as a character.I also really wish the author had talked to some women who are famous and have been harassed on the internet, because April's experience of internet harassment does not ring true at all - she just shrugs it off. I also wish he had talked to some actual lesbians. In fact, I don't know why his main character had to be a bisexual woman instead of a man - I think it would have felt more authentic if the main character were a man.I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator is great.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hank Green writes like you would expect Hank Green to write. Like the younger brother of John Green. A little unpolished, but more enthusiastic. The difference between John Green’s writing and Hank Green’s writing is the difference between John Green and Hank Green.Okay, obligatory comparison over. How does it stand on its own?There’s an interesting cross-pollination of genres going on here. The maguffin is science-fiction-esque (giant stationary robots, shared dreamscapes, etc.) but the core themes are about Internet popularity and talking head-incited violence (a la Proud Boys and alt-right). Green is the founder of VidCon and a prominent YouTuber, so he should know the subject. It’s nice to read a book that doesn’t treat Internet culture as either A) Fortnite-sploitation or B) “those damn kids”.It reminded me of Ready Player One, in that there are puzzles to solve and the hard part is uniting people to work together to solve them. And the opposition is the greedy people who use negativity and fear of the maguffin to gain. But it’s certainly less problematic and more inclusive with its themes. It’s got some nice quotable lines too. I particularly liked “Behold the field in which I grow my f***s. Lay thine eyes upon it and see that it is barren.”I also like that the character’s sexuality is a part of her characterization, but also something of a plot point, while at the same time your face isn’t being rubbed in it. On the other hand, there are times when it feels like it skips steps between the romance (like when April May and the scientist girl hook up out of nowhere). It’s a solid B. You can tell it’s a first effort, but you know it’s going to improve from there.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the most 2018 book of 2018, but it works. For now - I suspect this book will become dated quickly. But it’s great, so read it ASAP! April May is walking down the street in Manhattan in the middle of the night when a rejected MetroCard forces her to double back and walk the way she just came not five minutes beforehand. But suddenly, there’s a really, really large...statue? Of...something? Blocking her path. April May assumes that the vaguely person/soldier-like statue is some sort of crazy art installation that has just been wheeled into place. She calls her YouTuber friend to come meet her and they film a little piece, have a laugh, and go to bed. They dub the statue “Carl.” The following morning, April May wakes up and discovers that not only has their little video gone viral, there are other “Carl” statues all over the world. So, what - or who - is Carl? Has April May just made first contact with...an extraterrestrial? And why are people suddenly having the same dream?This was a really engaging book - light on the sci-fi but it’s there to a degree - and pulls in some of the craziest aspects of our media / viral culture, blowing them a little out of proportion to show the ridiculousness, but never verging into satire.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was a bit overly excited about this book when it popped up on Book of the Month Club's picks. As a huge fan and binge watcher of Crash Course, I really looked forward to a book by Hank Green. It also sounded like an interesting premise. Sci-fi and social commentary about social media? Count me in!Therefore, you can my imagine my dismay when I picked it up and immediately didn't like it. Yes, I did not like the first few chapters. I particularly didn't like April May, even though we have a lot in common.Perhaps it was just her first-person narration style that irritated me. It was set up as though the reader lived in the same dimensional plane/time as the narrator and knew what was going to happen next, which often felt patronizing. She also felt flip-floppy as someone who starts as an artsy girl who appreciates fine art and doesn't want to be on camera to creating her brand persona practically overnight. And the YouTube video that changed everything didn't seem anything viral-worthy. First doesn't always mean most popular.Even by the end, I wasn't a huge fan of her. I liked her slightly more for her faults and attempts to bring humanity together, but her continued selfishness was so counterintuitive that it was almost irritating. I felt torn between rooting for her and wanting to punch her in the face.The rest, though, I really loved. The idea of alien statues that defy physics, dreams that involve codes that humanity has to work together to solve, social commentary on social media and extremism, it was all right up my alley.After I got over my distaste of April May, I was sucked into what would happen next. What was the purpose of Carl? Would humans prevail? Would Carl come to life and tell humanity the purpose for life and everything...or better yet the question to 42?Well, I won't spoil what does or does not happen, but I am looking forward to a sequel. But, maybe not from April's perspective?Overall, it is a really great Sci-Fi mystery that makes you question if we are alone and what could happen if we meet other life...or at least have a female president.