Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

13 reviews

ailerua's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

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

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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.

squatruhh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

vercopaanir's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-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

5.0

I cried!  I loved being inside Aza’s head although it made my heart hurt for this fictional character sometimes.  It was interesting to experience someone else’s… experience, I guess, with OCD that is more debilitating than mine, because I was able to relate in some ways and not others.  I thought the friendships were very real and well-written.  Overall a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic friendship

Spoiler

When we find out what Daisy writes about Aza as “Ayalah” (not sure of spelling, I listened to the audiobook), it kinda pissed me off! That’s not a healthy friendship! I’m glad they made up but venting about how awful your best friend is in fanfiction (published, specifically) isn’t okay.

The whole thing is a spoiler, sorry.

readwithkel's review

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was so good. 

This story was just full of layers. Once I started reading, it was hard to stop. 

The characters are flawed but likable, and they’re easy to root for. And although they

Spoiler

didn’t get happy endings in the traditional sense

I liked how things wrapped up. 

I’ll definitely be reading more John Green books in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Car accident

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Alcohol

mgdsmile's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Green's portrayal of mental illness in this novel is extremely believable and commendable. While the plot didn't necessarily captivate me, the author's characterization of Aza did. Throughout Turtles All the Way Down, I felt as though I was fully able to empathize with Aza and her anxiety, and also with many of her obsessions and compulsions. This aspect of reading this book was truly impactful to me and made me more emotional than I expected. 

I was reminded recently that while Green's characters are often overdramatic (c.f. manic pixie dream girl & others), teenagers often just ARE- they romanticize and philosophize and dramatize as they figure out the world. The interaction between Aza and Davis didn't bother me and in fact maybe felt more realistic than I expected. Grateful for this story, and for the author's wisdom in refraining from tying a neat little bow but still providing concrete hope and perspective.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Self harm, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Drug use, and Alcohol

jenna_justi2004's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Vomit, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Drug use, and Eating disorder

trycerabel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual content, and Alcohol

cstein's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This, to me, is such an important book. Though the plot itself may not be tremendously innovative, Green's descriptions of the emotional highs and lows of life with anxiety/OCD are at once nauseating, jarring, and comforting in their accuracy. The last few paragraphs gave me goosebumps. As with "The Anthropocene Reviewed," I am profoundly grateful for Green's work here. A rare reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Vomit

Minor: Bullying, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Alcohol

idailf's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.75

Very well written and interesting! I could not put it down (which is why this review was written 4:36 in the morning)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcohol