An Abundance of Katherines // John Green {Audiobook}

Why I'm reading
The path to me reading John Green was a strange one. I'm a huge fan of SciShow and CrashCourse, two YouTube channels run by Hank and John Green -- who started their YouTube endeavors with Vlog Brothers. Hank Green is this perfect blend of hot and obnoxiously nerdy but you didn't hear that from me...  Meanwhile, the YA world has been abuzz about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green... yeah, it took me way too long to realize John Green is John Green. That was the little extra push I needed to read these YA books everyone has been in love with.

Where I got the book

I'm actually listening to this via CD audiobook in the car, on the way to my new job (yay!) in Greenwich (boo!) Naturally the audiobook is from Greenwich library.

Expectations
Whiny teenage boy plot; fun, friendly, slightly goofy writing style, if Hank's videos are anything to go by.

So how was it?

An Abundance of Katherines is a nice, gentle, fairly predictable teenage coming-of-age story. It follows Colin, a child prodigy desperate to become a genius, and his overweight and fairly religious friend Hasan. Colin just got dumped -- by Katherine the Nineteenth, the nineteenth Katherine he's dated -- and Hasan drags him on a road trip. They meet Lindsey Lee Wells in a small town called Gutshot, and Colin works on an equation to predict the course of a relationship between any two people.

I really liked it! I mean, it's not groundbreaking, but all the characters were fairly engaging, and it wasn't too trope-y. The plot isn't over-dramatic, it's not driven by avoidable misunderstandings, and all three main characters actually go through their own independent coming of age experiences.

Recommendation
Young adult readers, definitely. But this could appeal to an adult, I think. Local history and small town communities are actually strong themes, not just a backdrop to romance.

Feels
Slow in terms of drama, but lots of stuff actually happens to make the story interesting. Natural, relaxed, but entertaining.

Favorites
Lindsey Lee Wells, hands down. Normal, salt-of-the-earth girl, going through her own independent identity crisis, just like Colin. She feels like a real person, not a side character in someone else's story.

Least favorites
There really wasn't anything annoying or upsetting about the book, really. Literally the only think I can think of to complain about is that the beginning ramps up this "going on a life-changing roadtrip!!!" feeling, but then they stay in the first town they visit for the rest of the book. Even that's not too bad, though; it's almost like this is just a chunk of a larger road trip story.

Writing style
Easy to read, fun, engaging. Definitely gets in the head of a melodramatic (but still relatively level-headed) teenager.

So what did I really think?

Click "read more"... massive spoilers ahead!

The main character, Colin, realizes he's a dick for acting like he's the main character. That's some pretty awesome insight; not a complicated idea, but a lot more self-aware than you usually see in YA books.