An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls, #1)

by Hank Green

In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green - co-creator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers and SciShow - spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realising she's part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work 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 armour - 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 - everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires - and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the centre of an intense international media spotlight.

Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find 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 radicalisation; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring from the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye.

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Here's what people have been saying about Hank's book:

'A fun, contemporary adventure that cares about who we are as humans, especially when faced with remarkable events' Kirkus (starred review)

'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is pure book joy' Lev Grossman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magicians Trilogy

'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' Patrick Rothfuss, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kingkiller Chronicles

Reviewed by Amber (The Literary Phoenix) on

4 of 5 stars

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While I cannot quite say that I *liked* this book, I certainly did *appreciate* it. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is very well written and is easily the sort of book that will ensnare the reader.

April May discovers a mysterious statue on her late night trek home in New York City, and thinking it's a beautiful new art installation, she call her friend and the two make video and introduce the sculpture as "Carl". The next morning, April discovers that not only is Carl not quite an art installation, but there is a Carl in every major city in the world. Where did they all come from? What do they mean? And how in the world did April May manage to get in the middle of the whole event?

Between the question of the Carls and the elements of the Dream, there's a lot of interesting puzzles in this novel. It reminded me in parts of both Ready Player One and Sleeping Giants. The pacing is perfectly done and it manages to capture not only the fascinating parts of the genre, but also the rise to fame and how it affects an individual.

My only complaint about An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is entirely personal. There's nothing truly wrong with this book, and I think that the high rating is well-deserved. The only thing I didn't like was April May herself. April is a flawed character and a self-proclaimed horrible girlfriend... but it was her self-absorption and selfishness that made me dislike her. Again, this is nothing related to the way April was WRITTEN. She's written perfectly. I just didn't click with her. I'd like to hear this story from Maya's POV, and I would have enjoyed this story much more. But April made me cringe.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 24 December, 2018: Finished reading
  • 24 December, 2018: Reviewed