Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

Review:

I love John Green. He’s a brilliant writer and such a good person too. I’m not as a big a fan as others out there. I used to watch his and Hank’s videos religiously. While, I don’t do that any more, I know a lot of people still watch them and that he helps a lot of people. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him a couple times over the years of conferences and I always felt like he was just so genuinely kind and willing to talk to and listen to everyone who came to get a book signed.

I know he has critics and that the most common piece of criticism is that he creates YA characters who are too adult, too intelligent, and too wise for their years. I’m not going to lie; I love that about his characters. I loved reading those characters when I was a young adult, and I love reading those characters, now as a genuine adult. He doesn’t sugar coat things. He doesn’t make the mistake of dumbing down the words or actions of characters like other YA authors really seem to do. And I always have this strange sense of familiarity with his writing. Like, I’d be able to pull him out of a book lineup.

This book, like all his past books, focuses more on character and character development then it does on plot. He is not an author for readers who need more plot-driven stories in their lives. His plot is always the journey his characters take inward –how people grow up and learn with their experiences. I was a little surprised to learn that the plot of this book would revolve around a disappearance and the mystery behind it. That doesn’t sound very John Green. Thankfully, that almost suspense story took the back seat to Aza.

This book is a story of mental illness. It’s about Aza learning to see beyond her mental illness and work in tandem with it. I loved this. I loved that her anxiety was always there, sometimes at the worst possible moments. Sometimes I got so frustrated with Aza. I wanted to physically shake her. I realize that’s how many people probably feel about their loved ones with mental illness. It also showed me how attached I was to Aza. I loved her and wanted all the right things for her. And that’s what John Green excels at the most: getting readers to care about his characters.

I loved the romantic side of the story, but I also loved that that part of the story was really in the background. The main focus was on Aza overcoming things and on Aza’s friendship with Daisy. I’m not sure I’ve had the pleasure of reading about girl friendship with John Green’s past novels. This was pure gold. I loved the balance between Aza and Daisy. I also loved that things weren’t perfect. And that Aza was willing to own up to what wasn’t working.

This was a book that made me laugh out loud, bite my nails at the tension, and cry with sadness at the heart-wrenching scenes. I had to take note a couple of quotes:

“Your mom gives a shit, you know? Most adults are just hollowed out. You watch them try to fill themselves up with booze or money or God or fame or whatever they worship, and it all rots them from the inside until nothing is left but the money or booze or God they thought would save them. That’s what my dad is like –he really disappeared a long time ago, which is maybe why it didn’t bother me much. I wish he were here, but I’ve wished that for a long time. Adults think they’re wielding power, but really power is wielding them” (145).

“You remember your first love because they show you, prove to you, that you can love and be loved, that nothing in this world is deserved except for love, that love is both how you become a person, and why” (285).

I give this a 10/10. I think this book deserves all the hype it is most likely getting right about now. I hope lots and lots of people read it.