Colin Singleton sees a pattern in his life. He’s dated (and been dumped by) 19 Katherines. After his most recent Katherine decides they’re not going to be together anymore, he and his best friend, Hassan, take a road trip. They stop in Gutshot, Tennessee, where Colin (a) finds the grave of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (whose assassination sparked World War I), (b) works on a theorem that will accurately predict the length and outcome of every relationship and (c) meets a Lindsey.

This is my first John Green book and after hearing Jen rave about his books, I was very excited to finally join the party. (And also excited to get to read the book with her and with Bekki and Steph.)

One of the things that really struck me with this book is Colin’s insecurity. He’s gone his entire life with people telling him how smart he is and he’s really worked to excel in school, but now that he’s out of high school, he’s realizing that he’s really not that special. As he points out, there are a lot of child prodigies and not very many geniuses.

According to the Q&A with the author in the back of the book, this has been optioned for a movie. I hope that ends up happening, because I fell so in love with these characters—Colin and Lindsey, of course, but especially Hassan. We should all be so lucky to have a best friend like him.