Scan barcode
A review by kyarabereading
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Out of all the John Green books I've read (two), this is definitely not my favorite. It was an enjoyable read, and I liked a lot of the things that Green did with this book, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.
Things I loved about this book: I thought it was really creatively written, and I felt the writing style best represented Colin as a character, much better than a traditional writing style for sure. I enjoyed Green's use of footnotes and section headings to display information because I felt it best represented Colin's personality and connection to those aspects of academic writing. I think this book also has a lot of captivating and thought-provoking reflections on human existence, the kind of reflections that make the readers reflect on their own lives, and I've always felt that was one of Green's strong suits (since I read all of two books). It seems that Green's books come with lessons for young people represented through his characters, and I think that those lessons are well woven into the text without being too obvious. The characters struggle through things young people usually struggle through, so I think people could easily see themselves in these characters. An Abundance of Katherines suffers from being a bit obvious about what it was going for at times, but I love the idea of this lesson being delivered through an ex-child prodigy so much that it didn't bother me as much. This book is also surprisingly progressive for the time it was written, but I wouldn't expect anything else from John Green. It does suffer from some outdated language (the r-word is used multiple times) and ideas (about women), but that's about it. Finally, I wanted to end this by saying that Green's attention to detail in this book is admirable. The time he took to make sure the mathematical formulas made sense, to include facts that could be mundane or interesting depending on the reader, to include correct translations of languages, etc. - all of that is incredible to see and made the book more fun to read.
Things I didn't love about this book: For one, I thought the pacing was a bit odd, and I'm guessing that's because it's a book set very much in real life, and real life isn't all that interesting 99% of the time. I usually don't have a problem with books like that, but this one moves very slowly, and it feels like not much is happening for most of the book until the very end when things get wrapped up rather quickly. I also had a hard time connecting with the characters, but I did come to find them quite loveable the more I read. I love books with three-dimensional characters, that feel like real people you could meet in real life. I feel like I didn't get that from this book because every character had like 1 conflict to get through in the book that was the only thing that was talked about when that character was present. Colin was worried about not doing something that made him matter. Lindsey was dealing with the fact that she was never truly herself around anybody, just being whoever people needed her to be. Hassan used his sense of humor to not do anything with his life, like go to college as Colin kept telling him he should do. It made chapters feel boring and repetitive at times.
Though this book isn't perfect, I think so much about it makes it really unique and sets it apart from other books. It may not be my favorite book I've read in my life, but it was still a fun read.
Things I loved about this book: I thought it was really creatively written, and I felt the writing style best represented Colin as a character, much better than a traditional writing style for sure. I enjoyed Green's use of footnotes and section headings to display information because I felt it best represented Colin's personality and connection to those aspects of academic writing. I think this book also has a lot of captivating and thought-provoking reflections on human existence, the kind of reflections that make the readers reflect on their own lives, and I've always felt that was one of Green's strong suits (since I read all of two books). It seems that Green's books come with lessons for young people represented through his characters, and I think that those lessons are well woven into the text without being too obvious. The characters struggle through things young people usually struggle through, so I think people could easily see themselves in these characters. An Abundance of Katherines suffers from being a bit obvious about what it was going for at times, but I love the idea of this lesson being delivered through an ex-child prodigy so much that it didn't bother me as much. This book is also surprisingly progressive for the time it was written, but I wouldn't expect anything else from John Green. It does suffer from some outdated language (the r-word is used multiple times) and ideas (about women), but that's about it. Finally, I wanted to end this by saying that Green's attention to detail in this book is admirable. The time he took to make sure the mathematical formulas made sense, to include facts that could be mundane or interesting depending on the reader, to include correct translations of languages, etc. - all of that is incredible to see and made the book more fun to read.
Things I didn't love about this book: For one, I thought the pacing was a bit odd, and I'm guessing that's because it's a book set very much in real life, and real life isn't all that interesting 99% of the time. I usually don't have a problem with books like that, but this one moves very slowly, and it feels like not much is happening for most of the book until the very end when things get wrapped up rather quickly. I also had a hard time connecting with the characters, but I did come to find them quite loveable the more I read. I love books with three-dimensional characters, that feel like real people you could meet in real life. I feel like I didn't get that from this book because every character had like 1 conflict to get through in the book that was the only thing that was talked about when that character was present.
Though this book isn't perfect, I think so much about it makes it really unique and sets it apart from other books. It may not be my favorite book I've read in my life, but it was still a fun read.