diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c257a9b..9fbce14 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 # CHANGELOG
 
+## 1.5.0
+*  Allow the hypermedia parser to be set manually, this provides support for
+custom use cases where HAL API's don't completely follow the specification
+but are close enough that this library would still be helpful.
+Added ParserInterface to facilitate this.
+
+## 1.4.0
+*  Allow for parsing absolute URL's correctly within makeRequest.
+
 ## 1.3.0
 * Add the `patchUpdateRelation` method to the explorer to support partial object
 updates.
diff --git a/spec/ExplorerSpec.php b/spec/ExplorerSpec.php
index a36586f..cef2685 100644
--- a/spec/ExplorerSpec.php
+++ b/spec/ExplorerSpec.php
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 use Prophecy\Argument;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
 use HalExplorer\ClientAdapters\AdapterInterface;
+use HalExplorer\Hypermedia\ParserInterface;
 use HalExplorer\Exceptions\LinkNotFoundException;
 
 class ExplorerSpec extends ObjectBehavior
@@ -25,6 +26,18 @@ function it_should_set_and_retreive_a_client_adapter(AdapterInterface $clientAda
         $this->getAdapter()->shouldBeEqualTo($clientAdapter);
     }
 
+    function it_should_return_the_default_parser_if_none_was_set(ParserInterface $parser)
+    {
+        $this->getParser()->shouldReturnAnInstanceOf("\HalExplorer\Hypermedia\Parser");
+
+    }
+
+    function it_should_set_and_retreive_a_parser(ParserInterface $parser)
+    {
+        $this->setParser($parser);
+        $this->getParser()->shouldBeEqualTo($parser);
+    }
+
     function it_should_set_and_retreive_a_base_url()
     {
         $this->setBaseUrl($this->baseUrl);
diff --git a/spec/Hypermedia/ParserSpec.php b/spec/Hypermedia/ParserSpec.php
index 1c4e6c6..b0137da 100644
--- a/spec/Hypermedia/ParserSpec.php
+++ b/spec/Hypermedia/ParserSpec.php
@@ -5,9 +5,15 @@
 use PhpSpec\ObjectBehavior;
 use Prophecy\Argument;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
+use HalExplorer\Hypermedia\Parser;
 
 class ParserSpec extends ObjectBehavior
 {
+    function it_should_implement_the_abstract_parser(Parser $parser)
+    {
+        $this->shouldImplement("\HalExplorer\Hypermedia\ParserInterface");
+    }
+
     function it_should_know_if_a_response_has_links_or_not(ResponseInterface $response)
     {
         $response->getBody()->willReturn(file_get_contents(__DIR__ . "/../fixtures/halResponse.json"));
diff --git a/src/Explorer.php b/src/Explorer.php
index 024867d..d0a407f 100644
--- a/src/Explorer.php
+++ b/src/Explorer.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 use HalExplorer\ClientAdapters\AdapterInterface;
 use HalExplorer\Exceptions\LinkNotFoundException;
 use HalExplorer\Exceptions\DeprecatedLinkException;
+use HalExplorer\Hypermedia\ParserInterface;
 use HalExplorer\Hypermedia\Parser as HypermediaParser;
 use HalExplorer\Hypermedia\UriTemplate;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
@@ -47,6 +48,13 @@ class Explorer
      */
     protected $adapter;
 
+    /**
+     * The parser that will process all HAL links, embeds, and curies.
+     *
+     * @var ParserInterface
+     */
+    protected $parser;
+
     /**
      * How to add default values to the currently established
      *
@@ -127,9 +135,8 @@ public function makeRequest($method, $uri, array $options = [])
      */
     public function getParsedBody(ResponseInterface $response)
     {
-        $parser = new HypermediaParser();
 
-        return $parser->parseJsonBody($response);
+        return json_decode($response->getBody());
     }
 
     /**
@@ -232,7 +239,7 @@ public function deleteRelation(ResponseInterface $response, $id, array $options
      */
     protected function followLink($method, ResponseInterface $response, $id, array $options = [])
     {
-        $hypermediaParser = new HypermediaParser();
+        $hypermediaParser = $this->getParser();
         $link = $hypermediaParser->getLink($response, $id);
 
         if ($link === null) {
@@ -299,6 +306,34 @@ public function setAdapter($adapter)
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Set the hypermedia parser
+     *
+     * @param $parser ParserInterface
+     *
+     * @return self
+     */
+    public function setParser(ParserInterface $parser) {
+        $this->parser = $parser;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieve the set parser on the explorer, or return the default parser.
+     *
+     * @return ParserInterface
+     */
+    public function getParser() {
+        $parser = $this->parser;
+        if (is_null($this->parser)) {
+            $parser = new HypermediaParser();
+        }
+
+        return $parser;
+    }
+
+
     /**
      * Modify the existing defaults array. To meet your needs.
      *
diff --git a/src/Hypermedia/Parser.php b/src/Hypermedia/Parser.php
index b16ed68..b4f0b5b 100644
--- a/src/Hypermedia/Parser.php
+++ b/src/Hypermedia/Parser.php
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 namespace HalExplorer\Hypermedia;
 
