An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Publication: Sept 21st 2006 by Dutton Juvenile
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Coming of Age
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.
I've been meaning to read AAoK for a while now - I first tried John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and did not like it much, but was promised that this was better. And it was. Boy, it was.
First, I loved how authentic the book was, as if it had really been written by a prodigy - complete with footnotes, nerd references, complicated (but meaningful) diagrams and an appendix (ASDFGHJKL). The premise of the story was admittedly unrealistic - who even has nineteen ex-girlfriends called Katherine?! But that was how it was marketed so I'm not going to critique that. This was, in every essence, a surreal yet so very real account of life through the eyes of someone we don't get to meet everyday.
I know quite some borderline prodigies and I could tell that Colin was just like them. Everything he did was characteristic of him, and I had no qualms about his background. He did whine a bit much about K-19, but boys do tend to whine a lot (no offense!). Hassan, on the other hand, was a bit of a confusing character for me. He is a Muslim, and hasn't bothered with relationships at all. Yet, he gives his vows away for this random chick in Gutshot, Tennessee and that is absolutely ridiculous. Who even does that?! Hassan was whatever Green wanted him to be, and frankly that kinda annoyed me.
Lindsey Lee Wells is a book character that I can figure with. Completely, totally figure with. I won't go much into detail, but despite there being negative comments about her on Goodreads and other sites, she IS realistic. Girls like her do exist, they're just less in number. Remember that.
Now coming to the part I loved the most: THE MATH! Yes, I know I'm a nerd, but it was just so COOL! I haven't yet had the opportunity to try the formula yet, but I LOVED the math in this book. It added a dimension and a sense of reality to AAoK and enhanced the way I looked at the book and at John Green. I know people who read this book because of the math and loved it to pieces. The appendix was fabulous, thanks to ex-senator Daniel Biss (whose theories are fab, btw). To actually show that Colin's math makes sense is not only a feat, but also an acheievement. As a math lover, this book appealed to me more than it would if there hadn't been any theorems or bell curves.
I have read plenty of bad reviews about this book, and I can't say I agree with most of them. Whatever they disliked, I ended up liking; can't help that. I loved the anagrams quirk and found it a cute little subplot, just like the whole Franz Ferdinand subplot. Colin and Lindsey's worries and their moments were so realistic, I didn't whether to smile or cry. All in all, AAoK is a lovely book.
Overall rating: Four out of five stars (4/5)
Final comment: Completely worth the money.
Publication: Sept 21st 2006 by Dutton Juvenile
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Coming of Age
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.
I've been meaning to read AAoK for a while now - I first tried John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and did not like it much, but was promised that this was better. And it was. Boy, it was.
First, I loved how authentic the book was, as if it had really been written by a prodigy - complete with footnotes, nerd references, complicated (but meaningful) diagrams and an appendix (ASDFGHJKL). The premise of the story was admittedly unrealistic - who even has nineteen ex-girlfriends called Katherine?! But that was how it was marketed so I'm not going to critique that. This was, in every essence, a surreal yet so very real account of life through the eyes of someone we don't get to meet everyday.
I know quite some borderline prodigies and I could tell that Colin was just like them. Everything he did was characteristic of him, and I had no qualms about his background. He did whine a bit much about K-19, but boys do tend to whine a lot (no offense!). Hassan, on the other hand, was a bit of a confusing character for me. He is a Muslim, and hasn't bothered with relationships at all. Yet, he gives his vows away for this random chick in Gutshot, Tennessee and that is absolutely ridiculous. Who even does that?! Hassan was whatever Green wanted him to be, and frankly that kinda annoyed me.
Lindsey Lee Wells is a book character that I can figure with. Completely, totally figure with. I won't go much into detail, but despite there being negative comments about her on Goodreads and other sites, she IS realistic. Girls like her do exist, they're just less in number. Remember that.
Now coming to the part I loved the most: THE MATH! Yes, I know I'm a nerd, but it was just so COOL! I haven't yet had the opportunity to try the formula yet, but I LOVED the math in this book. It added a dimension and a sense of reality to AAoK and enhanced the way I looked at the book and at John Green. I know people who read this book because of the math and loved it to pieces. The appendix was fabulous, thanks to ex-senator Daniel Biss (whose theories are fab, btw). To actually show that Colin's math makes sense is not only a feat, but also an acheievement. As a math lover, this book appealed to me more than it would if there hadn't been any theorems or bell curves.
I have read plenty of bad reviews about this book, and I can't say I agree with most of them. Whatever they disliked, I ended up liking; can't help that. I loved the anagrams quirk and found it a cute little subplot, just like the whole Franz Ferdinand subplot. Colin and Lindsey's worries and their moments were so realistic, I didn't whether to smile or cry. All in all, AAoK is a lovely book.
Overall rating: Four out of five stars (4/5)
Final comment: Completely worth the money.
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