Hey everyone! Welcome to my review of Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. This book was emotional, painful, sad, and an amazing story that deals with mental illness. I loved the main character Aza, and I felt fer her so much.
Book: Turtles All The Way Down
Author: John Green
Rating: ★★★★★
Summary: It all begins with a fugitive billionaire and the promise of a cash reward. Turtles All the Way Down is about lifelong friendship, the intimacy of an unexpected reunion, Star Wars fan fiction, and tuatara. But at its heart is Aza Holmes, a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
In his long-awaited return, John Green shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity.
Quote: “Your now is not your forever.”
*Aza. I loved Aza because of how fragile she was. I loved her because of how real and painful her story was. I just wanted to hug her, to hold her, to make her feel better, to try and help her. She was an amazing main character and I felt her pain so much.
*Mental Health Rep. I loved how the book dealt with such a heavy and sad topic. Aza’s thought spirals were portrayed beautifully and it made me realize how much I don’t know about mental health. I loved how at the end, she wasn’t magically cured or her illness vanished. It was realistic, and I’m glad that this book was so honest in its representation.
*Writing. The writing was beautiful. It made me feel there, it made me feel inside Aza’s head. I understood and felt her pain and that is absolutely amazing. Kudos to Mr. Green for making such a heartfelt story.
*Mystery. To some people, this book may seem centered on a mystery, but it’s not. This book is about Aza and her mental health battle. Sure, there is a mystery and Aza is invested in it, but it doesn’t take up the whole story. It’s just mentioned at the beginning and Aza does do some snooping with her friend, Daisy, but then it isn’t really mentioned until the end. It is definitely NOT the focus of the story.
*Davis and Noah. Davis was adorable. And poor Noah, I really felt so sorry for him. Aza’s relationship with both of them was so sweet and endearing and cute. I loved all of them.
*Philosophical. There were so many great points raised in this story. Questions about the true nature of your existence. Can you control your life, or is someone else controlling your life for you? Does your environment shape who you become? Or has it been decreed? This is a great book for book clubs and to have a serious discussion about after reading.
Quote: “Anybody can look at you. It’s quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see.”
*Daisy. I am definitely not a fan of Daisy. At first, I thought she mildly annoying, but at a certain point (if you’ve read it, you’ll know) I was horrified by her. She was so insensitive. She was so hurtful. After that point, I couldn’t sympathize or feel for her anymore. What a horrible friend.
*Legalities. Something happened and the legal side of me was eager to hear what happened afterwards but it was never mentioned. I was disappointed, but it wasn’t anything that seriously detracted from the story.
Quote: “True terror isn’t being scared; it’s not having a choice on the matter.”
This was a painful yet amazing read. It raised a lot of good questions and is amazing for discussions. I would recommend this and I really hope you enjoy it if you read it.
One sentence summary: An insightful, heartbreaking, and amazing read.
Overall 4.75 stars rounded to 5
★★★★★
Have you read Turtles All The Way Down? What did you think? Have you read any other John Green books? Let’s chat in the comments.
Eternity Books 
It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything by John Green, but since this one is about mental health (a topic near and dear to my heart), I am more inclined to pick it up. Thanks for a lovely review!
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You’re welcome ❤ I hope you enjoy this one 🙂
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I haven’t read this one yet. I did read The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns.
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I hope you enjoy this one! Did you enjoy the other two?
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What a wonderful review JJ 😍👏🏻 I enjoyed reading your thoughts—beautifully written! ❤
As for the book, I simply adore this book; you’ve talked about a lot of it, I wanna talk about Daisy now. To me, she was such a fantastically complex character; that side of the female friendships between teenagers, when they simultaneously hate and love each other—I was shocked how perfectly John Green captured it!
Also, it showed how, when someone has a mental illness, the exhaustion of it could affect their relationships; how there are people who might not understand, and how we can push past that. I wanted to throttle her of course, but, at the same time and looking at it unemotionally, Daisy’s decision to [SPOILER] get rid of her anger and frustration through emptying it out on a fictional characters was a tactic that she gets a thumbs up for from me.
She is a teenager who expects a normal friendship where her friend cares about her and pays attention to what she does—but she doesn’t understand that Aza isn’t capable of that and how lost she can get in the spiral of her mind. Through this, John Green showed how and why our friends or family might misunderstand a mental illness patient or have the wrong expectations—which happens all the time.
So, to me, the annoying Daisy was also a great addition, showing how different people’s reactions can be others’ diseases.
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Thank you Mare!!
I agree with you partly. All relationships are partly full of love and jealousy and that was perfectly captured here.
I was of course upset about the spoiler you mentioned, but that’s not entirely what I meant. We could talk about it on my Goodreads review so that we don’t leave any open spoilers here.
I’m glad you enjoyed both this book and my review ❤❤❤❤
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