An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-11 07:51:58
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Hank Green
- ISBN：1524744131
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
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。
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。
Reviews
cassidy h
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more like 3。5。。。 goodreads give us 1/2 ratings challenge。 a light， fun， twisty turny read with a protagonist who's hard to like （which is my jam）。 i didn't necessarily love the heavy-handed twitter criticism but twitter frustrates me too lol so i can't complain。 for a debut it's pretty darn good more like 3。5。。。 goodreads give us 1/2 ratings challenge。 a light， fun， twisty turny read with a protagonist who's hard to like （which is my jam）。 i didn't necessarily love the heavy-handed twitter criticism but twitter frustrates me too lol so i can't complain。 for a debut it's pretty darn good 。。。more
Alex Peterson
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I went into this book blind and I’m so glad I did。 It was through provoking， surprising， and fun。
Adrianne
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Wow。。。just wow。 So much to unpack in this novel。 A way of looking at human behavior， race， social media， celebrity， fame。 Great writing and very entertaining。
Melissa Moreland
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Highly recommend going into this one blindly， and listening to the audio version。 The narrator is fantastic， frankly the only narrator I haven’t despised so the bar was low but they impressed me！ I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t stop listening。 Now on to the sequel because I have too many questions and need answers！ Spoiler: I love that the President is a woman。 Girl power。
Twinslovebooks2
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Was ein heftiger Cliffhänger！！ :O Jetzt will ich natürlich wissen， was weiter passiert。 Ich habe dieses Buch als Hörbuch gehört und finde es sehr gut gemacht！ :）
Camille
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I was originally gonna rate this book with only 3 stars， BUT the ending was just something。 I was not fond of the book at all when I started reading the first half of it。 The genre， word choice， and the overall vibe of it was not what I usually gravitate around when it comes to a book。 However， it was by Hank Green and the concept was somewhat interesting。 I did started enjoying it right at the halfway point。 The added mysteries and my character attachment has finally clicked。 April May was less I was originally gonna rate this book with only 3 stars， BUT the ending was just something。 I was not fond of the book at all when I started reading the first half of it。 The genre， word choice， and the overall vibe of it was not what I usually gravitate around when it comes to a book。 However， it was by Hank Green and the concept was somewhat interesting。 I did started enjoying it right at the halfway point。 The added mysteries and my character attachment has finally clicked。 April May was less annoying to me and I was more sympathetic to her actions。 By the end it just strongly conveyed that she was just human。 All those annoying and questionable actions/thoughts she had was a very human thing。 Now I have to buy the sequel since that was DEFINITELY a cliff hanger。 。。。more
Melissa Stentiford
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I found this book VERY difficult to get into。 It was almost chapter 10 before I found it interesting and even after that I was only partly interested。 I continue reading hoping it would hook me and just giving the author the respect of finishing it。 But I just did not enjoy this until the last 2 chapters。 I will be completely honest and say that I am slightly intrigued to see what happens。。hence the 2 stars。
itzelle garza
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loved it！ such an easy read and i really enjoyed how casual the language was。 i felt like i was reading a blog post from april may。 also there was always something happening and it kept me reading！ such a great and positive message as well。
Will
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First of all， it was pretty fun to read。 The writing was interesting in that it used some aspects of speech that I haven't seen written in books very much， especially not in non-dialogue parts of books。 Notably "like。" In some ways， the dialogue was more formally written than the exposition which is an interesting reversal。Anyway， in my mind this book had two main themes。 The first was fame which I'm not really too interested in。 April struggles with unexpected and accidental fame， which makes s First of all， it was pretty fun to read。 The writing was interesting in that it used some aspects of speech that I haven't seen written in books very much， especially not in non-dialogue parts of books。 Notably "like。" In some ways， the dialogue was more formally written than the exposition which is an interesting reversal。Anyway， in my mind this book had two main themes。 The first was fame which I'm not really too interested in。 April struggles with unexpected and accidental fame， which makes sense and maybe reflects Hank's somewhat unexpected （or at least unconventional） rise to fame on YouTube。 