An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

2.5-3 stars...

Fun and definitely fast-paced enough to make me want to keep reading....but not sure I actually liked it that much?

Parts of this book feel like “lol so random” which sometimes feels too tumblr-era-internet-brained, but also kinda feels like a nod to other quirky and satirical sci-fi like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (although this was less adventurous and more of a contemporary fiction book with some sci-fi elements)... the tone and the way the internet is used/discussed in this book almost feels like a cross between an earlier extremely-online vernacular and a current extremely-online actual life (jokes about pop-tarts, randomness etc, but then the internet mainly being about social media apps rather than websites).

The main character is annoying but the writer wants us to be very aware that this is on purpose and that both he and she (the character) know she is flawed/sucks. I actually liked this aspect of the book as it was interesting...but it might have been even more interesting if it was just allowed to be, and not commented on so much. If it was left to the reader to form an opinion rather than being constantly told by the character “I know I suck, you must hate me as you read this” (not a direct quote) right before she does something bad/acts like a jerk/etc.

This book really feels like it was written by Hank Green. It feels deeply connected to his general internet persona (complete with occasionally throwing in a random science fact that there is no reason the character would have known/mentioned, like describing a siren with reference to the Doppler effect). I like his internet persona a lot more than I liked this book.

Also did not love that it ended on a cliffhanger!! I didn't hate this, it was a fun read, but I probably would not read the sequel...but now I want to know what happens!