SPOILERS ABOUND IN THIS REVIEW. IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING READING IT DO NOT READ THIS!
It kills me to say this, as I normally gush about every John Green book I read, but this was quite a disappointment. Was there still the funny best friend? Absolutely. The loveable main character? Yup. A really cool love interest that you wish was real so you could be best friends with them? Of course! Yet for some reason, I was bored. I mean, really, really, bored. Like, I read 3 other books in the time it took me to finish this one book bored.
Here's how the plot seemed to me: Whiny boy loses first "real" girlfriend, goes on a road trip with his bestie to try to forget her. Mopes about the whole time until, lo and behold, he meets a pretty girl who is also cool and funny (guess who becomes the love interest in this story). Said whiny boy gets a job in small town, Tennessee <-------------(I do freakin LOVE the fact it takes place in my home state!) and forgets about former girlfriend by falling in love with someone who doesn't have the name Katherine. The End. (Hey, I told you there would be spoilers in this review).
It seemed like the only thing that really caught my interest in the whole book was finding out that Katherine 1 was in fact the same person as Katherine 19. I thought that part was quite cute and sad at the same time.
If you've never read a John Green book, please don't start with this one. Read The Fault in our Stars or Paper Towns and you'll be as much of a John Green junkie as me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure plenty of people will still really enjoy this book, but I'm just not one of them.
3 out of 5 stars (only because Mr. Green's witty sarcasm is hilarious does this earn a 3, otherwise I'd be at a 2)
This book is about Colin Singleton.
ReplyDeleteColin Singleton is a P-R-O-D-I-G-Y.He's really brainy,and he loves anagramming,and even though he's not as brainy at maths as he is at anagramming,he's brainier than 95% of people.Also,he remembers the last words of practically every great personality to have lived on this planet and dates girls named Katherine (Not Katrinas or Kathryns or Kathys or Kates - precisely,KATHERINEs).
This book is great.Although it is not as great as Green's previous (Looking For Alaska) and following (Paper Towns;Will Grayson,Will Grayson and The Fault In Our Stars) titles,it is greater than 95% of all books (and surely greater than 100% of all books about child prodigies).
The presentation of the story is VERY intigruing,with a lot of Math references (don't worry about those,there's a whole appendix at the end that explains them) in the footnotes.
Since this is a review,I can't tell you about the whole story,but i'll tell you something about it : Colin is a dumpee.He's been dumped by 19 Katherines so far.And he is trying to put his fading prodigy-vibe to prove the Theorem Of Underlying Katherine Predictability (that explains the math) and determine whether the guy dumps the girl or the girl dumps the guy and after how long.
Also,Colin's best friend is arab,and though not a prodigy,he is intelligent enough to keep up with his prodigious best friend.i may also add here for verification,that he is not a terrorist.
Also,some people might find that the story drags,but It doesn't,really.It's lightly played with a lot of heavy-duty language plays to make it seem like it is,infact,happening inside the head of an American prodigy.
It is read-worthy.
Totally agree with you. See despite the fact that Colin is like really pessimistic and spews random facts sometimes not interesting (though i learned a lot through the footnotes) in total unlikable he goes on this road trip and figures out he doesn't have to have a Eureka moment to be somebody great in fact he can be an ordinary person but the point is that HE can make that choice because all of the possibilities are out there he just has to let himself believe and go for whatever it is that he wants.
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