I was around and paying attention to that which is kind of cool to read this book many years later。（view spoiler）[I see a second theme of Collective Intelligence。 That is， the ability of a large group of people to work together on a task， acting as one being。 It's obviously the goal of the Carls to test humans' ability to conduct themselves as a large social being—and the puzzles in the book are a clever way to force this to happen。 Most of the puzzles include requirements for many different areas of knowledge （intellectual， cultural， and experiential） at the same time: accordion-playing knowledge and aviation knowledge and ancient numeral system knowledge for example。 These types of puzzles would seem to require some tool that lets huge and diverse groups of people work together seamlessly。 In the book this tool is the Internet and more specifically the Som。The Collective Intelligence via Internet theme also makes sense to me to see in a Hank Green book。 It's clear that he seen what's beautiful and possible and what's awful and inevitable about global human interaction during his career on the Internet。 But I felt disappointed that this thread was mostly left un-pulled。 In my opinion， there's a lot of work to be done on better tools with which people can reach even greater levels of skill in working together， and the Internet， though it's the furthest we've come so far， still presents a lot of barriers to this kind of collaboration （not least of which are commercialization and centralization）。I would have loved to hear about what innovations were needed when designing the Som， an online space specifically designed for global collaboration towards a single goal。 We got about a paragraph about it but not more。 And in a real situation like this， I'd wager internet companies which were basically background scenery in the book—Twitter， YouTube， Facebook， you know—would be major players。 Probably as big as or bigger than the President。 After all， they have TOTAL control over pretty much everything going on in the book， since it happens on their platforms。 （hide spoiler）]Even so， I mostly read this for fun and it was fun。 Also first book I read on my reMarkable （e-paper tablet） which was quite pleasant。 。。。more
Suzanne
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A snarky look at social media obsession and the hazards of sudden fame， I thought this was by turn disturbing， and hilarious， and I say this knowing that I am at least 40 years over the target audience。
Emily Hambrick
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Okay I loved this。 It was a ride！
Maxwell Panetta
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3。5 starsThe start of this book was whimsical and creative and I was excited to finish。It lost me towards the end and the ending was unexpected and left me confused。 I ended with more questions than answers。 I hope the 2nd book redeems the ending of the 1st
Joselyn Ellis
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 MARIA！！！ YOU BIG FAT LIAR！！！！ IF I WERE TO SCROLL THROUGH MY TEXTS I BELIEVE YOU TOLD ME APRIL DIDN'T DIE！！！On another note， as annoying and selfish as April was I do not think she deserved to have a flaming beam fall on her。。 Even if she's not actually dead。 MARIA！！！ YOU BIG FAT LIAR！！！！ IF I WERE TO SCROLL THROUGH MY TEXTS I BELIEVE YOU TOLD ME APRIL DIDN'T DIE！！！On another note， as annoying and selfish as April was I do not think she deserved to have a flaming beam fall on her。。 Even if she's not actually dead。 。。。more
Allan Sørensen
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This book was such a waste of time。The writing style is awful， the story shallow and the points so banale。 I learned nothing from reading this。I gave it two stars as it got a little exciting in the end。It must be said， that I read this book with a book club and I am generally not fan sci-fi/fantasy
lyss
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I understand why someone wouldn't like this book， I do， but I love the way this book is written sort of like a memoir and sort of like April is telling this insane story to an old friend。 I love how she thinks back on random events in her life and ties it into the story of the Carls because I think it's really relatable to how a lot of real people tell stories to each other in real life。 I'm also a huge fan of epistolary novels so the twitter updates every couple of chapters were very much appre I understand why someone wouldn't like this book， I do， but I love the way this book is written sort of like a memoir and sort of like April is telling this insane story to an old friend。 I love how she thinks back on random events in her life and ties it into the story of the Carls because I think it's really relatable to how a lot of real people tell stories to each other in real life。 I'm also a huge fan of epistolary novels so the twitter updates every couple of chapters were very much appreciated， I thought they were so fun。 I also loved how in depth the book went into the BTS of the industry April was suddenly thrown into。 I think that is where the book loses a lot of people but I think it's really important to the narrative。 Overall， a really interesting and fun read。 。。。more
Andrea Ruiz
