Review: An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines

Book: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
 (I'm aware that this isn't the new cover. I just like this one better.)

Reading level: Ages 12 and up 
Paperback: 272 pages 
Publisher: Speak; Reprint edition (October 16, 2008)

 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. 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.

  This book was written by John Green.


  Oh, what? You mean you need more initiative to read it? After reading The Fault in Our Stars, a book that I found myself at a complete loss, (Let me leave it at this: I believe that if you do not read TFiOS, you are truly missing one of the best works of literature of this time.) I knew I wanted to read all of John Green's books. I picked up An Abundance of Katherines at the library, and I'm SO glad I did.

First of all, the writing is wonderful, hilarious, and so, unbeliveably real. There is no sugar-coating, or over-dramatizations. I can;t really describe to you how very realistic this book is, mainly because I cannot comprehend how life was so flawlessly converted into words, printed on pages, and trapped between a cover.

  Reading this book was just so enjoyable. It's like reading summer. While it was definitely a quick read, I enjoyed every second of it, and the sentence to laugh ratio was about 1:1. Not to mention, I actually learned a lot while reading this book, including my new favorite vocabulary word, sitzpinkler. (Sitzpinkler: German for a man who sits to pee.) Actually, my teacher took this book away from me in class because I kept laughing obnoxiously loud. One of the funniest books I've read in a long while.

  The characters in this book have to be some of my all-time favorites. But I must say, Hassan (Colin's best friend) is just amazing. Most of the reason this book was so funny was because of Hassan. Colin is hilarious in a different way, when he wants to be. All the characters in this book have become real to me. Honestly, out of all the books I've read (excluding TFiOS), this book has the realest characters. Ever. I was left completely in awe in the character department.

  My only complaint is that the plot is a teeny, tiny, tiny bit slow. However, the writing is so good that you hardly notice. I was so in love with the characters, setting and writing that the plot was sort of less important. While I do wish it had been a bit more driven, this doesn't really affect my love of this book.

Overall, a really good book. I totally recommend it. DFTBA!