Turtles All The Way Down by John Green ~ book review
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Hello friends,
I thought today it was finally time I re-posted the book review I wrote a few years ago for John Green’s book, Turtles All The Way Down. I adored this book when I read it and still do. While I’ve tweaked the original review a little bit, just to bring it up to date a little bit, all my thoughts on this book as the same as when I read it and wrote the review.
Enjoy!
You reach for your cup of tea to take a drink only to be greeted with a view of the bottom of your mug. You're filled with disappointment as you realise you've drunk your tea faster than you were wanting to. I experience that disappointment on a regular basis where drinking tea is involved but I also feel that same level of disappointment when I reach the end of a book that I simply don't want to end!
I had that feeling when I reached the end of John Green’s novel, Turtles All The Way Down. I've been a fan of John and his brother Hank for many years, their YouTube channel "Vlog Brothers" is one of my favourites and one of the few I've been subscribed to since the beginning of YouTube. As for John as an author, I consider him among one of my favourites and "The Fault in our Stars" is a "go to" book of mine. However, it has been quite a number of years since John had written anything new after that book and in my opinion “Turtles” was worth the wait ~ As an anxious adult I adored this story.
In my mind, this book kind of has two storylines which as the book goes on come together.:
ID: The book Turltels all The Way Down by John Green. It has a white cover with an orange spiral on it. The title is written in black.
There's a mystery to solve which slowly draws you in more and more with each turn of a page and you can’t help but try to figure it out before you reach the end of the book, all the while becoming invested in the characters, their friendships and a wanting to know that they’ll be okay.
Then we have the story of John's main character, Aza Holmes who lives with OCD/Anxiety. As you follow her story you learn what it's like to live with the Mental Condition and how it impacts on the relationships she has with the people around her, her friends & Mother in particular. The two storylines intertwine around the friendship Aza develops with a boy called Davis Pickett.
The way John has captured Aza's mental struggle was interesting to me because along with my physical conditions, I also live with and struggle with Anxiety and OCD tendencies. So I found the way John wrote her thought processes, the mental battles with herself and her feelings quite relatable, right down the her habit of pressing her thumb nail into her middle finger. {something I do} Her internal dialogue and fight to not give into her intrusive thoughts and thought spirals power over her actions also resonated with me.
“...The term chronic pain captures nothing of the grinding , constant, ceaseless, inescapable hurt. And the term crazy arrives at us with none of the terror and worry you live with. Nor do either of those terms connote the courage people in such pains exemplify.”
Aza's anxiety also gives rise to the idea of what makes a person a person; if we are separate from our thoughts and if the terms "you" and "I" are really correct when referring to ourselves in singular form. I also found it interesting that John gave Aza the fear of the fact that she might be fictional, she fears she isn't real as she doesn't feel as she is in control of her own life. These powerful subjects mainly arise when we listen in to Aza's therapy appointments. For me, those sections of the book are the most interesting, especially when they discuss English language and how it often fails us when we are trying to describe how we feel and the pain we may be in.
ID: A stack of 6 books all written by John Green. The spines of the books are orange, light blue, blue, purple, red and black.
Even though "Turtles" is a Young Adult book, as an not so young anxious adult, I found it an interesting and compelling read. As much as I try not to, I can't help but compare it to "TFiOS" as that is just as relatable for me. I felt that "TFiOS" did flow a litter better than "Turtles" but for me, that is the nature of my anxiety and intrusive thoughts, it gives me an almost disjointed feeling at times, a feeling of going from one thing to another with not much ease or flow and the occasional shake of the head to try and rid myself of a thought I don't want to think.
As much as I would recommend reading "Turtles" my recommendation comes with a caution: I did find it a bit anxiety triggering in some places and I found myself feeling as anxious as Aza. So if you're planning to read this book but you have anxiety, just beware that it could make you feel that horrible sick to your stomach feeling only someone with anxiety can understand.
I hope if any of you are thinking of reading this, you do pick up a copy as it's a good read whether or not you have anxiety as there's something in it for everyone, especially if you like a good mystery. I feel it's lived up to the hype it's gotten and I’m just glad that John Green didn't make me wait too longer after this one for another new book ~ I’m looking forward to picking to The Anthropocwne Reviewed in the near future!
As a final note on this book, I want to say a big thank you to John Green for this story & for taking the time to include at the back of the book a list of a number of organisations in numerous countries which can offer help to anyone who may be dealing with similar issues to Aza. This was such a lovely, caring thing to do & I found it very touching.
If any of you have already read "Turtles" I'd love to know what you thought of it. Please feel free to leave me a comment below or head over to my Twitter where we can have a good old natter.
"Don't Forget To Be Awesome!"
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
