Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

  

Goodreads Overview:

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.

Jacque's Review:

This was one of the choices for my son's junior year summer reading, so I read it along with him. This wasn't my favorite John Green novel, but it did have some good messages.

Colin is a child prodigy, but is obsessed with achieving greatness. He spends countless hours working on his relationship theorem because he believes that is what it will take for his life to matter. People use their life experiences to set goals for themselves and to determine their successes, failures, and self worth. Colin learns that he needs to live in the moment and not to force greatness. He will be remembered for his life story regardless.

Another theme that was expressed throughout the book is to be yourself. Colin meets a girl named Lindsay when they stop in Gutshot to visit a tourist attraction on their road trip. Lindsay wasn’t popular as a child and changes who she is to  make people like her. Throughout the book Colin notices how she changes her personality and accent based upon who she is with. She eventually learns there is no point in changing for others because there is always someone who will love you as you are.

Overall, I felt like there were some great messages in this story that readers could learn and benefit from. I'm sure that is why it was selected for their summer reading, but it was quite tedious reading some of the dialog regarding the theorem and all of the Katherines. What Colin eventually discovers from his calculation is enlightening to readers, but it took a long time to get to the point. Unless you are also a child prodigy or a mathematician, you will probably want to skim over those sections. My son listened to the audiobook and was completely glassed over with all of the square roots and power of Xs.