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The talented brothers John and Hank Green are smart, insightful, and funny. John has already proven he is also an excellent novelist. Hank might have a way to go yet, although he shows promise with this book. I thought passages were very good, but in some sections, I wanted to shout, “Okay already! Let’s have some editing!”This novel is about 23-year-old April May, who seems to be part Hank Green himself, and part a really obnoxious, conceited young woman who needs to grow up - and, I can’t resist adding - shut up…April, coming home from work late one night in New York City, encounters a gigantic metal sculpture on the sidewalk, which she describes as “a 10-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor.” Since she is interested in art, she decides to ask her BFF Andy to help her record a video about appreciation for the sculpture she names Carl. The video goes viral, in part because these “Carls” have also appeared all over the world in other cities, but that fact had gone unregistered until April brought it to everyone’s attention.Pretty soon April is an internet celebrity, and it goes to her head. She loves getting more followers, loves feeling like she now has a “voice,” and reports candidly (and repeatedly) about how fame changes her for the worse.Meanwhile, now that the Carls have been noticed, and moreover, after their “alien” nature has been exposed, other voices compete with April’s for control of the message about what the arrival of the Carls means for the Earth. An alt-right group calling themselves “The Defenders” (i.e., of Earth), are whipping up fear and hatred, and April is responding in kind (i.e., when they go low, she goes low too). Before she knows it, she is a mirror image of them, engaging them on their level: is she any better? At least she is aware she is now addicted to fame, even if she can’t resist its lure.And what about the Carls? The book expends a great deal of verbiage on trying to solve the mystery of them, but it seems, in this book anyway (there is to be a sequel), that the Carls are beside the point.Discussion: Some of Hank’s insights into current culture, poisonous partisanship, and the exploitation of that conflict for profit, are right on, even if hammered at a little too incessantly. I loved the moments in which I could hear the voice of Hank underneath April’s. For example, while he tried to have April deliver discourses on social justice, April herself was a little too self-centered and oblivious for me to believe it. I didn’t mind much; I knew it was Hank…. If it were anyone else but Hank, I would probably skip the sequel. But I’m a big fan of the Green brothers and the change for good they are trying to make in the world, so I plan to pursue the saga of April May.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I didn't really like this book. Probably because I am old and out of touch so I had a hard time relating to the story. I did think it was well written and nicely plotted.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed the audiobook version of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Did not love the ending.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green is a sci-fi sociopolitical commentary about the perils and pitfalls of Internet fame as well as social cooperation on a global scale. In Green's debut novel, April May finds what she thinks is an art installation in the heart of New York City so in true millennial fashion she enlists the help of her friend Andy to film their first interaction with what they dub as 'Carl' the robot. While this may be the first video of its kind with one of these robots it turns out that there is one in every major city in the world...and they're clearly alien to our planet. What follows is a realistic look at the arrival of Internet fame and someone completely unprepared to deal with the visibility and responsibility of such a mantle. Trolls, flame wars, sycophants, corporate deals, possible planet-wide destruction, and girlfriend drama are just a few of the myriad dilemmas that our main character finds herself facing. I didn't find April May to be a particularly likable or endearing character which made it difficult for me to feel any sympathy for her plights. I'm not certain but perhaps Green intended for the reader to feel rather indifferent towards her to illustrate how as a society we tend to place any kind of 'celebrity' up on a pedestal but like any human being they have faults and foibles. If that was his goal then he accomplished it I think. Some of the pros: I really enjoyed the shared dream aspect as it felt like a callback to The Giver and A Wrinkle in Time but I felt like it could have used more detail/descriptors instead of focusing so much on April's inner turmoils. I also liked how Green wrote about a topic that has only really been touched on in nonfiction formats (although Zoe Sugg's series Girl Online discussed it too) and couched it in a sci-fi framework. Some things I didn't love: Uneven attention to detail and the ending was less than stellar. (I'd go so far as to say it was crappy.) Overall, this wasn't the best sci-fi novel I've ever read (not by a wide margin) but it also wasn't the worst. For a debut attempt, I think it was pretty well executed and I'd be interested to see what he might create in the future. 4/10
