A review by skye_madeline_h
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green

dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

         “You can only do so much pretending before you become the thing you’re pretending to be.” Hank Green’s novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, is a young adult science fiction story about a young woman called April May and her journey to fame after discovering a mysterious sculpture in New York City. While April is coming back home from work, she notices a gigantic statue that seemingly just appeared there. Being someone who makes sure to appreciate works of art, she calls her friend Andy. They proceed to make a video in front of this sculpture that ends up going viral, causing April to gain quite a bit of attention from news outlets because it turns out the statues are actually all over the globe and nobody knows how they got there. The rest of the book centers on April’s quick jump from popularity to outright celebrity status and the discovery of how these sculptures came to be.
         As our first person narrator, April takes us through her journey of fame. loneliness, and addiction, and shows us the dangers of extremism and social media. April wants to know more about these strange statues, but others wonder if they are dangerous for humanity. They also question April’s motives. Is she using these statues for attention, and therefore fame and wealth? Or is April genuinely trying to bring humanity together? Hank Green gives us a very believable female main character, and clearly ties in his own experiences with social media fame. Because of this, his messages of corruption of popularity and power are poignant and thought-provoking. April creates a social media persona to get her message across, but how long can she wear this persona before she becomes it?
         I enjoy this book because it has themes of not getting too lost in your work and making sure you stay grounded in reality. Another thing I liked was the writing style, because it is written in such a way that it seems as if April is talking directly to the reader. Along with this, she is very honest about her own qualities, be them good or bad. I also appreciate, as previously stated, that April is a very convincing person, despite being a woman written by a man. And last but not least, I absolutely loved how good the suspense was built up and released, every new thing felt satisfying and exciting. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!
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