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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
1.5 stars, grudgingly rounded up because I did enjoy John Green’s prose, and started enjoying the book a lot more towards the end: when it started focusing a bit more on Lindsey, and her arc, and on Hassan’s arc. Lindsey’s social chameleon-ness and anxiety over figuring who she is rang far more true and ‘real’ and relatable to me than Colin’s neuroses. Because dear god I wanted to punt Colin Singleton off a cliff, every single goddamn page, and that never really abated even by the time I finished the book. When he finally Gets The Girl, I mostly just found myself annoyed because I didn’t feel like he’d earned it at all.
I’m all about unlikeable characters learning to be better, but man I just could not ever grow to like him or care about his arc. His development was too little & too late for me by the time the narrative announced that he had supposedly improved. All of his internal narration how he thinks he’s better than everyone else; how unbelievably obsessed he is with being ~*a genius*~; his obsession with Popularity, and not even joining Hassan the moment his friend happens to enjoy other people’s company (how dare Hassan have a life outside of Colin); how he thinks girls are prettier without makeup (kill me now); I hate him!!!
My favourite moment, really, was when we finally learn that The Other Colin’s friends are actually really really good great dudes. But it was only one scene. I wanted a whole whole book focusing instead on Colin befriending these people, dropping his snap judgments, and teaching the importance of tending to his friendships rather than stewing over: romantic relationships, being dumped, Dumpees vs Dumpers, his Theorem, and thus inevitably rebounding onto Lindsey. I think it would’ve been far more powerful to solely learn be a better friend to Hassan and to Lindsey, rather than her being the romantic carrot dangled to narratively ‘reward’ him for becoming marginally less self-centered. Barf.
There were also just so many logic gaps that I could not believe in: this teen boy with overprotective hover-parents is allowed to just hop in the car and impulsively go on a road trip, with no word of when he’ll be back? He and his friend will just head to some random town, get random jobs, and live with strangers? And the parents are okay with this?? Plus, Hollis handing them well-paid jobs and letting these two strangers immediately move into her home with her teenaged daughter and strike up such a daily intimacy with her & them???? WHO DOES THIS
Anyway, I’m not a Fan. I see that even some of my friends who love John Green still disliked this book, though, so this probably wasn’t the best place for me to start; I would still give him one more shot and probably just settle for reading The Fault in Our Stars. Which I think I might also enjoy more because the stakes are higher; here, there just weren’t any real problems to get invested in, beyond those the protagonist had created for himself.
In terms of contemporary YA capturing sheer giddy vicarious emotion, I much rather recommend Emma Mills’ [b:First & Then|23310751|First & Then|Emma Mills|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1426513843s/23310751.jpg|40149265] or Jandy Nelson’s [b:I’ll Give You The Sun|20820994|I'll Give You the Sun|Jandy Nelson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1451382614s/20820994.jpg|11409817] (which is also twee as hell but in such an endearing way, rather than infuriating).
I’m all about unlikeable characters learning to be better, but man I just could not ever grow to like him or care about his arc. His development was too little & too late for me by the time the narrative announced that he had supposedly improved. All of his internal narration how he thinks he’s better than everyone else; how unbelievably obsessed he is with being ~*a genius*~; his obsession with Popularity, and not even joining Hassan the moment his friend happens to enjoy other people’s company (how dare Hassan have a life outside of Colin); how he thinks girls are prettier without makeup (kill me now); I hate him!!!
My favourite moment, really, was when we finally learn that The Other Colin’s friends are actually really really good great dudes. But it was only one scene. I wanted a whole whole book focusing instead on Colin befriending these people, dropping his snap judgments, and teaching the importance of tending to his friendships rather than stewing over: romantic relationships, being dumped, Dumpees vs Dumpers, his Theorem, and thus inevitably rebounding onto Lindsey. I think it would’ve been far more powerful to solely learn be a better friend to Hassan and to Lindsey, rather than her being the romantic carrot dangled to narratively ‘reward’ him for becoming marginally less self-centered. Barf.
There were also just so many logic gaps that I could not believe in: this teen boy with overprotective hover-parents is allowed to just hop in the car and impulsively go on a road trip, with no word of when he’ll be back? He and his friend will just head to some random town, get random jobs, and live with strangers? And the parents are okay with this?? Plus, Hollis handing them well-paid jobs and letting these two strangers immediately move into her home with her teenaged daughter and strike up such a daily intimacy with her & them???? WHO DOES THIS
Anyway, I’m not a Fan. I see that even some of my friends who love John Green still disliked this book, though, so this probably wasn’t the best place for me to start; I would still give him one more shot and probably just settle for reading The Fault in Our Stars. Which I think I might also enjoy more because the stakes are higher; here, there just weren’t any real problems to get invested in, beyond those the protagonist had created for himself.
