[Book Review] Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

5 STARS 

When I heard that John Green was having a new book out after all these years I was pretty nervous. The Fault in Our Stars (his last book), a book I pre-ordered, read in one sitting, and then flipped it back over and re-read it, came out over five years ago and in that time I have changed and grown. As both a person and a reader. I haven't read TFIOS in at least two years, a book I read multiple times the year of its release.   Had I grown too old for John Green books?

Nope. Apparently not. Because I loved this book so much. I am currently writing this on the thirteenth of October and I have read it twice. I hadn't even planned on getting it, but instead borrowing it from my local library. But I saw I would have had 35 people ahead of me in line, and the rush of Turtles All The Way Down selfies and photos cluttering my social media feeds had me itching to just pick it up. It's a John Green book, how could I not? 

"True terror isn't being scared; it's not having a choice in the matter." 

So onto the review, first we will start with characters. Our two main characters are Aza, a sixteen year old dealing with OCD and anxiety. Her mental illness consumes her daily and she cannot seem to escape her thoughts. Her best friend, Daisy, is a talkative high energy girl who has known Aza all her life. She is so funny and charming. I honestly couldn't help but love her instantly but I found myself constantly annoyed with Daisy. I loved her, but I didn't like parts of her personality, and as I kept reading I started feeling protective of Aza against Daisy. We also have Davis, the son of a missing billionaire from Aza's past. Aza and Daisy pop back into Davis's life when they decide to find his father so they can get the reward money. I liked Davis, I definitely didn't have as much of a connection than I did for Aza in particular, but I liked him as a character. I think his chemistry with Aza was sweet and I think they were fun. I think because we only really see him interacting with Aza and not as much with Daisy, Mychal (Daisy's love interest who doesn't have a lot of page time), or even with his brother Noah. I think having Davis interact with other characters may help the reader get to know him more. 

The story itself was super easy to fall into and get hooked. I found myself not being able to think of anything else but TATWD until I finished it. And even after finishing it, I flipped to page one and started over. I felt like this story needed more than just one read. I wasn't done with the story. I don't do this often, but sometimes a book gets your attention and holds it even after you've read the last page. I think the only other John Green book I had to do that with is The Fault in Our Stars, which wa a book I carried around with me for a week or so after finishing it because I loved it and wanted to keep re-reading my favorite moments. Although I can say that I think present Heather likes TATWD more, TFIOS will always have a nostalgic place in my heart. It meant a lot to me when I read it. 

"You are as real as anyone, and your doubts make you more real, not less."

The writing is really amazing. I know some readers have issues with the way John Green writes teenagers and a common argument is that his teenagers talk in a way that real teenagers don't talk. I think that's a bit one sided, because I feel like my friends and I did talk like that. Through high school and even college. What I really like about TATWD is that although John Green's writing was familiar to his other books, this was different. Of course there was a lot of humor even while talking about something serious like mental health (which is typical for John Green because although The Fault in Our Stars was about a girl with cancer it sometimes was extremely funny and charming). There is a different type of maturity than his other books had. It feels more adult, even if his characters are teenagers. The characters had problems, but they weren't angsty just to be angsty. Which some of his characters definitely sometimes have. At the time when I read Paper Towns Abundance of Katherines, the angsty teenage phase spoke to me, which is why I was worried that I had gotten over that part of my life. Which is why I was relieved that John's writing also seemed to mature in order to tell this amazingly real story about mental illness. 

 

I do not deal from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I do not (as far as I know) know anyone who does. I do deal with a anxiety/panic disorder and depression. Because I do not have OCD I cannot speak on that representation, but on the representation for Aza's anxiety and panic attacks I felt very connected to her. She has what she calls "thought spirals" where she is basically fighting with her mind. She can't seem to escape her invasive thoughts that take over her completely. She cannot focus on anything else and it's chaos in her head. That is something I have experienced, and I wasn't ready to relate to it so intensely. 

"I couldn't make myself happy, but I could make the people around me miserable." 

Although I have given it five stars, there were a few things about the story I am not sure how I feel about. One being I wish we got to see more of Aza with her mom. I don't want to give away any details, but I feel like her mom didn't feel like a full character at times to me. The other thing is that I would have enjoyed for the mystery aspect to be heightened a little bit. Aza and Daisy take it upon themselves to find Davis's missing dad, but some events in the book kind of cut the mystery short which bummed me out. I also wouldn't have minded a bit more time with Aza and her therapist. I think there were a lot of moments of hope in those scenes. Honestly, I just wanted more, but not really in a "I'm not fully satisfied way" but more in a "I wish I could know more about these characters because they're great" way.

Honestly, the mental illness representation alone is warranted enough for five stars, but also added with great writing and characters I think this book should be considered a modern classic. I love that although there are romance elements, it focuses on Aza's mental illness and her friendship with Daisy. Although Daisy did bug me sometimes, I loved her friendship with Aza. I loved their entire story arc and I am excited that we are seeing more awesome female friendships in young adult. 

"Anybody can look at you. It's quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see." 

I know a lot of the quotes I am highlighting in this review seem dark and even bleak but one thing I love about this book is that it doesn't end making the reader feel hopeless. There is light, happiness, a new start, and hope by the end of the book. The quotes I am using in this review are just ones that I related a lot to because I find them striking and real. Like I said earlier, it has a lot of humorous moments and I loved that aspect of the story. From the YouTube videos he does with his brother it's evident that John's a funny guy. There are a lot of funny moments between Aza and Daisy that are great, it's just that I related at times to Aza's inner thoughts.  

Overall, I highly highly recommend this book. If you're a fan of John's, I think you'll love this book. If you're not into him, I'd say give this book a shot anyway because although his writing feels familiar the story is completely different than anything he has done before. The mental illness representation is amazing, so if you are dealing with mental illness this could be something you relate to. I honestly cannot recommend this book to enough people. 

Thanks for reading!