Reviews

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

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cmcmurry's review against another edition

5.0

A surprisingly enjoyable YA-style novel for grownups. I liked this book because it was unpretentious, readable, funny, and human. The story is straightforward and engaging, the themes make you think without being confusing or clearly designed to prove how smart the author is, and, best of all, the characters talk, think, and act like real human beings.

This is not the book for you if you want hard sci-fi or PhD level philosophical argumentation. It is serious at times but fundamentally lighthearted and just a joyful reading experience. It is not a ponderous or mentally heavy book. It was so refreshing to read after giving up on countless books on because I couldn’t find anything that let me experience the pure fun and excitement of reading or to indicate the author actually had fun or experienced a human emotion while writing it.

This book is a charming, moving, and well-told story about the internet, human nature, friendship, extremist thinking, and giant robots from outer space. This book is, itself, an absolutely remarkable thing.

jkmeineke's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

louisasbooknook's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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? No

4.5

vishwesh's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a page-turner! This book takes us on a ride on how the first contact with aliens might happen in a world dominated by social media. I am jumping into the sequel right away :) cannot wait to read what happens next!