A review by rhalinuviel
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

4.0

I listened to the audio of this and I really want to get my hands on the book and go back through it because there are so many great little lines throughout. Although there was the usual teen not revealing everything to parent parts (which don’t make sense to me because that was nothing like my teen experience; maybe having a mom that listened to me is unusual), there is actually a good reason for doing so in this book. Aza really doesn’t like to impose her mental issues on other people because of the pressure they then put her, consciously or not, to get better. Something she knows will never happen. And even with the foreshadowing at the end that hints at a happy adult life for her, it’s plain that she has made peace with the fact that life will always be a struggle, that is just who she is. One of the finest moments of the book for me is when Aza explains to her mother that her maternal concern is actually more of a burden than a support to her. When she is in hospital after the accident and tells her mom to stop saying “I can’t lose you too” it was a huge teaching moment for me as a parent of a teen; at some point your concern can seem very selfish to your child.

I wish I could put this book in the hands of everyone I hear dismissing mental illness by telling people to just get over it! Smile! You’ll be fine in a couple days! You just need to relax and stop worrying so much! And all the other platitudes that make people see individuals with mental health issues as an imposition.