An Abundance of Katherines

November 25, 2016

                           
                                        Image result for an abundance of katherines

Author: John Green

Genre: YA, Short Story, Humour, Contemporary

Blurb: When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls who are 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 may finally win him the girl.

Intermission: Wow. Never did I think I would review a John Green book.

When Colin Singleton got dumped by the 19th Katherine, he became exceedingly sorrowful. His friend Hassan came over to his house and then they went on a roadtrip to Gutshot, Tennessee and met a girl named Lindsey.

As for my favourite character, Colin wins the trophy but only by the skin of his teeth. There were things I liked about Colin: his curly 'jew-fro', the way he spoke softly sometimes, the way he was nerdy and also how he was a bookworm who tried to read four hundred pages a day. However, I really disliked his Katherine obsession and don't think he should be in a relationship with anyone.

Hassan would've been my favourite character because of his loud, big personality. However, I found him a bit rude because he always seemed to be super sarcastic towards Colin, constantly interrupting him by saying "not interesting" whenever he found whatever Colin was saying boring and the way he frequently called Colin khafir which is 'infidel' in Arabic and used against non-Muslims (however Colin is pretty secular despite being a Jew so he doesn't care xD). Also, the guy's annoying because he said it would be haram (an arabic word to describe something forbidden/abominable in Islam) to date Lindsey and yet he Spoiler: drank beer and dated Lindsey's NON MUSLIM college friend called Katrina because she was apparently hot. Also, Hassan's a fan of Judge Judy but there weren't any references to him actually watching Judge Judy. Hmm...

Of course, as best friends, Colin and Hassan would often butt heads. Whenever Hassan brought up his Katherine obsession, Colin would bring up Hassan's laziness and not going to college.


How very odd, to believe God gave you life, and yet not think that life asks more of you than watching TV.

And here's a quote Hassan made about Colin. 


Hassan said, "Sometimes the khafir likes to say massively obvious things in a really profound voice."

What did I think of Lindsey? I dunno... sometimes she would call her mum by her first name and swear at her. The heck?

source

Overall, my favourite John Green book.

Recommendation: 15 and above

Content: Lots of swearing, dirty jokes, innuendo, kissing, violence.

Rating: ***1/2 - Three and a half stars out of five

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4 comments

  1. It's funny, because this was my least favourite John Green book. (I really liked Paper Towns-have you read it?). I thought this didn't have too much important to say and mainly focused on being funny, but at the same time was a bit stupid (like when Colin # 2 is found to be cheating). I don't remember the details though soooo. I know some people who call their parents by their first names sometimes but swearing at them is really a different story. Anyway, I liked hearing your thoughts!

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    1. I haven't read Paper Towns... I'm scared that it will be like Looking for Alaska. Maybe I'll check it out ;P

      Yeah, this book was filled with nonsensical stuff but it made me laugh on the inside but like a lot of his books, had unnecessary inappropriate stuff like the Colin #2 example you gave.

      Thanks. I liked hearing yours too <3

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  2. Have you read any other John Green books? I haven't read this one but I've read The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns and wasn't a fan of either of them, which is sad because John Green's YouTube channel is amazing. I'd like to know how you thought this one compared.

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    1. Yeah. I've read Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars. The Fault in Our Stars wasn't a bad book but it was a bit too pretentious and it didn't feel serious when the person died because of the constant joking.

      Yeah, I prefer John Green the YouTuber more than the author.

      I guessed I liked it more because it was practically meant to be silly (but the maths bit was annoying) and I found Hassan hilarious (except when he made inappropriate jokes).

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Keep it all clean, man. Well, if you really wanna curse, use minor swear words. And I mean the minorest of minor ones.

"Or what?" you ask in indignation.

"Or else."