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

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Such a powerful book. Wrecked me and reminded me in not alone in this life lived with mental illness and finding stability in the everyday. John. You’ve done it again.

What a novel. So critical. Timely. Painfully acute to the totality that comes with chronic illness. The complexity of Aza's character is so well flushed out because it's not complex in the ways that sometimes characters and morality or choice shows up. It's complex because it's so human. 

As someone who just now learning language for the invasive thoughts that creep and tuck and cause so many different compulsions in my every day, this book both struck a cord of discomfort and of knowness. John rarely fails to miss the mark with how retrospective his characters can be and what they represent far beyond that their circumstances. I thought a lot about friendship in this book and how I'm still learning how to be a good friends with boundaries as these new diagnoses and life changes happen. 

Aza and Daisy are such a real and raw portrayal of what every friendship with invasives looks like. And I feel so incredibly seen by their portrayal in this book. I've owned this book since I was 17 and started to acknowldge that maybe just maybe I was an anxious person. It has taken be 7 years to finally read it and I'm grateful that I did. It's been such a walk and this portrayal of not getting better but learning to adapt and live with these thoughts and compulsions is the authentic reality and I'm grateful that it's ok in this book and in real life.