Book Review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Book Overview - johngreenbooks.com
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.
The Good, Bad and Ugly
The greatest attribute of this novel is the fact that mental illness is an integral part of the storyline. Although I was excited to see a depiction of this in a novel, especially in the main character, I thought some things fell short.
Considering the plot, I felt the story didn't flow as well as it could have. There were a lot of moving parts that didn't mesh well. It felt like I was reading two books: one about a quirky girl who happens to have a mental illness and reading a less-than-thrilling mystery about a missing billionaire.
Personally, I thought the book was busy and should have stuck to one central thing or maybe a few dozen pages could have flushed out the story better.
In regards to the depiction of mental illness, I thought all of the scenes in the novel were very honest and real. As someone who suffers from anxiety, I really related to Aza's thought spirals. However, there are several triggering scenes in the book that made me uncomfortable, so much so that I had to stop reading for several days and revisit the book again.
This being said, I think those scenes were important and necessary for people who are not familiar with mental illnesses or are trying to understand them. But, I wouldn't recommend this book to people with these mental illnesses just because of the triggering scenes.
I did appreciate the friendship between Aza and Daisy. There were quite a few emotionally-charged interactions that I found showed true dissonance. Often times I find that novels romanticise friendships, when in fact friends fight and argue and are honest with one another.
I especially related to Daisy and her socio-economic status and how it differed from Aza. I appreciated the highlight of different perspectives within a friendship and showing all sides of the singular story. Daisy was honest about her insecurities and how Aza sometimes took things for granted.
This particular scene in the story was great to see because there are very few novels that I have read that challenge the main character and make them think about their privilege. Although it was a smaller theme in the book, I felt it was one of the more powerful ones. Especially since Daisy was Hispanic and Aza is White, the ethnic differences made this moment very significant for me.
Overall, there are specific parts of the book that I appreciated and various themes that were invigorating to read but as a whole, I don't think it was a cohesive book with a strong storyline.