+use HalExplorer\Hypermedia\ParserInterface;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
 
 /**
@@ -10,26 +11,15 @@
  * This class assumes a response actually implements the
  * {@link https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-kelly-json-hal-07 HAL Spec}
  * correctly.  Malformed/Incorrectly imeplemented responses be warned.
+ * If you need non-standard functionality, you can implement the
+ * {@see ParserInterface} for your own use cases.
  *
  * @author Jared Meyering
  *
  */
-class Parser
+class Parser implements ParserInterface
 {
 
-    /**
-     * Parses a json message body and returns the result
-     *
-     * @param ResponseInterface $response
-     *
-     * @return \stdClass|array stdClass if a single response, array of stdClass
-     * for a collection
-     */
-    public function parseJsonBody(ResponseInterface $response)
-    {
-        return json_decode($response->getBody());
-    }
-
     /**
      * Does the ResponseInterface have any links?
      *
@@ -243,4 +233,16 @@ protected function getResponseProperty(ResponseInterface $response, $id)
             null;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Parses a json message body and returns the result
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response
+     *
+     * @return \stdClass|array stdClass if a single response, array of stdClass
+     * for a collection
+     */
+    protected function parseJsonBody(ResponseInterface $response)
+    {
+        return json_decode($response->getBody());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Hypermedia/ParserInterface.php b/src/Hypermedia/ParserInterface.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58d2326
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Hypermedia/ParserInterface.php
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace HalExplorer\Hypermedia;
+
+use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
+
+/**
+ * The ParserInterface provides the necessary methods for fetching linked,
+ * embedded, or curie information from a {@see ResponseInterface} object.
+ *
+ * @author Jared Meyering
+ *
+ */
+interface ParserInterface
+{
+    /**
+     * Does the ResponseInterface have any links?
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response
+     *
+     * @return boolean
+     */
+    public function hasLinks(ResponseInterface $response);
+
+    /**
+     * Return the collection of links on the response.
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response
+     *
+     * @return \stdClass|null
+     */
+    public function getLinks(ResponseInterface $response);
+
+    /**
+     * Informs the user if a particular link exists on a response
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response The response containing the links.
+     * @param string            $id       The identifier of the link to find
+     *
+     * @return boolean
+     */
+    public function hasLink(ResponseInterface $response, $id);
+
+    /**
+     * Return a single link that is set on the response null if not present.
+     * handles curie annotated link names as well as ordinary link names.
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response The response containing the links.
+     * @param string            $id       The identifier of the link to fetch
+     *
+     * @return \stdClass|null
+     */
+    public function getLink(ResponseInterface $response, $id);
+
+    /**
+     * Informs the user if the response has embedded resources
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response
+     *
+     * @return boolean
+     */
+    public function hasEmbeds(ResponseInterface $response);
+
+    /**
+     * Return all the embeds if they exist
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response The response containing the Embeds.
+     *
+     * @return \stdClass|null
+     */
+    public function getEmbeds(ResponseInterface $response);
+
+    /**
+     * Informs the user if a particular embed exists on a response
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response The response containing the embeds.
+     * @param string            $id       The identifier of the embed to find
+     *
+     * @return boolean
+     */
+    public function hasEmbed(ResponseInterface $response, $id);
+
+    /**
+     * Return a single embed that is set on the response null if not present.
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response The response containing the embeds.
+     * @param string            $id       The identifier of the embed to fetch
+     *
+     * @return \stdClass|null
+     */
+    public function getEmbed(ResponseInterface $response, $id);
+
+
+    /**
+     * Does the ResponseInterface have any curies?
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response
+     *
+     * @return boolean
+     */
+    public function hasCuries(ResponseInterface $response);
+
+    /**
+     * Retreive the curies for this request
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response
+     *
+     * @return array Because curies are represented as an array of objects.
+     */
+    public function getCuries(ResponseInterface $response);
+
+    /**
+     * Informs the user if a particular curie exists on a response
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response The response containing the curies.
+     * @param string            $name     The name of the curie to find
+     *
+     * @return boolean
+     */
+    public function hasCurie(ResponseInterface $response, $name);
+
+    /**
+     * Retreive a single curie by name
+     *
+     * @param ResponseInterface $response The response with the curies
+     * @param string            $name     The name value of the curie to fetch
+     *
+     * @return \stdClass|null
+     */
+    public function getCurie(ResponseInterface $response, $name);
+}