Novel Of The Week: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

After "The Fault in Our Stars" phenomenon, all books by John Green have been republished with new covers and since I couldn't decide which one of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green's I liked most I've chosen my top 4 and put them together!

This is Green' second novel (wrote in 2006) and, I'm not going to lie, I choose it only because of the name: Catherine, like the Duchess. (I promise, after this post I'm going to therapy for this fixation!)

Here's to you my review and thoughts!
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Colin Singleton has only one thing in his mind, nearly an obession: leaving an indelible mark in the world... Since early age, he was labeled as a "prodigy" and now, at the age of 17, he has not invented nor theorized anything and lives in fear of a being a bluff: the only thing I can do well is study and anagram any word or phrase.

If this wasn't enough, his girlfriend broke up with him, which is nothing special, if it wasn’t for a particular: Colin only dated girls named Catherine and every single one of them (19 in total!) ended the relationship. In the attempt to cheer him up and let him see a different perspective of life, Hassan, Colin’s  only friend, convinces him to take a road trip during the summer...

The two casually arrive in Gutshot, Tennessee where they first meet Lindsey, a young girl working in her family’s emporium and then Hollis, Lindsey’s mother, which propose Colin and Hassan a very singular summer job: to stay in Gutshot and interview every single worker of the local industry, in order to have a memoir of how life in Gutshot was and is now.

The two of them accept and, what it seemed to be a boring and routine job, turned out a way to think about past and future. In the meantime Colin starts to develop a theorem, that should predict the progress of relationships, based on his experiences with all those Catherine(s).

What I liked

What I liked about this novel were the secondary characters, Hassan and Lindsey. Hassan is hilarious, hasn’t a single worry in the world beside watching his beloved show “Judge Judy”. He’s the only one who seems to know how to deal with Colin (and his obsession) and he talk straight to him, saying when he’s behaving like a stupid or when not. 
Lindsey could seems to be resolute and detached, when she is actually a very caring and kind person.

What I did not like

I actually couldn’t stand the protagonist, Colin. He’s so egocentric and the “dumbest” smart person ever! He has no life experiences, that’s why Hassan suggest the road trip in the first place, and he’s so focus on himself that forgets that people around him have feelings and bad days too.

This novel has some fun parts, as well as some boring ones. I can’t say I loved it, but it’s not so bad either. It is a good book, but I would suggest other John Green’s novels before this.

My Vote: 6^-/10