Turtles All the Way Down: Book Review

 

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green: Book Rating by Fabi

Overall Rating 4/5 Stars: ⭑⭑⭑⭑✩

⭑ Star #1: Representation-

    The first main thing I enjoyed about this book is, like the header suggests, the representation. Not a lot of books are ready to incorporate mental illness, much less tackle them straight on, like this book has done. Turtles All the Way Down was able to incorporate awareness for mental illnesses, in this case, OCD and anxiety, while still having other plots within the story. The book talks about Aza's journey and struggles whilst still having a strong storyline that incorporates other important elements. Another main thing to take into consideration is how the author himself suffers from these conditions, meaning that the book is an accurate and personal display of these conditions. Although it may seem unimportant, the fact that John Green is in a way writing about his personal experiences makes the book just that much better and realistic. 

⭑ Star #2: Healthy Relationships-

    Although I'm normally not a big fan of this type of romance in books I must admit that Turtles All the Way Down does a great job in portraying what healthy and respectful relationships look like. Due to her OCD, Aza has a very hard time when it comes to physical affection with her boyfriend Davis. John Green does a great job with Davis when it comes to showing how people can be supportive of those with mental illness around them. He always makes sure to give Aza space when she needs it and support her in any way she can. Although he doesn't even fully get what she goes through he does not put any pressure on her whatsoever and is both understanding and supportive. Ideally, this shouldn't be something I'd have to point out, it's almost like a basic human decency thing. However, unfortunately, that is not the case. As much as I would love it to be, people are not always supportive of those with OCD and other mental illnesses around them. It can be easy to just label people as crazy or get wrongly frustrated with them when they can not control what happens to them. That is why I thought this was worth mentioning because even though it seems like it should be common sense, we live in a society where sadly it is not.

⭑  Star 3: Friendship Development- 

    Yet another strong aspect of this book's plot is the development in Aza and her best friend, Daisy's, friendship. Despite being a strange duo, Aza being quiet and reserved, always in her own world, whilst Daisy is the complete opposite, loud, talkative, and outgoing, these two characters have a very strong and supportive friendship. However, that is not what I liked about the friendship aspect of this book. What I liked was in fact that there were hurdles and obstacles for them along the way. Often friendships in books are portrayed as simple and rather unrealistic. However this book was sure to incorporate more realistic and tough friendships. First, Daisy is carried away with her new boyfriend and pushes Aza away, and then Aza figures out that one of the characters in Daisy's stories is inspired off of her. That wouldn't be a problem to her if the character wasn't such a terrible and annoying person though. Aza feels broken when she finds this out and eventually confronts Daisy about it. This leads to a lot of hurtful words being thrown around from both sides and a significant setback in their relationship. However as the story's events progress and they both grow as people, they are able to reunite and put those things behind them. Although obviously this "cliche" happy ending was included, as it what's expected in most books, there were still several problems that to be solved required a lot of development and growth. 

⭑  Star 4: Writing Style-

    The last main thing that I enjoyed about this book is more of a general observation about the author's writing style than the story itself. I know a lot of people who have conflicting opinions on John Green's books and to be honest, this is my first novel by him so I can't truly say much. But from what I did read, I can say that I really enjoy his writing style in general. It is pretty easy to read and his descriptions specifically were very accurate and immersive. Although I wouldn't say he's my favorite author because there was nothing in particular that I can say was out of the "ordinary" I do think he is a talented writer and deserves the praise he has received.

✩ (Lack of) Star 5: Title and Storyline

    Now onto what I didn't quite enjoy about the book. As stated previously overall I truly think this was a great book and would definitely recommend it to people looking for good books to sit down and enjoy. However, there were two main things about it that I do have a problem with. The first thing is actually the overall storyline or point of the book. The book is supposed to be almost like a mystery book with Aza and Daisy trying to discover what happened to Russel Pickett (Davis' dad) a local Billionaire who went missing. However, the whole "mystery" was pretty much forgotten halfway through the book and just randomly resolved towards the end.  The only thing it did to the story was bring Davis and Aza together, but besides that, it really didn't matter much to the story at all. Which is weird considering it's literally supposed to be the whole point of the book. I don't have too much of a problem with this though because the other, stronger, aspects of the book make up for it, but I still think it's worth mentioning. My other problem with this book is actually the title, or more so how the title relates to the book itself. The title is supposed to be connected to a metaphor Daisy gives Aza towards the end of the book that Aza really resonates with, however, I feel like a lot more could've been done with it. I didn't really understand the metaphor all too much and I think it could have been incorporated/tied into the story a lot more. Once again this isn't really a major issue but I do think more could have been done with it.