Review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Turtles All the Way Down 
by John Greenpub 10/10/17 by Dutton Books for
Young Readers
Young Adult - Contemporary
The first John Green book I ever read was The Fault in Our Stars and I was one of those people who fell completely head-over-heels in love with it. Naturally I wanted to read his other books so I picked up Looking for Alaska next. I was so disappointed in that book that I decided I wasn’t going to read anything else in his backlog. As you can imagine then, the announcement of Turtles All the Way Down filled me with both glee and trepidation. I knew I would read it but I definitely set my expectations very low because I was also a different reader now than I was 5 years ago when I first read his work.

Guys, I am happy to say that I really, really liked Turtles All the Way Down. There’s definitely still something about it that’s quintessential John Green but at the same time, it’s more mature and well-rounded than his previous works. We follow sixteen-year-old Aza who deals constantly with overwhelming anxieties. The way Green portrays her spiraling thoughts is by letting us read her unfiltered stream of consciousness. Her anxiety-plagued thoughts mixed in with her calmer internal dialogue. Even reading it made me feel this weight and oppression so I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to live with that. You don’t see this portrayed often in books and I thought Green handled it extremely well.

But while her anxiety plays a huge role in her life and effects everything around her, we do see beyond that. We meet her best friend Daisy and again, get a very real glimpse into the growing pains of friendship. It’s Daisy who decides they should try to solve a local mystery regarding the disappearance of billionaire Russell Pickett in order to win a reward. It sounds ridiculous but it actually worked as catalyst. Because it leads to Aza reuniting with Pickett’s son, Davis, who she used to be friends with. That was another relationship I enjoyed watching unfold as it not only forced Aza to confront certain things about herself but was also just quietly romantic.

Do I recommend?
I do! I think this is really strong comeback and it makes me excited for more books from him.

3 comments

  1. YAY!! So glad you liked this. I'm super excited to find time to start reading it (TOO MANY OCTOBER BOOKS AHHHH!!) & am kind of worried that if I don't love it, I'l have to wait 999 years for another John Green book to try!

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  2. I'm so glad you liked this! I've only read The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, and I really enjoyed them. I have been worried about approaching Turtles because I thought that John Green's writing might not be my thing anymore (I read his other books a while ago), but I'm glad to hear that it is more mature and well rounded. I really love seeing authors grow through each book they publish, so thank you for making me look forward to Turtles even more :D

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  3. I was a little wary of this one, but your review has encouraged me to consider checking it out (when my TBR isn't trying to kill me)! It sounds really interesting.

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with love,

Rachel