Originally written April 24, 2012

Since it hasn’t been too long since I read John Green’s debut novel, Looking For Alaska, I figured I’d venture on to his second novel, An Abundance of Katherines. Being a fan of LFA, I decided I liked John Green as a writer, and wanted to read all of his novels.

An Abundance of Katherines is about a guy named Colin Singleton, who has just graduated high school. Colin has dated and been dumped by 19 girls, and all of them were named Katherine. The book starts right after Katherine XIX (the book numbers them like this) dumps Colin, who he was in love with. In his depressed state, his best friend Hassan convinces him that the two of them should go on a road trip to get his mind off things. They head off and end up landing in Gutshot, Tennessee, and it’s there that Colin tries to get over K-19 as well as figure out a way to predict how any relationship will end.

It’s interesting and different. The thing is, I know I’ve only read LFA, but reading this, I didn’t feel like it was by the same author; the two novels have different styles. It’s because of this that I can’t say that if you liked Looking For Alaska that you’ll like An Abundance of Katherines, because they really can’t be compared. However, I did like AAoK.

However, I only liked it. I never really loved it, which is sad because I did love LFA at times. Still, I like the two books for completely different reasons. AAoK is quirky and entertaining, and has some really amusing characters (Hassan is one of the better book characters I’ve read recently). Overall, the best I can say about it is that it’s definitely a good book and a fun read, it just didn’t leave me with a lasting feeling like LFA did, which I know John Green is capable of as a writer.

3.5/5