SO!
My two loves were combined when I accidentally stumbled upon Hank Green's new book waaaay back. At the time, there was only a pre-order button. No cover artwork, no description, just a name and the ability to pre-order. I, of course, immediately added it to me cart and just checked it every single day for updates. Religiously. Finally, a description was posted:
The Carls just appeared. Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her best friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.
I know what you're thinking, "Um what?"
Exactly.
I honestly was so unsure of this book reading this description. This is not my typical type of book. I am a huge sucker for love and romance, a good teen/young adult chick flick, a happy ending or happily ever after. I just don't usually stray far outside of my niche. That's what I love to read about and I know it, so why change it? So basically this book sat in my cart for months. The release date came and went and I had forgotten about it, but come Christmas morning, this book was under my tree, and once I started, I couldn't stop. I read this book all day until I was done, and I loved it so unbelievably much that I seriously bought it again just so I could have a signed version (to match my TATWD down one, of course). I don't want to give away too much about the story line, but I feel like diving into some of my favorite quotes will really give a good feel for how Hank Green writes and if it's your cup of tea or not. Let's begin!
Just because someone has power over you doesn't mean they're going to use it to hurt you. People who believe that tend to be either: People who have been victims of that sort of behavior, or... People who, if given power, will use it to hurt you.
Y E S Hank. This is such an eye-opening realization and reminder that the world is not full of only bad people!! There are good people out there who will not let their power and influence encourage bad behavior. Also, sometimes bad things happen to good people and it can ruin their outlook on life forever, which is something no one ever deserves to go through. What a sad existence it would be if you do not believe in good and love in others hearts.
The power that each of us has over complete strangers to make them feel terrible and frightened and weak is amazing.
I love this one, and I understand it can definitely come off as kind of dark, but I think it's really important to really just how much of an impact one person can make.
I'm not much older now than I was then, but in a lot of ways, obviously, I'm a different person. So it is easy for me to recognize that I made some good decisions and some bad ones. But it's telling that, with this, I knew it was a bad idea even then but I still couldn't control myself. Knowing something is a bad idea does not always decrease the odds that you will do it. If I had examined my motivations on this one, I probably wouldn't have liked what I found, so I didn't.
This one is the best one. Don't even try to fight me on this one. It's like Hank read my mind and then wrote this girls' internal thoughts out on paper. I think April and I might be the same person. (Sorry Hank, I'm 20, not 23.) But in all seriousness, if you haven't had thoughts like this, then you have never been a teenager or young adult. Life can be scary, and there's so much you don't know, so many decisions that may require you to simply take a leap of faith, and that can be terrifying but also exhilarating. And you are going to make mistakes. You just are. That's life. And sometimes you'll make those mistakes very consciously and you'll try to ignore the selfish reasons in which you made that decision, and that's okay too! Your early adulthood is all about knowledge and growth, and the best way to learn is from experiences.
I do things that are bad for myself, and my friends, and my health, and my world so I can get more power because I think I need that power to do good things.
But do we need power to make an impact? And do we need to do bad things to get it?
Overall, I found myself falling in love while reading this. It ranks in as my 2nd favorite book I've ever read. Only second to Turtles All The Way Down. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is such a great book, that tends to (at least for me) touch on a lot of slightly philosophical thoughts that many teenagers and young adults have. Especially as a girl, I related to April so so much, but this book was written by a man, so I can guarantee there have to be some boys that would definitely relate on some level.
Go out and buy this book, seriously, you won't regret it. '
And while you're waiting for it to arrive, leave me some more book suggestions and let me know what you think of Hank Green and his new book!
