An Abundance of Katherine’s
Colin Singleton is a boy who has a thing for girls named Katherine when it comes to relationships. But for Colin his attempts with these Katherine’s has failed, 19 times to be exact. When Katherine the 19th dumps Colin, he goes into a state of depression. Not only is he depressed because a Katherine has dumped him yet again, but he hasn’t taken the step from “child protégé” to “genius”; Colin is convinced he needs “a eureka moment”. A road trip leads Colin and his best friend, Hassan, to a small town in Tennessee called Gunshot. In Gunshot these two boys meet Lindsey Lee Wells and her mother Hollis, who owns a company that produces tampon strings (yes, really), and she hires the boys to work for her. It’s in this small town of Gunshot, Tennessee that Colin begins to develop his theorem.

This novel was very enjoyable, and for numerous reasons. It was written in a very humorous manner; I found myself laughing aloud on many occasions. The dialogue is written in a very realistic way, and it’s also very witty. It was as though I could actually hear what they were saying. The book is also filled with footnotes and anagrams that are very random, but they are quite comical and entertaining throughout the book. I feel like the footnotes helped explain parts of the book in an easy way, without making the narrative to wordy.

Although the book was very enjoyable, I didn’t have the greatest liking for the character Colin. He seemed to be self-centered, and not all that interesting. He was unlikeable. (It’s no surprise he has been dumped so many times) It was great of John Green to create that character Hassan, I felt he did this to counter act Colin. Hassan is a very thoughtful, easy going, fun character. Those who read An Abundance of Katherine’s will probably find humor in that these two best friends are always giving each other a hard time. Later on, as the two experience more, and as he opens his eyes to others, be becomes a likeable character.

The quick pace of the book made it an easy read, and for me impossible to put down. I am curious though as two how the idea of finding an equation on how long a relationship will last, and if by any chance it would actually work. Although John Green states that he is no mathematician, he said he was actually quite bad at math, this formula is quite captivating.

I would definitely recommend An Abundance of Katherine’s to a friend; seeing as it was recommended by a friend to me. Overall I ready enjoyed the quirkiness of the book, and the connection the characters had with each other. I feel like my friends would see the humor in it as I did, and they may enjoy it even more than me.