Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green

10 reviews

planner5002's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I had been in a reading slump before reading this book. This book helped me out of it. I finished it in five days, and read the book in large portions at once. This book was thought provoking, and I like the way it explored different themes. 
 

spoiler>There's a quote in this book about how once a lot of people with extreme views have family recipes, and lives. I think a lot of people forget that everyone is human, and I loved the empathy this book had for humanity. I also loved how human April May was. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, and Gore

Minor: Stalking

regans's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Addiction

Minor: Xenophobia

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Spoiler

I read this because it was compared to Lindsay Ellis's Noumena series, which I absolutely love so far.

Positives: The theme and message of the qualities of humanity. The dream sequences and puzzles were so much fun to read about. Seeing people work together to solve problems was heartwarming. I just loved the character of Robin. It was suspenseful and I cared about what happened.

Negatives: The writing style felt young and it was grating at times. The side characters were underdeveloped; I would have loved more chapters from other characters' perspectives! In Ellis's similar book, the government bungles things in a way that is just way more realistic. It was nice but unrealistic to see a completely competent, compassionate president in this situation, but it fit well with the overall themes. I wish there had been more of a relationship between Carl and April (a là Ellis's book again, oops!) I think I may be comparing this to her book too much, but I really did enjoy this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Biphobia, Addiction, and Cursing

Minor: Vomit

amiesce's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Addiction, Biphobia, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Xenophobia

rory_john14's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Biphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racism, and Outing

Minor: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Sexism, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Mental illness

chris_reads's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Stalking

Minor: Biphobia and Medical content

the_escapist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Medical trauma, Violence, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Xenophobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking

Minor: Biphobia and Police brutality

eamily's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Outing, Medical content, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Gore, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Police brutality, Cursing, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement

Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Sexual content, Classism, and Excrement

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I didn't even intend to ever read it, really. I like the Green brothers, who doesn't! But I've never really vibed with John's books, and I figured Hank's were going to be more of the same. But An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is not just more John Green YA contemporary romance, in a few ways: 1) This is not YA. It is adult. Granted, new-ish adult, the characters are in their early 20s, but it is very much not YA. 2) This is not contemporary romance. It's contemporary, but more like speculative/sci-fi in a real-world setting with dashes of satire. 3) Hank definitely has his own voice, and I LOVE that voice. It's edgy, and meta, and self-aware, and very raw. I do not think it is for everyone, but it was perfect for me, especially the humor. I also deeply enjoyed listening to this on audio. If I continue the series, I will certainly do so via audiobook, because Kristen Sieh IS April May, and quite honestly her voice reminds me a little bit of my friend Chessa, which I loved, but I digress. This book also had some parallels to life in America in the 2020s that were weirdly apt. It's like, there are no giant robots named Carl on our city streets, but the way people are acting,  you would think that there were. I don't want to spoil anything, but essentially, July 13th has an eerie real-world analog that hit close to home.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence

lalu's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

read for the second time in 2021 - 5 stars

This book is amazing on so many levels!

• The protagonist is completely relatable, even in these absurd events
• social media is implemented convincingly (I mean Hank Green does have some experience on that topic)
• the "defenders" are prime examples of 2020's conspiracy theorists
• a bunch of characters just casually belong to of minorities, without it feeling forced
• we have stakes
• and things are scientifically acurate (I think)

Honestly, I love this story so much!


read for the first time in 2018 - 5 stars

Auf der ganzen Welt tauchen aus dem Nichts riesige, identische Metallstatuen in Großstädten auf. Die junge Grafikdesignerin April May ist die erste, die die Skulptur in New York entdeckt und dreht sofort ein YouTube-Video über "Carl", welches über Nacht viral geht. Besessen vom Social Media-Fame und der Überzeugung, dass die Carls keine Bedrohung darstellen, wird sie zur weltbekannten Advokatin der scheinbar extraterrestrischen Besucher und macht sich damit nicht nur Freunde.

Eine tolle, spannende und nicht vorhersehbare Story. So gern und ohne mich selbst daran erinnern zu müssen, habe ich schon lange nicht mehr gelesen... Nur der Cliffhanger am Ende macht mich fertig!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Addiction and Medical content

Minor: Biphobia and Cursing