To be completely honest, An Abundance of Katherines only caught my attention because the title included my sister's name in it. I wish I could say that the synopsis on the back of the book was so intriguing that I needed to read it, but in reality, I was a little hesitant going into the book because it seemed pretty strange. It talked about hogs and anagrams and "The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability," which seemed very random. HOWEVER, the book actually proved to be quite interesting, so I'm glad I took a chance on it.
An Abundance of Katherines is a young-adult fiction novel written by John Green and is about a boy named Colin Singleton. Throughout the book's 215 pages, Colin struggles to find purpose in his life without K-19, who was the last Katherine that just broke up with him. Colin is a child prodigy, but although he retains information quickly and is a great student, he still often feels inadequate and as if he will never amount to anything. This has led him to become overly dependent in his relationships, seeking reassurance and affirmations from his (ex)girlfriends, all whom have been named Katherine.
After a particularly hard break up with K-19, Colin's best friend Hassan takes Colin on a road trip, during which Colin finds hope and motivation as he tries to come up with "The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability," which is a math equation that should ultimately calculate how long it would take for a couple to break up. Colin and Hassan end up staying in a town called Gutshot, and are hired by their new friend Lindsey's mom, Hollis, who owns the textile shop that everyone in Gutshot works at.
My favorite part of this book was the way it was written. It wasn't your standard story that started at the beginning and worked its way to the end; rather, it would give you the excerpts of the past that were relevant at the moment. Each new development was also pretty brief, so it was easy to find a stopping point in the middle of chapters. Colin's character somewhat annoyed me with his neediness, but if he'd been perfect at the beginning of the book there'd be no plot. Overall, I enjoyed the book and learned a lot of random facts thanks to Colin's prodigy brain spewing out random facts and John Green's commentary on those random facts in the footnotes.
- Elizabeth Reza
This book sounds interesting! I'm glad that it gives excerpts from the past because that makes it unique and different from a typical novel. The way the author writes like that reminds me of the television series Once Upon a Time. In the series, it would show what the plot was in the future and then show what happened in the past, that related to the present, in fragments.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bummer that Colin has an annoying personality, but you're right: the book probably wouldn't have a very good plot without that. Lately, I have been branching away from solely reading cheesy romances, so I think I will try this book out.
I think I have actually heard of this book before, but I have never read it. I liked how along with explaining the book, you also shared your own opinions on a lot of it. Maybe I will give this book a try one day.
ReplyDeleteI actually read this book a few years back and I have to completely agree with you. To me, the book seemed completely different from all the books that John Green has written but I really enjoyed. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought Colin was annoying but he definitely made the book.
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