JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be 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.

I really struggled with this one. It was kind of a snoozefest. A well-written snoozefest. But let me start with some positives. All of the characters seem to suffer some kind of emotional loss, which is hard for an author to write. John Green manages to write this well and with a lot of literary subtly. The chapters are short, the novel is short, and there is a fair bit of humour in the story to break up the mundane lives of the characters. Also, there’s a certain level of maths mentioned in this book, and it all seemed legit. And this is surprising, since it was all equations and formulas. It sounded like it worked perfectly, so kudos to John Green for that.

But there were many, many negatives. Firstly, the three books I’ve read so far of John Green’s (The Fault in our Stars and Looking for Alaska) ALL seem to have characters that are emotionally lost in life. It’s getting kind of boring, and this story really dragged. Colin and Hussan were supposed to go on a road trip, but the entire story is about their first stop. That’s not really a road trip. Also, the characters aren’t really relatable, and I found them quite boring. Lindsey is unrealistic, and so is the social dynamic between Colin and Hussan. The pace of this novel is too slow and the reader will constantly wonder where the novel is going.

I only recommend this novel to avid John Green fans.

My Score: 5/10
Buy HERE

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter’s whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

 

This novel fits so perfectly into the YA genre and has enough teen angst to attract and engage its young audience. Although Pudge is a boring character (sorry John Green fans), Alaska Young is a fascinating character – and I’m so so glad that she wasn’t the protagonist. I read in a forum somewhere that Alaska is the book version of Cara Delevingne (see below), and that really helped me picture her when reading Looking for Alaska (the title doesn’t really become significant until about three quarters of the way through). She’s crazy, impulsive, fun, and completely sucks Pudge into her world.

The novel is set up into two parts: the Before, and the After. I can’t tell you what separates these two events, because it’s a twist that I’m glad I wasn’t aware of prior to reading the novel. And the novel isn’t at all cheerful and does not leave you feeling happy and positive. The characters have quite a few issues troubling them, and they fail to overcome them.

John Green has managed to weave the three characters (Pudge, Chip, and Alaska) together in a character-driven story that allows for personal growth and philosophical-motivation. Chip is an outspoken prankster who values loyalty and honesty, but is quick to come to the aid of his friends. He is the character mostly seen in YA, and Alaska is the character who is quite unique and refreshing in this story. The three characters complement each other well, and John Green has stylistically created three very different characters who all seem to work together so well (except for the fact that Pudge is really boring – have I mentioned that already?). This was me whenever Pudge spent too long talking about himself:

This novel didn’t really become popular until The Fault in Our Stars did. Actually, John Green didn’t really become popular until that movie was made. But I feel his novels open up a new avenue for YA – the not-so-happy stories of high school and university. They showcase the other (heartbreaking) side to growing up.

My Score: 7/10
BUY HERE

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Confession. I read this because people won’t stop talking about it, and when you work in the publishing industry, all that people talk about are books. In particular, popular books that everyone else is talking about. It’s a word of mouth kind of industry.

So the storyline isn’t that unique (it’s very My Sister’s Keeper-esque), and the reader just knows that it’s going to be a sad ending. But despite that, the novel progresses at a fast pace and offers great insight into the effects of cancer on a patient. At no point did I feel that the story was stagnant or that the societal relations were forced. The dialogue was believable, and John Green presented the cancer-stricken narrator in a believable way without being too poor-me-poor-me-poor-me.

At times I felt that Hazel’s voice was a little too young. For a girl who’d spent many years with cancer and knew that she didn’t have much longer to live, she seems a little immature at times. There almost seemed to be a sub plot in the story surrounding Van Houten and Hazel’s favourite novel. I liked this element to the story, and thought that it tied the piece together quite nicely. The characters in the novel all weave in and out of the story seamlessly. I’d recommend this novel not just to regular YA readers, but also to fans of Jodi Picoult.

My Score: 8/10

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