Wednesday 13 February 2013

Book Review: An Abundance Of Katherines by John Green

Plot-
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is 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..



My Review: 
Can we just take a moment to appreciate this cover. That is one beautiful book cover. Did I mention my copy is also signed by John and Hank Green? No? Well it is! Now, on to the review.
The road trip aspect of a novel is something that most people dislike in Young Adult novels. Yet, I felt that this novel portrayed the restless nature of the characters through their road trip perfectly.
The majority of people often feel the need to "just get away" and I feel that the road trip provided that for them when they greatly needed it. The plot of this novel was based around maths and that was something I found very interesting. This novel was so gripping. I loved the flow of the novel and all the plot twists in it that I didn't see coming.
The characters in this novel were amazing. John Green makes the most lovable of YA characters. Colin was adorable and I almost felt his intelligence rubbing off on me! He was such a good protagonist. I also found it interesting to read about a boy who was devastated by a break up as usually I find novels written from a female dumpee's perspective. Hassan was just amazing. I actually loved him so much. He was witty, hilarious and a really good friend.I also could relate to his lack of interest in college, as next year I'll have to make some decisions concerning college and I could understand him not welcoming that change. His relationship with Colin was so close, that at times I felt they were more like brothers than friends. Lindsey was a really good character too. She was quirky and witty. She definitely added to the story and I loved her relationship with Colin so much!
The writing style of this novel was so different also, but in a good way! There were footnotes at the bottom of pages and I thought that was quite fun to read. The Arabic and German in the novel was so interesting and funny, I must use the phrase "Sitzpinkler" in a sentence! The maths equations were so interesting, yet as I am in ordinary level Maths I did not understand a lot of it ( I don't remember the full quote but in the novel there is a quote that goes something like "you don't have to understand Math to think it is beautiful"). This novel had so much "John Green-ness" (to quote Priscilla from the readables) and I have to agree with that. I could almost imagine John (or Hank for that matter) being very like Colin as a teenager. Many people say this is their least favourite John Green novel but I fully disagree. This novel was fantastic and I would highly recommend it.

Rating:
Five Star Novel 
* * * * *

2 comments:

  1. Ahh I love John Green!! He just writes the best characters and I am so jealous of your signed copy of this much loved book that I am yet to read. So far I have read The Fault In Our Stars (my favourite book in the history of the world) and Looking For Alaska (loved it).

    - Sunny @ www.asupersunnyspot.blogspot.com

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    1. I love Tfios and LFA ! All of John Greens books are amazing and I recomend this book to you .

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