An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel

Hank Green

Sep 2018 · The Carls Book 1 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

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 Chronicle

In 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 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.

Ratings and reviews

Hank is a really great author. This'll be a 5 star book for a lot of people. I really enjoyed it except I lost some escapism because of certain characters and themes that I found stressful.

This is not a spoiler alert because I'm not going to tell you how it ends. But I hated the way this book ended. No payoff whatsoever. The story simply leaves you hanging when there really should be at the very least an epilogue. I really don't understand authors who think they're being unique or artistic by leaving the ending of a story up to the reader. Such a great story, so sad it ended this way

I used to be a passionate, highly avid book reader. and haven't found a book that captured me, at least in the past 4 years. Until this. This book single handedly reminded me why I love reading so much. from the character connections, feeling like you're part of the story, being included every step of the way, using a voice of impact through the words of another. It's all so beautifully written and each paragraph is so well collectively intertwined. I know I have read a good book if it meets these two points. 1. I am able to live life through the characters life at hand. Seamlessly. 2. After the last chapter is over, and the last word is read. you completely and utterly have no idea what to do with your life for at least the next hour. Hank Green has checked both of these important marks seemingly without effort. Just the words of the way his mind processes and notices the world. In a beautifully relatable way. P.s.This is only ever my 2nd book review I was compelled enough to write

About the author

Hank Green is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. He's also the CEO of Complexly, a production company that creates educational content, including Crash Course and SciShow, prompting The Washington Post to name him "one of America's most popular science teachers." Complexly's videos have been viewed more than two billion times on YouTube. Green cofounded a number of other small businesses, including DFTBA.com, which helps online creators make money by selling cool stuff to their communities; and VidCon, the world's largest conference for the online video community. In 2017, VidCon drew more than forty thousand attendees across three events in Anaheim, Amsterdam, and Australia. Hank and his brother, John, also started the Project for Awesome, which last year raised more than two million dollars for charities, including Save the Children and Partners in Health. Hank lives in Montana with his wife, son, and cat.