Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines

From Goodreads:

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.

Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself by Printz medalist John Green, acclaimed author of Looking for Alaska.

Let me begin by saying I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated Looking for Alaska. So when I picked up An Abundance of Katherines, I expected it to be a great novel, as well. I was extremely disappointed. Aside from the sidekick character of Hassan—who I found somewhat likeable—the other characters were severely lacking in the likeability category. In fact, I honestly did not care what happened to Colin or Lindsey Lee Wells or practically anyone else for that matter.

The story as a whole tends to drag, and the ending with the boxes and the secret phone calls was highly predictable. In so many ways, I expected so much more from John Green.

In fact, anyone who is familiar with this blog and the one I write for my son, Zane, knows how I feel about the word “retarded” when it is used to insult and humiliate others. I counted its appearance—in its many (and may I add, incorrect) forms--a total of fives times: retard, tard, retarded. FYI, John Green: retard is not grammatically correct when used as a noun. When it is used in that fashion, it is only meant to demean a whole population of people who cannot defend themselves.

I can give a writer poetic license if he or she uses the word to paint a picture of a particular character (namely one who is insensitive, ignorant, that sort of thing). But that is not the case here. It is not one character if particular who uses the slur. So I don't believe (and please correct me if I am wrong) the word is used for that purpose. That being said, after the first time the word appeared, I already considered closing the book. Much to my chagrin, I read on.

***Off my soap box now***

Bottom line: I would not recommend this book to a friend or even an acquaintance or someone who I want to punish by having them waste hours of their time. If you’re looking for a good John Green read, pick up Looking for Alaska.

Also, if you are interested in reading another perspective on the word "retard", most definitely visit Rob Rummel-Hudson's blog.