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hank Green's debut has a sci-fi plot that was intriguing and enjoyable, but really it's about sudden fame and the interconnected, social- media-infused world we now live in. I didn't love any of the characters, which made the handful of draggy bits seem even more draggy, but that is really a personal reaction rather than anything approaching an objective criticism of the book. The main character, April May, is kind of unlikeable, and that is largely the point. Green does some really great stuff with allowing her to be flawed and exploring how her personality interacts with her circumstance. For anyone who has seen a lot of Green's content as himself (watched his Youtube videos, listened to his podcasts), as I have, it may sometimes feel like Green is talking at you out of the novel's pages (where it should be April May, as the pov is first person), but it still mostly works. If I have any real criticism of the book it is this: YOU CALL THAT AN ENDING HANK HOW DARE. Ahem. Mostly recommended, especially if you are a Hank Green/Vlog Brothers fan and/or if you are fascinated by the way the internet and social media are impacting our cultures. I think this would be a fascinating book to read alongside The Nix, incidentally, as I think they both get at much of the same things in some pretty varied ways.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ein solides und recht leichtes Werk, das sich vor allem durch seine Einsichten und Gedanken für Neuberühmte auszeichnet, Ja, es gibt Außerirdische, aber die sing bloß die Rahmenhandlung, an der sich April Mays Entwicklung von Niemand zu Weltberühmtheit abarbeitet.Kristen Sieh leistet hervorragende Arbeit als Erzählerin; Green im Gegenzug ist ein brauchbar, aber kommt nur am Ende für ein Kapitel zu tragen.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fun read about a giant robot sculpture appearing in New York City and the chaos that ensues. At its heart it’s a meditation on the pitfalls of fame. It reminded me a lot of Sleeping Giants”. The main character, April May, got annoying fast, but the story keeps out interested. “Human beings are terrible at accepting uncertainty, so when we are ignorant we make assumptions based on how we imagine the world.”
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hank Green is known to me because of his brother John Green, and some of their internet antics. Their projects and pieces are interesting and inventive, with a bit of salient truth about them. So, when I heard Hank had written a novel, I decided to check it out. It proved to be interesting and inventive, with a bit of salient truth about it. The brothers Green can write.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    pril May is a graphic designer who lives in New York City. One night while walking home after getting off work at 3am, she comes across a ten foot statue of a robot in the middle of the sidewalk. No one else seems to be taking notice of him. Her first instinct is to call her friend and YouTuber Andy to come down and film it. He meets her at the robot and makes a video of April and the robot, who she has named Carl. Andy goes home and posts the video and by the time April wakes up, it’s got viral. Majorly viral. And that’s all the details of the plot I can give you without spoiling it.An Absolutely Remarkable Thing raises important questions about Internet fame in this age of social media and YouTube. How far is too far to go in the pursuit of internet fame? Can two sides of an issue ever see eye to eye or have a nuanced discussion using social media and the internet? What role does fear play in communicating using social media? These are just a few examples of what this book will make you think about.Hank Green is a great person to tackle these themes because he has what April refers to in the book as Third Tier internet fame himself. (He’ll probably trend on Twitter if he dies.) He and his brother John started the vlogbrothers YouTube channel around ten years ago and have millions of subscribers now. They also host the hilarious podcast Dear Hank and John. Hank is the CEO of Complexly, which produces a number of educational YouTube shows like Crash Course and SciShow. He founded VidCon, he invented 2D glasses – the list goes on and on!If you are a Nerdfighter (i.e. fan of vlogbrothers) like me, you’ll recognize several Easter eggs that Hank has put in An Absolutely Remarkable Thing for us. I want to go back and read it because I’m sure I missed some. And Hank and April have some similarities that I think Nerdfighters will recognize as well.Even if you’ve never heard of Hank Green, I recommend this book. It’s insightful but also a lot of fun. It ended with a doozy of a cliffhanger – I can’t wait for the sequel!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Well, that was a thing that I read. I mean, it was fun and I love a good cipher, but it was very...moral, wasn't it? Like, at the end, the message/moral (Good things happen when the whole world works together! And it's fun!) started getting in the way of the story. And April May, the protagonist—for as much as Green tries to dull her sparkle— is still a bit of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, with the added bonus of being the Chosen One because even the Carls aren't immune to her quirky charm.