In terms of contemporary YA capturing sheer giddy vicarious emotion, I much rather recommend Emma Mills’ [b:First & Then|23310751|First & Then|Emma Mills|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1426513843s/23310751.jpg|40149265] or Jandy Nelson’s [b:I’ll Give You The Sun|20820994|I'll Give You the Sun|Jandy Nelson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1451382614s/20820994.jpg|11409817] (which is also twee as hell but in such an endearing way, rather than infuriating).
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Ensimmäinen John Greenin kirja, jonka kykenin lukemaan loppuun. Alun luettuani meinasin luovuttaa, mutta sisukkaasti jatkoin. Olihan tämä hyvä. Tykkään!
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Not John's best book, but it was pretty good all the same.
The only other book I've read by John Green is Looking for Alaska and I definitely like this one much more. It seems like he has a formula though: offbeat quirky guy with a funny sidekick and cooler, yet still offbeat girl that the quirky guy pines for. Anyhoo, as with Looking for Alaska, I loved the humor in this one and thought a lot of lines were fantastic. However, I just didn't really care for the plot. I like the message he sends in his books. I just think the plot itself is kind of boring. The premise of this book-washed-up prodigy with a thing for anomalies (and girls named Katherine) who tries to devise a theorem that will predict the outcome of all relationships, is very original and sounds very interesting. Yet, I couldn't get lost in the story. I'm thinking this just isn't my cup of tea.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've read three of John Green's books so far and I've noticed that all his books follow the same trend. All of his characters are nerdy, witty, smart, quirky and there's always a humourous best friend.
1)Hazel, the main character in The Fault in our Stars, falls for Augustus who has a humourous best friend called Isaac. Hazel and Gus create metaphors and dissect everything in the world.
2)Miles, the main character in Looking for Alaska, learns famous last words. He has a hilarious best friend/roommate called The Colonel and falls for the mysterious and gorgeous Alaska.
3)Quentin, the main character in Paper Towns, is an intelligent and quirky main character who been in love with Margo Roth Spiegelman for years and have humourous and lewd friends/sidekicks.
4)Colin, the main character in An Abundance of Katherines, has a best friend who creates fun and humor, Hassan. Colin has dated and been dumped by nineteen girls all with the same name, Katherine.
The story itself sounds extremely illogical and silly. How can one nerdy guy get dumped by nineteen Katherines and not learn that the name Katherine spells trouble for him? But this quirk worked positively for the story and was the part that I enjoyed the most.
Unfortunately, almost everything else in the story didn't work for me. The characters have some elements to them that makes them interesting, but at the same time, they are quite bland. I was unable to connect with the characters and relate to them. Almost every single event in An Abundance of Katherines is predictable. I couldn't shake off the feeling that I had read a book like this before.
I did love the footnotes and the anagrams. It brought some much needed uniqueness to the book. And the Maths... uhm... I kind-of skimmed through it because I'm not a Maths person. To be completely honest, the Maths scared me!
This book was a let down. It didn't have the uniqueness that I wanted it to have. Maybe if this was my first John Green book, I would have enjoyed it more.
1)Hazel, the main character in The Fault in our Stars, falls for Augustus who has a humourous best friend called Isaac. Hazel and Gus create metaphors and dissect everything in the world.
2)Miles, the main character in Looking for Alaska, learns famous last words. He has a hilarious best friend/roommate called The Colonel and falls for the mysterious and gorgeous Alaska.
3)Quentin, the main character in Paper Towns, is an intelligent and quirky main character who been in love with Margo Roth Spiegelman for years and have humourous and lewd friends/sidekicks.
4)Colin, the main character in An Abundance of Katherines, has a best friend who creates fun and humor, Hassan. Colin has dated and been dumped by nineteen girls all with the same name, Katherine.
The story itself sounds extremely illogical and silly. How can one nerdy guy get dumped by nineteen Katherines and not learn that the name Katherine spells trouble for him? But this quirk worked positively for the story and was the part that I enjoyed the most.
Unfortunately, almost everything else in the story didn't work for me. The characters have some elements to them that makes them interesting, but at the same time, they are quite bland. I was unable to connect with the characters and relate to them. Almost every single event in An Abundance of Katherines is predictable. I couldn't shake off the feeling that I had read a book like this before.
I did love the footnotes and the anagrams. It brought some much needed uniqueness to the book. And the Maths... uhm... I kind-of skimmed through it because I'm not a Maths person. To be completely honest, the Maths scared me!
This book was a let down. It didn't have the uniqueness that I wanted it to have. Maybe if this was my first John Green book, I would have enjoyed it more.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes