Review - Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
11/14/2017
Plot:
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.
Thoughts:
After five years, worldwide sensation author, John Green finally gave us another of his renowned teen fiction that spears directly to our hearts. John has a way of speaking through his book on how it's like for teens, especially those who are not quite leading very normal lives. I know I'm not wrong when I say that the characters John Green writes in his books have all been an inspiration one way or another.
Turtles All the way Down is about Aza, her anxiety attacks, a missing billionaire, first love and renewing friendships. It was bluntly written from the very start that the lead character had mental illness. Coming from reading "Eliza and her Monsters," I was a little reluctant about going through another book with more or less the same theme. But this was one I was so looking forward to this year, and so I read on... and I have no regrets.
If there is one word that could best describe this novel, is that it's raw. I don't know much about mental illness but that I do know that it's an issue that should be addressed to everyone all over the world as there are millions of people who are greatly affected by it. The way he explicitly describes what goes on in Aza's mind, losing control of herself, not being able to keep your self together, yes, I do believe I know that same feeling. I may not have it as worse, but is there really such a thing? Anxiety is anxiety. Attacks, whether small or blown out of proportions, make the person experiencing it feel like shit and scared. This book is really something we need right now.
After five years, worldwide sensation author, John Green finally gave us another of his renowned teen fiction that spears directly to our hearts. John has a way of speaking through his book on how it's like for teens, especially those who are not quite leading very normal lives. I know I'm not wrong when I say that the characters John Green writes in his books have all been an inspiration one way or another.
Turtles All the way Down is about Aza, her anxiety attacks, a missing billionaire, first love and renewing friendships. It was bluntly written from the very start that the lead character had mental illness. Coming from reading "Eliza and her Monsters," I was a little reluctant about going through another book with more or less the same theme. But this was one I was so looking forward to this year, and so I read on... and I have no regrets.
If there is one word that could best describe this novel, is that it's raw. I don't know much about mental illness but that I do know that it's an issue that should be addressed to everyone all over the world as there are millions of people who are greatly affected by it. The way he explicitly describes what goes on in Aza's mind, losing control of herself, not being able to keep your self together, yes, I do believe I know that same feeling. I may not have it as worse, but is there really such a thing? Anxiety is anxiety. Attacks, whether small or blown out of proportions, make the person experiencing it feel like shit and scared. This book is really something we need right now.
Love is for everyone, as they say, and here Aza experiences hers with Davis, the missing billionaire's son. But her spiraling thoughts get in the way of this tragic young love. Another crumbling relationship is with her bestfriend, Daisy. She's a fanfiction writer, but Aza has never read her fics before. When she started reading it, she discovers Daisy's real feelings about her and her illness. This leads to an argument but of course they made up in the end... after Aza got in to a car accident. I didn't Aza and Davis' ending but understand that it was needed.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned in this book, but really it's life through another lens. We don't need to have an illness to relate to it. As long as we have heart and human we understand Aza and the other characters and the important message that John Green wants get across.
Rating:
3.5 stars
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