An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Synopsis (from Amazon.co.uk)

 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, 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.



What I Have to Say

 So after reading the Fault in our Stars, I went on a bit of a John Green binge. Well I say binge. I read this and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (which I won't be reviewing, not because it was bad, just 'cause it was nothing special. If you want to hear my thoughts, feel free to drop me an email). So a lot of my thoughts about this are in relation to the Fault in our Stars. If you haven't read my review of it then go and read it before reading this. Go on. I can wait.

Okay is everyone back? All on the same page? Great. :) So I think that John Green has some sort of amazing ability to make readers fall in love with normally unlikable characters. In the Fault in our Stars, there's Augustus. I mean come on he puts cigarettes in his mouth and doesn't light them just for the irony! What's there to like? And in Katherines, it's Colin. Colin is the typical child prodigy. He doesn't exactly think that everyone is beneath him, but he's smarter than them and knows it. In any other book I would hate both of them! But I love them so much.

I came away from the Fault in our Stars, thinking that it was the humour that did it. People like humour and if someone makes them laugh it makes them like the person.  But in the Fault in our Stars, it was Augustus's sarcasm that the humour came in. A typically, cynical, teenage sense of humour. I love it. In anything, I love that sort of humour. But with Katherines it's different. Colin is jokey and funny but what makes him lovable, in my opinion, is the simplistic view in which he sees the world. The very premise of the book shows this view. He dates girls called Katherine. He tries to use maths to solve his romantic problems. It's almost naive and that's why I love the Abundance of Katherines.

I'd love to hear other peoples opinions about this. Go read the book and then come back and comment. Or if you've already read the book, just comment. I'd be really interested.