chelseeaa's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Grief, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
Moderate: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Vomit, and Cursing
cecinamo's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Almost 5 stars, because this book was amazing, it did make my anxiety worse again ,_, I still loved it tho!!! I think it portrays anxiety in a realistic, non-romanticized way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Self harm, Cursing, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Grief
breedawnwriter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
John Green will always have a soft spot in my heart. The Fault in Our Stars was my favorite book for so many years because it captured something special and important about being a teenager.
Turtles All the Way Down does the same thing, but extends it to include something special and important about what it’s like to live with a mental illness.
Aza’s story is painful and, at times, heartbreaking to read. But her story is so important.
When you have an unseen diagnosis, it’s so hard to explain it to someone who doesn’t have it. When you have a mental illness, it’s so hard to know if you’re capable of being loved because it’s so easy to fall into the trap of believing that you are simply too annoying, too irritating, too irrational, too hard to love.
And John Green captures every feeling with all the grace, dignity, and humility that I’ve grown to expect from him.
If you know someone who has a mental illness, please read this book. It will shed light on what it’s like in ways most people can’t explain.
If you have a mental illness, please read this book. It will make you feel seen and understood in ways that you didn’t quite know were possible.
5/5 stars with zero hesitation. Thank you, John Green. <3
Turtles All the Way Down does the same thing, but extends it to include something special and important about what it’s like to live with a mental illness.
Aza’s story is painful and, at times, heartbreaking to read. But her story is so important.
When you have an unseen diagnosis, it’s so hard to explain it to someone who doesn’t have it. When you have a mental illness, it’s so hard to know if you’re capable of being loved because it’s so easy to fall into the trap of believing that you are simply too annoying, too irritating, too irrational, too hard to love.
And John Green captures every feeling with all the grace, dignity, and humility that I’ve grown to expect from him.
If you know someone who has a mental illness, please read this book. It will shed light on what it’s like in ways most people can’t explain.
If you have a mental illness, please read this book. It will make you feel seen and understood in ways that you didn’t quite know were possible.
5/5 stars with zero hesitation. Thank you, John Green. <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Cursing, and Blood
Moderate: Medical content, Self harm, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
The protagonist has OCD and anxiety. The protagonist repeatedly reopens a wound on her finger by cracking the skin with her fingernail. Several characters kiss, and the protagonist frequently spirals as a result of kissing someone.myathebooklover08's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, and Mental illness
smolone13's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This story was a heart-warming piece on a young girl struggling with relationships and having to find a way around her crippling mental illness that leaves her feeling hopeless and miserable throughout the book along with trying to solve a local mystery.
I would recommend this book to anyone of any age so they can enter the mind of someone who has a mental illness. This truly brought me back to those times that I was struggling myself in high school with anxiety.
I would recommend this book to anyone of any age so they can enter the mind of someone who has a mental illness. This truly brought me back to those times that I was struggling myself in high school with anxiety.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Car accident, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, and Cursing
Spoiler
When I picked up this book I thought it was going to be a story full of mystery, however, in good John Green fashion it was way deeper. I have read a number of John Green’s novels, and this is one that I haven’t read. Just like all of John Green’s books, it was a depiction of real emotion and real life. The main character, Aza, is a young girl in high school who quickly shows that she has a severe mental illness that haunts her. Her friend, Daisy, is the complete opposite of her. Daisy loves adventure and trying out new things and can’t completely understand why Aza is the way that she is. They discover that the billionaire in their city was missing and Aza admits that she knows the billionaire’s son. In response, Daisy decides for them that they were going to go over to his house and find the hidden camera that would have detected the billionaire running away from the house. They decide to take a canoe and go to the house and connect to the camera which they managed to find the video and save it. However, they were caught and Daisy decided to smash the boat so that they could have an excuse to see Davis. After seeing Davis, Aza and Davis decided to rekindle their friendship. While trying to rekindle their friendship, Aza and Daisy start looking into researching the disappearance of the billionaire. However, Davis doesn’t want any information found and gives Aza $100k just so she can leave the case be. She splits the money with Daisy but decides that she doesn’t want to stop working on the case. While Daisy is spending her money, Aza is still trying to figure out the case for Davis’s brother. They continue on with life but Aza starts reading Daisy’s fanfiction and quickly discovers that Daisy had created a character that represented Aza that hurt her feelings. She stays quiet for a long while until she and Daisy are going to Applebee’s and Aza starts yelling at Daisy because she is hurt by the accusations which leads to Aza getting into a car accident. After the car accident, Aza has a mental breakdown and ends up on house arrest for a few weeks before going back to school where her relationship with Daisy is healed and they move on with life. Even though Aza wants a relationship with Davis, she also wants to get better so she decides that she doesn’t want to have a relationship. Aza and Daisy go to an art show for their friend and discover that they made it to the last clue Davis’s father had left. After telling Davis, Davis and his brother decide to tell the police and the body is quickly found. This story had a deep connection to me. When I was in high school I had a debilitating anxiety that constantly plagued my mind so to see that written in a book made me feel seen. I could understand every single emotion that was written and I would honestly say that everyone needs to read this book to gain some insight on what it is like to have anxiety.synkdive's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Cursing
arrowlyn's review
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Bullying, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, and Grief
camiclarkbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen OCD in media represented so accurately. Reading Aza’s struggles against her intrusive thoughts, her so-called “inner demon,” made me feel seen for the first time since my own OCD diagnosis.
I’m so moved by “Turtles All The Way Down” that I can’t write an accurate review of the plot and characters.
I’m so moved by “Turtles All The Way Down” that I can’t write an accurate review of the plot and characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Car accident, Cursing, and Grief
real_vivi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Vomit and Car accident
bentobookdragon11's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Car accident, Grief, Self harm, and Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail
*kissing but no sex, though mentioned*