Turtles All the Way Down

Expected a mystery plotline... but the intense description of her episodes had really gotten into me. It's nice to know there are representation of mental conditions from known authors out there. :)

I jumped into this book thinking it would be a teen crime/mystery solving plot only for it to go completely different. Don’t get me wrong the writing is beautiful and the depiction of OCD and spiraling mentally gets relatable. I didn’t really know where this book was going half the time but i think that just depicts youth and teen years perfectly.

the true ocd

the ending was cute

Šestnáctiletá Aza to nemá v životě lehké. Trpí OCD a její hrůzné myšlenky jí ovládají život. Stýská se jí po otci, a i když má nejlepší kamarádku Daisy, přijde si sama. Jednoho dne se ovšem doslechne o zmizení místního miliardáře, Russella Picketta. Za jakékoliv informace o něm vás čeká odměna 100 000 dolarů. Aza shodou náhod zná Rusellova syna Davise, kamaráda z dětství, a rozhodne se ho společně s Daisy navštívit. Po čase jí ale dojde, že odměna možná není ten pravý důvod, proč s Davisem začíná trávit tolik času... ✩ Moje druhá Greenovka je úspěšně za mnou, a já jsem moc ráda, že jsem si ji přečetla! Nejvíc mě zmátla originální anotace, protože mi slibovala veliké pátrání po Pickettovi, které se nekonalo, a já z toho byla následně trochu mimo. Proto jsem vám sem sepsala svou vlastní anotaci, která se příběhu snad blíží víc. Jedna želva za druhou nebyla tak romantická a klišé jako Hvězdy nám nepřály, které se mi nelíbily a kvůli kterým jsem od Greena už nechtěla nic číst. Naopak, tahle knížka se mi líbila, protože jsem se dozvěděla něco víc o lidech s OCD, což bylo velice zajímavé, protože i já sama mám někdy takové podobné stavy, akorát že 100x menší :). OCD hraje v knize velikou roli, narozdíl od romantiky, a to je za mě velké plus. Příběh sám o sobě dost kolísal, ale utíkal rychle, což je taky plus, když už se tam nic nedělo. ✩ Knížka si podle mě zaslouží 4*/5*, a tu jednu hvězdu ubírám za to, že anotace mluvila o nějaké úplně jiné knize a příběh svým způsobem moc neexistoval.

John Green’s books are an easy escape; yet there’s always a rewarding payoff. The plot was a little far-fetched (which seems par for the course), but I found the characters and themes to be well-rounded and universal. Some of the prose is nauseatingly cute: “Everyone always celebrates the easy attractiveness of green or blue eyes, but there was a depth to Davis's brown eyes that you just don't get from lighter colors, and the way he looked at me made me feel like there was something worthwhile in the brown of my eyes, too.”

I'm feeling kind of conflicted about this because John Green is an awesome writer and really a master of realistic dialogue but I felt like nothing much happened. The synopsis as well doesn't reflect this book at all. It makes it seem like a nice light-hearted teen mystery but it's really heavily focused on anxiety and mental health and they investigate the disappearance of the billionaire for like 5 minutes. Regardless it was still an enjoyable read.

Could've been a whole lot better easily but overall an okay read. Also, very little plot mainly vibes (suffering).

A different take on a story about high school/teenagers. One of those stories where the main character is not the "perfect" type.

Había estado buscándolo hacía un tiempo, tuve la buena fortuna de encontrarlo en descuento en la Feria del Libro.

Es particularmente personal.

Reading this terrified me. I felt so connected to Aza that I can feel her fears, I can feel her anxiety and I can feel how frustated she is with her own thoughts. And I love that John Green is focused on the main aspect "mental health" instead of making it into boy-cures-everything kinda book. If you asked me, who my favorite character is, I would say Noah is my favorite. He doesn't get involved too much in this book, but everytime he confessed of how he missed his father, how he does everything just to get his father coming back is just so... heart breaking and I sympathize him a lot.

*4.5 I didn’t plan to read this in a day but as soon as I got past Chapter 1, I was ALL IN. I missed John Green. I missed his writing. There were so many stunning quotes in this book; he truly is a fantastic writer. I found Aza to be absolutely fascinating. I did relate to her on some occasions but mostly, we are two very different human beings. I found her struggle to be so eye-opening and real. I loved her best friend, Daisy. I loved Davis. I loved how all of the relationships in this story were dealt with such care and authenticity. I found myself loving everything. This book just feels important; I feel like it’s a book I’ll be thinking about for months. The only reason this isn’t a 5 star is because of the plot. It couldn’t quite figure itself out. It was one way and then diverted from that to something else but then went back? I thought that could’ve been stronger or more concrete. Regardless, I really loved this. I don’t even think I can fully express details for why I did. The perfect read at the perfect time.

