Review: An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Release date: September 9 2006
Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback, 227 pages
Series: No
Goodreads | Book Depository

My rating 4/5 stars

From Goodreads: "When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is 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, washedup 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."

Let me start by saying that I love John Green's work! I have read Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns which are also by John Green and loved them both. So I was excited to read a third book of his. I have to admit that I was a bit worried when I saw the characters in the book take a road trip. Paper Towns involved a road trip and I was worried that it was going to be to similar for my liking. In saying that, the plot of the two books are very different, phew!

Colin has this infatuation with girls named Katherine, and only likes to date girls named Katherine. Colin knows everything about pretty much everything, with an amazing memory. He is, for lack of a better word, a nerd. He spends the majority of his time trying to create a formula to predict how long a relationship will last and who will be the one to end it. I liked Colin's character, I thought he was a bit of a know-it-all, but that didn't bother me too much.

Hassan, Colin's best (and only) friend, is almost the total opposite of Colin. Hassan isn't as bright as Colin and also doesn't ever want to go to College. He and his family are very religious, which he general tries to obied by... most of the time anyway.

Colin has been dumped 19 times by different Katherine's and has hit a slump. His latest Katherine dumps him and he is distraught. So distraught that his friend Hassan suggests a road trip to give Colin some adventure, which he has been highly lacking in his life. They don't make it very far into their road trip as they make a stop to see the grave of a Duke. They take a tour which is done by Lindsey who lives in the small town. Colin and Hassan end up staying in the town and Colin learns to come out of his shell and gets over his last Katherine!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. John Green has an amazing, but not complex, way with words that keeps me hooked to the characters and the story the entire way through. I wouldn't say this is my favourite of his books that I have read, but it was still an awesome read. If you enjoy John Green's other books, I would say that you will enjoy this one too. I'm looking forward to reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson next!