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jenpaul13's review against another edition
3.0
Having a "type" in romantic partners is rather common, but all of them having the same name takes that to a new extreme in John Green's An Abundance of Katherines.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Child prodigy and anagram-happy Colin has a track record of getting dumped by his girlfriends, all of whom are named Katherine. After the nineteenth breakup, he's taking it particularly hard, wallowing in his grief. To rouse him from this, he and his best friend Hassan go on a road trip and find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee. With an incredible amount of luck, the pair meet a friendly mother and daughter who take them in and employ them to record the oral stories of the town's residents. Using this time to think more deeply, Colin begins to develop a theorem that explains the trajectory of his relationships with the various Katherines. As the theorem evolves, Colin comes to realize that there are more factors to relationships than he ever imagined.
An exploration of the teenage mind processing through the mystery of relationships with some interjections of humor, typical of John Green's writing, this (predictable) story is relatively entertaining despite its characters who feel a bit underdeveloped to be completely realistic and a plot that is stagnant. While the story has its cute moments and is filled with an abundance of convenient happenstances, the general premise seems rather unrealistic: two boys traveling through a more remote area of Tennessee are readily and easily accommodated by a random family on a spur of the moment trip - suspension of that disbelief aside, it was just a bit too convenient, though it did keep the narrative moving forward for Colin's Eureka! moment.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Child prodigy and anagram-happy Colin has a track record of getting dumped by his girlfriends, all of whom are named Katherine. After the nineteenth breakup, he's taking it particularly hard, wallowing in his grief. To rouse him from this, he and his best friend Hassan go on a road trip and find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee. With an incredible amount of luck, the pair meet a friendly mother and daughter who take them in and employ them to record the oral stories of the town's residents. Using this time to think more deeply, Colin begins to develop a theorem that explains the trajectory of his relationships with the various Katherines. As the theorem evolves, Colin comes to realize that there are more factors to relationships than he ever imagined.
An exploration of the teenage mind processing through the mystery of relationships with some interjections of humor, typical of John Green's writing, this (predictable) story is relatively entertaining despite its characters who feel a bit underdeveloped to be completely realistic and a plot that is stagnant. While the story has its cute moments and is filled with an abundance of convenient happenstances, the general premise seems rather unrealistic: two boys traveling through a more remote area of Tennessee are readily and easily accommodated by a random family on a spur of the moment trip - suspension of that disbelief aside, it was just a bit too convenient, though it did keep the narrative moving forward for Colin's Eureka! moment.
redwingschick95's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
br1sr3alm's review against another edition
3.0
cute but definitely not his best. very much for the ya crowd with this one.
mariathebookish's review against another edition
3.0
3.5⭐️ This book was so cute and so differently from Green‘s other works!
geethepsyche's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
mcbibliotecaria's review against another edition
2.0
I think I might be a picky reader. This is a YA book about a minor genius, he keeps stressing he isn't a complete genius, Colin who happens to have been involved with 19 Katherine in his lifetime. He is only 18 years old, just graduated from college, and to help get over the latest Katherine he goes on a road trip and ends up in a small town helping with genealogy research. He also is trying to come up with a formula to figure out if there is a common deviation in his relationships that will help his understand before hand how his future relationship will play out. That is the premise, execution was boring, but the premise was boring to begin with. I think High School math teachers would look towards this as a new way to engage students in math, but it definitely was boring to me. The characters were Saved by the Bell cliches. Snoozefest.
jojobrown's review against another edition
3.0
This won't be as in-depth as some of my others because I am not in a place where I can really do that, however I do want to get it out there so I can comment on it while it's still fresh in my head.
For starters, I was able to finish this book in one day. Nay, 5 hours. It was a long plane ride and I picked a good story to keep me busy.
I almost gave this book a 2 just because it wasn't my favorite of his, but I just couldn't because no matter what, I still enjoyed it enough to finish it in 5 hours.
Not only that, but I just really admire how much thought John Green puts into his characters. That's the whole reason why even his lesser books still work for me: because the characters are still so good. Colin, a child prodigy, a wannabe genius with an Arabic best friend who is pudgey and hilarious and just the way they talk is great. The dialogue is so real and the characters are so believable and real people.
The only thing that maybe held me back is that there were a few pretty flat secondary characters I would have liked to see more of, and I couldn't really get a good vision of what the main characters looked like to me in my head until the end. But I guess that's probably more my fault, because I don't always like when an author tells me exactly what they look like if that's not what I envisioned.
Still would recommend people read it because it's a funny, unique concept with interesting characters, but would definitely recommend other John Green books first!
For starters, I was able to finish this book in one day. Nay, 5 hours. It was a long plane ride and I picked a good story to keep me busy.
I almost gave this book a 2 just because it wasn't my favorite of his, but I just couldn't because no matter what, I still enjoyed it enough to finish it in 5 hours.
Not only that, but I just really admire how much thought John Green puts into his characters. That's the whole reason why even his lesser books still work for me: because the characters are still so good. Colin, a child prodigy, a wannabe genius with an Arabic best friend who is pudgey and hilarious and just the way they talk is great. The dialogue is so real and the characters are so believable and real people.
The only thing that maybe held me back is that there were a few pretty flat secondary characters I would have liked to see more of, and I couldn't really get a good vision of what the main characters looked like to me in my head until the end. But I guess that's probably more my fault, because I don't always like when an author tells me exactly what they look like if that's not what I envisioned.
Still would recommend people read it because it's a funny, unique concept with interesting characters, but would definitely recommend other John Green books first!
makalakm's review against another edition
5.0
Another hit by John Green. I think this is my favorite of his books that I've read.
humorously_shaped_vegetable's review against another edition
3.0
This- was an amazing book. Now- a lot of people said that Colin was whiny but to be honest- I’m whinier than him and I can’t help it for some reason. I just cannot move on- I just cannot let people go. And I feel like- that’s my fault. But however- this book was very relatable and yes- I will buy it later next month, I’ve already seen this in Baatighar. And yes- my eyes are dry again. My school library has some good books I gotta admit.