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No lo pude soltar。 Wow。
CS Taylor
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My overall review of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a 5。 It has so many incredibly written pieces that are all working together to create an absolutely remarkable whole （pun absolutely intended）。 The characters—both separately and as an ensemble—are well written， well developed and intricately necessary to the story。 Their arcs and their dramas are well crafted， their emotion and turmoil sincere。 The plot was well-rounded and the pacing of the story and the detail excellent。 I struggled to fi My overall review of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a 5。 It has so many incredibly written pieces that are all working together to create an absolutely remarkable whole （pun absolutely intended）。 The characters—both separately and as an ensemble—are well written， well developed and intricately necessary to the story。 Their arcs and their dramas are well crafted， their emotion and turmoil sincere。 The plot was well-rounded and the pacing of the story and the detail excellent。 I struggled to find anything I didn’t like about this story。 You can officially label it as the first science fiction story that I fell in love with。 If you like: * Complex and relatable characters* Art， film， and gentle hearted robots* Supportive sweetheart bean children* All the science （but in an understandable sort of way for dumb beans like me）* A fiendishly awful villain who deserves to be stabbed with a fork* Puzzles and logic gamesThen， An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is definitely the book for you。 Want to read more of my thoughts？ Check out my full review on my blog: https://thefoldedworld。wordpress。com/。。。 。。。more
Maria
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The worst book I've read in a long time。 Almost a DNF。 I have no idea who Hank Green is - maybe it would have helped to already know Hank Green's work。 I just couldn't ever get to the point where I cared about anything related to the book - the story， the setting， or the characters。 The worst book I've read in a long time。 Almost a DNF。 I have no idea who Hank Green is - maybe it would have helped to already know Hank Green's work。 I just couldn't ever get to the point where I cared about anything related to the book - the story， the setting， or the characters。 。。。more
Ray Teggin
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Reads like a reddit post and not in a good way。
Clara
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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing--an astonishingly revolutionary tome （it's not really revolutionary， it's just good， but I wanted the first letters of my description to match the title）--is a particularly impressive book because it tells so many stories at the same time， and all of them are good。 Facially， there's the story about the protagonist， April， who finds a statue named Carl， achieves internet fame， has some weird dreams， becomes a political pundit， （view spoiler）[gets stabbed in the back An Absolutely Remarkable Thing--an astonishingly revolutionary tome （it's not really revolutionary， it's just good， but I wanted the first letters of my description to match the title）--is a particularly impressive book because it tells so many stories at the same time， and all of them are good。 Facially， there's the story about the protagonist， April， who finds a statue named Carl， achieves internet fame， has some weird dreams， becomes a political pundit， （view spoiler）[gets stabbed in the back， literally （hide spoiler）]， meets the president， （view spoiler）[and gets trapped in a burning building， impaled by a rogue wooden support beam in a really not fun way， and probably doesn't die （hide spoiler）]。 It's eventful。 There are also stories about friendship， relationships， and how people in those friendships and relationships should act; a story about becoming a person you don't like very much fueled by anger and good intentions; and a story about how people are mostly nice （which is only a little heavy-handed）。 The ending was a cliffhanger， and the library doesn't have the sequel right now。 So I am bitter， but not bitter enough to lower my rating。 。。。more
Lydia Spellman
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This book was wonderful！ It's a really beautiful mix of silliness and sci fi action， but also poignant observations on creating art in the digital age。 If you are familiar with and enjoy his online presence this book is exactly the tone you are looking for。 This book was wonderful！ It's a really beautiful mix of silliness and sci fi action， but also poignant observations on creating art in the digital age。 If you are familiar with and enjoy his online presence this book is exactly the tone you are looking for。 。。。more
Rachel
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hank green is the superior green brother author
Joel Duncan
