The story of the book is a beautiful painting put together with the imagination and mindset of John Green. He finds valuable friendships and some love in this outstanding book. He learns that his friends Hassan, and Lindsey, both believe that he matters. At the very beginning of the book, Colin asks his mother, “Will I ever have an ‘Aha!’ moment?” Throughout the story, Colin unknowingly starts to realize that his “Aha!” moment is going to come. It makes you think about bravery, love, friendships, freedom, and not falling for the temptations of society.

Something else I loved about An Abundance of Katherines is the message you receive and take with you after reading it. Green uses this to string you along with such emotional depth and imagination, to really bring the characters to life. They end up in a small little town called Gutshot in the middle of Tennessee, where they end up meeting Lindsey, a colorful, wild character who leads your mind to begin to hypothesize that Colin will fall in love with her and finally break the Katherine debacle. His best friend, Hassan, decides to take him on an adventurous drive to cheer him up and hopefully get his mind off of his ex girlfriend, Katherine XIX (K-19), using any means necessary. Colin is a smart teenager, able to come up with facts, acronyms, and a wide variety of things you wouldn’t expect anyone to know. Not to spoil anything for you, but the book starts out with the main character, Colin Singleton, in a tub remembering his previous girlfriends, all 19 of them, all named Katherine. Something that stood out to me for sure in An Abundance of Katherines is the imagery and personification John Green used to describe and paint a picture of the book’s characters. It’s relatable, real even, and appropriate for anyone set with an open mind of any age willing to experience a great read. I definitely suggest you read it, that is, if you’re prepared for side-aching laughs and some absolutely hilarious dialogue. An Abundance of Katherines is serious when necessary, but has an inappropriate sense of humor to bring it to life.

The book’s humor was something I definitely did not expect to find after reading Green’s other books: The Fault in Our Stars, Looking For Alaska, and Paper Towns. Full of laugh- until-you-cry humor, characters with fantastically well described personalities, a follow-along message, and the adventurous story, you’ll fall in love with everything about it. Author of several of my favorite books, John Green really catches your attention and pulls you in to his book, An Abundance of Katherines.

An abundance of katherines book cover