Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

5 reviews

annie_crossings's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-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

once again phenomenal. absolutely devastating read. aza’s struggles sometimes so closely parallel my own from when i was her age that i can’t believe she wasn’t based off of me at times. her spiralings on the belief of self are somehow inquisitive and interesting and horrifying and real. john greens writing is like a waterfall, so rich and honest, like a stream of consciousness that’s been composed into elegance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Blood

Moderate: Car accident, Grief, Confinement, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

Minor: Bullying, Alcohol, and Classism

tirritirri_reads's review against another edition

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

Moderate: Mental illness, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Self harm

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Death, and Grief

violetmysteries723's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

It feels like this book is trying to be a story about mental health and a missing person mystery at the same time, and I unfortunately don't think it works here. I wasn't interested in the mystery plot line at all until the very end because the reveal was interesting to me, but then wasn't explored at all by any of the characters and left me disappointed. I was interested in learning more about Aza's struggles with her mental health, especially with the OCD part since that's something I've never experienced, but I feel there wasn't enough space in the book to dive deeper. 

Aza is a very passive main character, things seem to happen to and around her instead of because of her. Part of this seems to be because of her struggles with mental health, but she also doesn't actively move the plot forward when she has good mental health days. I empathize with her because it's clear that she doesn't choose to think and behave the way that she does, but she also struggles so much with basic things

like taking her meds as directed

that it doesn't feel like she actually wants to get better or relieve any of her symptoms. 

Daisy is annoying and unlikable at best, and a two-faced jerk at worst. The friendship arc between Aza and Daisy throughout the book is more of a line than an arc.

Daisy's redemption after the car accident doesn't feel earned at all. All the weight is put onto Aza for "being a bad friend" when in reality Daisy is the toxic one and the friendship should have ended immediately after Aza found out what Daisy was writing about her in all the fanfic.

Daisy doesn't seem to care about anything but herself, and I have no idea what her motivation is the entire book. 

Emotionally, none of these main characters felt like real people to me. Aza says she's upset about her mental health struggles, but her actions don't reflect that feeling. Daisy is one-note in every single scene, which is perhaps just her personality, but it would have been nice to see a little emotion from her at some point

- for example, when she and Michael break up

. Davis is very deadpan as well and it doesn't feel like he is ever as vulnerable with Aza as Aza is with him. 

Overall, I don't regret reading this book, but I do regret buying a physical copy. I pre-ordered a signed copy of the book back in the day which I still think is cool, I just wish it was a signed copy of a book I will actually want to read more than once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Bullying

Minor: Grief, Blood, and Classism

arrowlyn's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, and Grief

cstein's review against another edition

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