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This is the type of book that you'd expect a YouTuber to write。 I didn't know anything about Hank Green before starting this novel。 After reading this novel， I'm not all that sure I'm interested in the author。 This is definitely suited for a younger audience， especially those who are interested in becoming a YouTuber。 This story feels like a mash of well established stories written in a very modern superficial way。 It's practically the same as the iron man by Ted Hughes。 Except it's a alien （spa This is the type of book that you'd expect a YouTuber to write。 I didn't know anything about Hank Green before starting this novel。 After reading this novel， I'm not all that sure I'm interested in the author。 This is definitely suited for a younger audience， especially those who are interested in becoming a YouTuber。 This story feels like a mash of well established stories written in a very modern superficial way。 It's practically the same as the iron man by Ted Hughes。 Except it's a alien （space robot） instead and there's lots of references to Hanks own life。 Of course you should write what you know， but in this case it felt a little self indulgent。 If you are expecting a believable story of humans making first contact with an alien lifeform， don't read this book。 The logic is ridiculous and uses lots of wacky science to explain absolutely remarkably nothing。 The protagonista is a narcissist， bisexual yet she barely even shows a vague interest in men。 All that said， the story was silly yet enjoyable。 It had a few funny moments and was quite informative about the entertainment world。 I don't care enough about the world to read the second novel though。 。。。more
Storri Gadau
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SO so good！！ I love this book so much。 Such a good read and audiobook。 April is an enneagram type 3 so this is perfect for type 3’s！ I related to her a lot。 It was entertaining， fun， political， eye-opening， with so much mystery and a GREAT commentary on social media， influencers/celebrities， and media in general。 Can’t wait to read the next one！！ Teach me how to be a better person online Hank 😅
Tara Henderson
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Too much fun！ Binge read and listened to this one。 Fun mind and tech concepts。 Excellent adventure sci fi。 Only books I've read by a white male in two years and it was great。 The protagonist and supporting characters make you wish it never ends。 Thankfully， there's another！ Too much fun！ Binge read and listened to this one。 Fun mind and tech concepts。 Excellent adventure sci fi。 Only books I've read by a white male in two years and it was great。 The protagonist and supporting characters make you wish it never ends。 Thankfully， there's another！ 。。。more
Andrew
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No spoilers I promise。 From the second I picked up this book to the second I put it down， I was obsessed。 I could not put it down unless I had to， and I made sure there were very little times that I had to put it down。 It is incredible and I recommend it to everyone。
;-;
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Wow that was disappointing。 I've been slumped。Mark my word， I still love Hank this book changed nothing about him。 Wow that was disappointing。 I've been slumped。Mark my word， I still love Hank this book changed nothing about him。 。。。more
Jorge Henrique
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A parte boa de não ler sinopses é a surpresa quando o autor te entrega um plot muito criativo。 Vibrei com essa história e queria muuuiito saber quais seriam os próximos acontecimentos。 Adorei demais acompanhar April May e suas reflexões sobre a fama e a maneira que o público reage a isso。 Queria ver mais dos personagens secundários， que são incríveis， mas que talvez tenham sido deixados de lado。 Porém， sem dúvidas， foi uma leitura muito boa。。。
Bec
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Trigger warnings: （view spoiler）[explosions， blood & gore depiction， invasion， mind control （via dreams）， terrorism & terrorist attack， knife violence， hospitalisation， graphic physical injury （hide spoiler）]I have figured out that one of the main reasons why I enjoyed this book so much is that it was an adult book reminiscent of books from my youth that were full of puzzles and brain teasers。 Absolutely more adult books should take this on。 An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a book that honestly Trigger warnings: （view spoiler）[explosions， blood & gore depiction， invasion， mind control （via dreams）， terrorism & terrorist attack， knife violence， hospitalisation， graphic physical injury （hide spoiler）]I have figured out that one of the main reasons why I enjoyed this book so much is that it was an adult book reminiscent of books from my youth that were full of puzzles and brain teasers。 Absolutely more adult books should take this on。 An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a book that honestly surprised me with how much I loved it。 While not something I would personally call a masterpiece， it managed to do a lot in just over 300 pages。 This book is hilarious and witty， features a raw and unapologetic MC， and even makes the reader contemplate the state of human society。 And honestly， that is pretty damn impressive。 I will be picking the sequel up straight away （thank you Libro。FM for the review copy！） blog • trigger warning database • more linksHappy reading！ ❤ 。。。more
Jen
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