So I’m kind of on a quest of some sort (see how non-committal I am there?) to read all of John Green’s books. Sure, when most people read a great book they get their hands on whatever else that author has already written. So it’s not like this is that special. But my situation is a little weird because the first book of his I read I did not like. I know that sounds a little weird based on the consistent fangirling you’ll find all over our website for The Fault in our Stars but would you believe that Justine had to beg and beg and beg me to give that book a chance?
Back up, back up. My story with John Green’s books starts a few years ago when my sister-in-law Cassidy (who has written two short stories for the blog, here and here) recommended Looking for Alaska to me. I had super high hopes for this one after her great words about it but, and I know this is seriously, like, blasphemy to nerdfighters (the term for John Green & the vlog brothers videos) but I did not like it.
Please don’t kill me.
I just did not connect with that story and I didn’t think that the quality of the writing was good enough to make up for the fact that I missed its mark. Quote that “I was a drizzle and she was a hurricane” line at me all you want. I did. not. like. it. I’m pretty sure I gave it one star on Goodreads, which granted is a little snotty of me, but I had high hopes so I was extra bitter that it didn’t resonate with me. (Editor’s note: Yep, I gave it 1 star.)
SO anyway, that’s why it took Justine months of begging to get me to try The Fault in our Stars. And I said over and over “I don’t like John Green. I didn’t like Looking for Alaska.” And she would always say, “Amanda, you have to. There’s no way you won’t like this.” And she, as always, was so right! I read The Fault in our Stars during a car drive to LA and found myself staring out the window at the road doing this on the inside to John Green for putting me through such agony with his fantastic writing:
The next step was to have Justine read Looking for Alaska and see if I was schizophrenic for simultaneously having a 1-star and 5-star for the same author. She read it and confirmed for me that it wasn’t that great. So I’m not crazy, I guess. But that only leaves very curious about how if I do have a 1 and 5 star review for the same author for his first and latest book, respectively, how his middle books would fare. So, this is the very long explanation of why reading the rest of his books is important to me.
Here is the synopsis from its Goodreads page:
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.
Let me start this off by saying that I really enjoyed this book. Far more than I did Looking for Alaska. I’m going to give it 4 stars. It truly did wrestle with the subjects that I think post-grads struggle with most: acceptance, dealing with breakups and the feeling of not being enough for someone, potential, the future, etc. So much unknown! The way that John Green wrote these thoughts into his character truly was his signature fantastic writing style:
This quote- seriously! “But I always wonder about that. If people could see me the way I see myself — if they could live in my memories — would anyone, anyone, love me?”
Can you get any better than that quote? Who has not felt like this at one time, or feels like this often and sometimes always? Oh, you don’t? You never have? Me neither.
But seriously , when I read that my gut wrenched because John Green accomplished that thing that is so cool about fiction novels and characters: you instantly identify with that (fictional) person than anyone else in reality and it reveals something about yourself. That level of insecurity is deep-rooted and any adult who wants to be capable of healthy relationships has to overcome that, and without revealing too many spoilers that’s kind of the story of this novel.
So, 4 out of 5 stars for An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. A little lower than The Fault in our Stars but a significantly higher than Looking for Alaska. Still left for me to read is Paper Towns (which I’ve heard great things about), Will Grayson Will Grayson, and his Zombiecorns novel which has a surprisingly low number of ratings on Goodreads.
If I really really really love Will Grayson Will Grayson than I’ll feel more comfortable calling myself a nerdfighter, but for now my average score for a John Green novel is still 3.3 so that’s just asking to be called a poser 
What is your favorite book by John Green?
