An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

This was on my list to read but then got even more exciting when it was announced as the next Barnes and Noble book club book.

I wanted to love this book without reservation because of how much I really like both the Green brothers. Plus it started out with a gripping and crazy first couple of pages. I mean come on, a narrator who in the opening references having BEEN human and a giant transformer type robot thing on a street in NYC!!!

I am going to try to give the least spoilerish review I can but I am sorry if I fail. Maybe you should know this first and can come back for the rest after you read it. I ended up really liking this book but didn't LOVE it. But part of why I didn't love it is because of me. I think I expected to much and that's my fault and not Hank's. After reading the whole thing including the author's note I think my expectation is part of the problem Hank's parable addresses. Had I gone into this knowing what it was going to be I might have felt differently. So that being said, this is a good story, interesting, creepy, and a lesson. Now stop if you are worried about being spoiled even despite my best intention not to spoil anyone.


April May becomes internet famous and like many becomes addicted to the attention. Like any addiction it changes her life and those her life touches. Her story begins with the discovery of Carl, a giant robot thing that appears in NYC and in a whole bunch of other cities around the world. Why? How? Who are they? Where are they from? What the heck are they made of? It's a mystery.

Part way through the book, about halfway, it felt like the story changed on me and I worried that Hank was trying to be too many things at once. By the end and after reading his note I feel like that was intentional so I can forgive it, the off kilter feeling I was left with, it is part of the journey.

But I do have 1 complaint that wasn't addressed in his note. Why was April Queer? It was talked about in the beginning and then sort of just dropped. I am not sure why it was started to be talked about because her Bi identification became an issue when she was asked to "just be a lesbian" and she hesitates and then agrees. Then it felt forgotten in all the other stuff happening. Maybe I am being overly sensitive to how this might feel to Queer teens and young adults, but I wonder if that was going to go someplace and then couldn't because of all the other things Hank was doing here. Please share your thoughts with this on me. I don't mind being told I am off base if I am.

Now I wait for the Barnes and Noble book club night to hear what others thought.

(Finished September 29, 2018)