3.75 stars it really took me a while to think what i should rate about this book. i love and hate this book simultaneously that shows how much of a hard time i had. for the first john green novel i’ve ever read, i can totally see why people really like him as a writer. although i really find these deep philosophical dialogue and writing to be mostly unrealistic (though i quite enjoy reading his writing that’s...interesting) and the way this mystery plot to just be the background of what’s really a relationship between aza and davis, i do applaud green for portraying an underlying theme that can resonate well with many people who have a hard time with their mental health. i also want to praise for bringing an evocative visual on his mental health without making aza, the main character, truly about him. note: i’m pretty intriguing of what his other books can make me feel. let me know what’s really the best john green book that might top turtles all the way down.

can't believe i still find myself relating to a john green character even after high school ended !

I don't know what to think . . . There were some amazing quotes but not a lot of action

3.5!

i want his house so bad

i didn’t think i’d like this book but i did end up really loving it. i thought it’d be more about the missing father but instead it took a different approach which i thought was interesting but anyways i loved it!

** spoiler alert ** Disclaimer: I personally really love the Green brothers, as authors and as content creators. Turtles All the Way Down follows Aza, a junior in high school incapable of experiencing high school "normally" due to tight, never-ending, all-consuming "thought spirals". Aza isn't new to these thought spirals but has been actively trying to go to therapy in an effort to feel present, attentive, and in control of her own being, without much success. The writing here is incredible, a good mix of self-reflection, learning from others, and unfiltered honesty. What initially bothered me about the novel, but upon reflection realize it was intentional, is we know relatively very little about the surrounding characters around Aza. However, this is a topic mentioned in the novel by her best friend, and I believe Green, through his writing, was giving us Aza's world-view, and how these all-consuming thoughts left little, if any, room to absorb and process her relationships and what's around her. These thought spirals, her way of describing the inescapable cycle of OCD and anxiety that prompts irrational thoughts are, to me, the real strength of this novel. Green tries to articulate what we all struggle with when it comes to pain and reflects on this in the novel - how language inevitably fails us when we try to articulate our pain or powerlessness to intrusive (AKA "invasive") thoughts so we turn to metaphors. Additionally, while done with the best intentions, Aza describes why the constant asking/declaring that someone is "improving" or "feeling better" is exhausting, burdensome, and causes even more stress, as you know they want reassurance you're okay when you aren't. I did appreciate that this was a "slice of life" and Aza was honest about where she is at, and tried to explain to others that they should not "wait" until she is "better". I'm not sure how it relates to people with diagnosed OCD and/or anxiety, but as someone who's always anxious, a lot of these thought processes resonated with me. However, I give this 4 stars because both the major story outside of the character development and the massive fight between Aza and her best friend Daisy had gotten resolved/ended so abruptly.

This book had all the potential of having some great twist, or like any interesting thing happen but it just didn’t. It started off with a huge mystery but then 50 pages in the most interesting part was just dealt with. I really don’t understand what the point of this book was.

first book to make me cry

Again, John Green's writing has surpassed all expectations.

Book #3 Read in 2018 Turtles All the Way Down by John Green This book has been getting mixed reviews online but I really liked it and read it in one day. Aza is a teenager who is dealing with OCD, mental health issues and the death of her father. As if that is not bad enough, she is also dealing with high school drama such as friendships and dating. The boy she is seeing, Davis, has his own issues as his rich father is wanted for a white collar crime and has taken off, leaving Davis in charge of his younger brother. This read was a good mix of realistic fiction, mystery, romance and humor. I recommend it.

This is the story of Aza Holmes as she struggles with debilitating OCD, love and grief. There's also the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, and a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake.

— This book is so profoundly dear to me. Never has a book touched me as intensely, as intimately before.

Life can be hard, specially when your own brain seems to be working against you.

As someone who's been struggling with OCD all her life, never have I ever seen such a honest depiction of it. It was madding at times, as if I was reading my own thoughts on paper.

Never have I felt so understood, with all my own spirals.

It's so good I'd advice my fellow people with OCD to proceed with caution, for it's so real it might affect you if you're going through a particularly bad time.

This book has such a rawness to it, the portrait of love and grief ever-present.

I'm actually in tears right now, as I'm writing this review. I just love this book so much, it's as if it has become part of me, in a way. I constantly think about it, and I want to re-read it constantly, despite not always being able to do so.

I wish I had more control over my mental wellbeing, for a mere glace at the first line of this book has me undone.

As much as I adore the characters, the overall feelings this provokes overpower everything else.

After my dramatic and emotional review you might expect this book to be heavy - and yes, it is; but it's also not. It's hard hitting but it's also so hopeful, with such a real focus on love: love for your family, love for your friends, love for the almost and love for the fragility of it all.

<3