    But, as I stated earlier, it was fun and full of good ciphers and a great soundtrack and it is a debut, so some slack must be granted. Gods know it's going to sell a bajlilionty copies, even if it's absolute crap. And it's not absolute crap. it's really quite enjoyable, even if I wanted nearly any other character to be the protagonist (Maya would have been awesome. Or Andy.) 90% of the time.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing tells the story of April May, a twenty-three-year-old with a background in design, who finds a giant robot statue at 3AM in New York City. She dubs it Carl and with her friend Andy Skampt, they film it and go viral. Other people around the world realize that there are 63 other Carls, which no one can explain. April and Andy, together with her girlfriend Maya, a materials scientist named Miranda Beckwith, and their publicist/friend, Robin, begin to look into the mystery of the Carls and the strange dreams they cause, leading them to conclude that the statues are from another planet.As much as Green’s work is science-fiction, it’s also an insightful look into modern social media and its affect on culture. Green writes (via April), “I’m honestly worried, because I think we’re just starting to get used to the impact that the social internet is having on us culturally and emotionally and socially. It wasn’t exactly bringing us together before this, right? But now I’m worried we have this whole other massive change to get used to. If we keep driving wedges, if we keep getting more and more scared…” (pg. 165). He, again through April, posits that people can react with fear or hostility to things they don’t understand, or, echoing the optimism in the face of adversity that characterizes the millennial generation, they can work together to fix the problems. Green writes, “It’s so much easier for people to get excited about disliking something than agreeing to like it. The circle jerk of mockery and self-congratulation was so intense I didn’t even notice I was at its center. It was so easy to get people to follow me, and in the end, that’s what I wanted” (pg. 214). In this, he warns of the dangers of going viral and the double-edged sword of suddenly finding oneself with a platform while also commenting on how the social internet replicates the partisan nature of the world to its most extreme extent.Both funny and thoughtful, Green’s debut novel examines many of the issues he’s discussed through his own online platforms with the same authenticity he’s cultivated. April is a flawed protagonist, but one with whom readers with experience of social media’s impact on everyday life will easily relate. Various psychologists, such as Albright College professor Dr. Gwendolyn Seidman, have commented on the way “likes” affect psychological well-being, though Green’s novel uses the tropes of science-fiction to portray this phenomenon in a very human manner. A must-read for all who came of age with the Internet.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Green's debut novel is sci-fi for the Youtube/social media generation. In the middle of the night April discovers a 10 ft tall transformer wearing samurai armor that she calls Carl. She and her best friend upload a Vlog about it to Youtube and gets caught up in a viral whirlwind as more Carl's appear over the world. Are they man-made, some elaborate art project, or sent by alien overlords. It has shades of Ready Player One, when the world starts dreaming the same dream about the Carls and elaborate puzzles to solve. Good guys vs. bad guys racing to solve the enigma of the Carls. The ending was a bit telegraphed, but over all an excellent read.Would you rather be the first person to reveal that there is a mystery? Or the person who solves the mystery?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Clever interpretation of humanity... the only thing that left me unsatisfied was the ending but I can live with it (unlike other books *Looking at you Truly Devious*). Also, at times I felt I was reading John Green instead of Hank (their writing style is so similar but not in a cool way)
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Una cosa muy rara este libro, no me gustó mucho esta sobrevalorado
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love it, but so sad at the end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    April May is a flawed character in the absolute best way. I loved reading this!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Actually it was quite diverting. This novel often feels like a sort of memoir. The subject is Definitely game and not aliens. A good book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The theme were really interesting! The MC is bisexual which was great but I personally didn't like her.