An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Colin has just been dumped by Katherine for the nineteenth time. Not the same Katherine nineteen times, but different Katherines. In fact, he’s only ever dated Katherines and they always dump him. Every time. Now his friend, Hassan, is making him go on a roadtrip to nowhere with him. Soon they find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee with jobs, a place to stay, and new friends. While there, Colin has a “eureka” moment and starts to work on a theorem that can predict the course of a relationship based on the two people involved. As he works on his theorem he hopes that the hole in his gut left by Katherine XIX will start to shrink and that maybe, one day his theorem will make it so that he finally matters.

I didn’t really like this book at first. Colin just seemed really pathetic to me and he kind of got on my nerves a bit. He was just so mopey about the breakup! I mean, I guess that was kind of the point, but I found myself getting a little impatient with him and that made me impatient with the book. When he and Hassan first started on their road trip I found myself having a hard time relating with either of them. I didn’t really care where they were going or why they were doing anything. I just felt pretty “meh” about them.

The book got a lot better for me once they got to Gutshot. Colin and Hassan’s personalities were more on display and you could see the camaraderie that they had with each other. It became more and more apparent to me that they had a really good friendship/relationship with each other. Several times I found myself laughing out loud at their bantering. They’re just good friends and different enough to be really good for each other. I liked Lindsey and the dynamic that she, Hollis, and TOC brought to the book. *Small Spoiler Coming Up* I was a little worried at first about Colin and Lindsey. It seemed like the book was heading in a direction that would bring the two of them together as a couple and I was worried that it would end up feeling forced and fake. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how it happened–even though I’m not 100% convinced that a girl like Lindsey would REALLY go for a guy like Colin. But it does make a nice story/conclusion. *Spoiler End*

Overall the book was pretty good. This was my first experience with John Green. I have Paper Towns right now, but this book didn’t really make me want to read another John Green book. It was good, but not my favorite. I’m not sure that I see myself reading anything else by him in the near future.

Overall Rating: 3
Violence: Mild. One big fight scene.
Language: Moderate. But they did use the word “fug” about 10,000 times (the “why” is explained in the book).
Sexual Content: Moderate
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate