An Absolutely Remarkable Thing - Hank Green

⭐ 9.5/10

(Originally written by Rebecca)

I'm wayyy behind on my weviews, but since I finally finished another book, I thought I might as well get this one down. Maggie and I read this one together, and Maggie recommended it because it's a sort of modern sci-fi story about robots, one of my favourite things to read about. It is, to be exact, about a young woman who is the first person on earth to come into contact with a mysterious robot statue(?) that has suddenly appeared on the streets of New York, and, as they later find out, in 63 more of the world's biggest cities. It's an utterly fascinating story about humanity and how it handles huge, world-altering news, especially in the modern day of technology and instant communication, and it's also about individual people's experiences with fame and huge amounts of sudden attention. These themes were ESPECIALLY interesting coming from a) the standpoint of living in the wake of an ACTUAL world-changing event (the book was written in 2018), and b) the point of view of the author, Hank Green, an actual person with more fame than any one person should really have to deal with.

The writing style was very fun and very engaging, and I loved the plot and the whimsy and the robots, but I also loved the way humanity was captured in all its flaws as well as its beauty, and the fascinating look into life as a social icon. It was such a fun concept, and I was always eager to read more, as well as left with a lot of things to think about. I'm very excited to read the second book of the duology.