An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines is the second novel from author John Green. It is a capable follow up to Looking for Alaska. Though I did not find it as engaging as Green’s previous novel, I would still recommend it as a good YA novel. Readers who chose to read both will be impressed with Green’s stylistic changes to fit with each novel and will appreciate that some great moments of humor exist in both novels.

An Abundances of Katherines tells the story of Colin Singleton, a teenage child-prodigy with several distinctive habits. One is a penchant for remembering lots of information; another is the ability to anagram practically any sentence spoken to him; the most defining though is insistency in only dating girls named Katherine. Not Kathryn, Catherine, Katie or Kate, Colin will only date KATHERINES; and, he does not seem to have an issue finding them, considering he’s dated 19! (Oh and he’s been dumped by all of them—but I guess you have to admire that he keeps trying?) Putting aside the fact that meeting nineteen Katherines before you even become an adult is highly implausible (let alone having relationships with them), this fun plot quirk provides quite the metaphor for dating the same type of girl, or even just staying in a comfortable pattern in any situation.

Some Spoilers Included: After being dumped by the nineteenth Katherine, Colin and his buddy Hassan embark on a road trip to try and take his mind off the break-up. They end up in Tennessee (interesting choice…) and meet a new friend named Lindsey (who can be a friend because she has no shot; she’s not a Katherine). Hassan and Colin decide to hang out for awhile in Lindsey’s hometown and find many ways to amuse themselves, such as Hassan finding love (perhaps?) and Colin attempting to construct a mathematical formula for relationships. Hassan is a funny side-kick and Colin is a pretty amusing, but slightly whiny, narrator, but it is Lindsey who saves the story---What is great about both John Green novels that I have read is that they have female characters that you would not typically find in YA and you find yourself relating to them and really liking their uniqueness even though they don’t have that identifiable girl-next door quality.--- At first appearing to be an enigmatic, free-spirited, confident girl, slowly the layers of her personality are peeled back to reveal a real deep teenage girl with a realistic and heartbreaking amount of self-doubt and self-awareness. Luckily, for Colin, and for readers, Lindsey is the type of girl that probably won’t follow any formulas.

Parent/Teacher Advisory: There is some language that I could see people taking issue with, but overall it’s much tamer than Looking for Alaska in terms of difficult content.

Overall recommendation: An Abundance of Katherines is a cute story that uses a unique concept to tell the story of a boy learning that you cannot find a formula for love, or life for that matter. Is it as dark or challenging as Looking for Alaska? Not really; as prescient as Little Brother? Not quite; is it a fun story that flips gender roles and has the girl rescuing the boy from a life crisis? Is it a good YA novel about teenage love? And does it accomplish its goal of telling that story? Yes! An Abundance of Katherines is kind of like a really good romantic comedy film. Will it when an Oscar? Probably not…But for that moment, it has the viewer/reader’s attention it will make them laugh and give them some hope and that, in its own way, makes it a piece of art worth your time.