An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Humor
Short reaction: Cute novel with mix of humor and adventure
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Synopsis
Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun–but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
My Review
Also seen on Goodreads.
This is my first John Green book and to be honest, I found it hilarious and I had fun with it but the story just didn’t get to me as what I expected of a John Green book to make a story stick to my mind I may dream of it LOL. So, let’s get to the review:
An Abundance of Katherines is a story about Colin Singleton, an only child and prodigy who started reading a newspaper headline at 2 years old and from there, anagrammed and learned a ton of languages that not a normal kid would enjoy and do. But while his parents thought they could raise him to be a genius and be popular and win friends, they’ve taught and enrolled him to dozens of smart-kid summer camps and had him join and win quiz bees around America. Unfortunately Colin wasn’t good at socializing at all with his geek-iness – not until he caught the eyes of her first Katherine and got her heart. That was also the first friend/gf he ever had. Puppy love as it seemed, he still thought her kissing his cheek would also be the start of a lasting friendship and relationship but then 3 minutes later, she dumped him. That’s the start of his search for the mystery behind being dumped by a girl named Katherine that made him pursue more Katherines! Crazy as it sounded, the nineteenth dumpee experience with Katherine after graduating high school also made him finally get on a roadtrip with his childhood chubby Arab bestfriend Hassan whom is the first person he’ll ever be with in these situations of whining and moving on after being dumped. That’s where the climax of his theorem began when they met Lindsey Lee Wells, daughter of a Textile Company CEO at Gutshot, Tennessee who somehow taught Colin how to tell stories the right away and crack his own Dumpers/Dumpee theorem.
Love of Characters
I liked the humor in the writing. I liked the geeky inserts even though sometimes I thought what the heck was that but I still found it funny in a good way. I liked Hassan’s character whom was also the person who listened to Colin’s whines about Katherines for 4 years and still stayed with him as his good ol’ friend even if Colin’s so self-centered of wanting to matter with others and forgetting to care about Hassan at all. I actually liked Hassan more than the main character Colin because he’s normal LOL but not only that, he also taught Colin lessons on how to just get real, make things happen and just live life to the fullest. On the other hand, it’s hard not to love Colin as he tried being the best boyfriend ever despite never giving up a time to read a book, anagram or learn languages. Really, he just needed someone to talk him in the eye and heart and not in the books just like what also Lindsey did. That’s why I also loved Lindsey’s upfront character to bits!
Rants
I didn’t hate Math as much as the majority of people because I actually enjoyed algebra, calculus and statistics in high school and college but some parts just dragged on figuring out those theorems and bored me. Also, I didn’t find it too pleasing at my age and experience. I think I need to get my hands on The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska SOON ENOUGH to go test the waters.
Books And Anything Beautiful 