Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

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.

If I had to sum up Colin Singleton with one word I'd probably use "selfish". Which is a funny thing to say about the main character of a book, because all I ever seem to read is "your main character must be likable". While he's selfish, he's also endearing. Colin has some quirks that I imagine come with the territory of being a child prodigy. He's anti-social, can't tell a story, and is consumed with the idea that he must become famous for something - even if it's a theorem on why 19 girls dumped him.

While reading, I sometimes found myself being as selfish as Colin. I stopped caring about Hassan and Lindsay and TOC (The Other Colin) and only wanted Colin to finish his theorem. Why had 19 girls named Katherine dumped him? More interestingly, why did he choose to keep dating Katherines if they kept dumping him?

The subject of the book lends itself to comedy. Hassan, Colin's friend, is great for comic relief, and the footnotes (yes, footnotes - what did you expect from a book about a prodigy?) are one of the funnier parts of the book.

All in all, another great book by John Green. Can't wait to read his next one!

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