Review of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Title: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
Narrator: Jeff Woodman
Published by: Brilliance Audio
Length: 6 sound discs (ca. 7 hr.)
Source: Library
Format: Audiobook
Rating: ★★★★

Summary 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.

Who it the world dates 19 girls before they themselves are 19 and all of the girls just happen to be named Katherine?  The situation of Colin dating all these Katherines is a little surreal but still quite funny.  My sister herself went through a stage of dating only guys whose names started with "J," and we thought that was a crazy coincidence.  I really can't understand how this geeky, child prodigy not only dated 19 girls, but they all had the same name with the exact same spelling.  I mean Colin only had one friend so how in the world did he get so many girlfriends. 

Colin is the type of guy I feel would always correct my grammar.  He's a nice guy and very smart, but really doesn't have the social skills to fit in.  After being dumped for the 19th time by the latest Katherine, Colin and his only friend, Hassan take a rode trip and end up in the middle of nowhere trying to figure things out.  The gem of this novel is the characters.  Each one is a bit quirky and doesn't really fit into main stream society.  They all have great personalities and are so unique you can't help but love them.

The other thing that John Green does really well is dialogue.  You will be laughing so hard at times you'll be giving your abs a workout.  When not laughing you'll be contemplating Colin's words and thoughts.  It's a crazy idea trying to come up with a theorem to predict the future of relationships, but Colin's determined to figure it out and along the way he discovers a lot about himself and love in general.  With the help of a few local towns-people this is a summer Colin will never forget.  

This book was wonderful and the narrator was great.  He had the perfect tone for Colin and portrayed just the right amount of snarkiness to keep the listeners engaged.