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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.alexmall029's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A bit confusing and makes me feel anxious when she spirals but accurately depicts OCD
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Mental illness, Self harm, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Medical trauma
hecticglow's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Slow to start but as soon as I got into it didn't put it down. A classic John Green story with a flawed main character, loveable friends, kind love interest and a mystery Intertwined throughout. Really felt for the character throughout and her journey through this time in her life. Mental health and the struggles not swept under the rug but spotlighted as well as the impact it can have on those around you.
the ending was one that felt very real and brought me peace but I worried it wouldn't in the lead up. Hearing that her battles continue but she will lead a life and somewhat "go on" through it all brought me a lot of hope in the end
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Car accident
katerina_l's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, and Blood
sleepycelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Mental illness
smolone13's review against another edition
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
miguelfilipe_1's review against another edition
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
daybreakreads's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I’ve finished 3 other books by John Green and always enjoyed them. This one, not so much. I’m not sure if I would shelve this as YA; it’s teetering on the edge of what should and shouldn’t be normalized for YA. I’d say minimum age is 16-17 because of the questionable sexualized content (without much purpose to the storyline). It wasn’t graphic, just strange to be reading about the details of teenagers feeling each other up and *normalizing* stripping down to their underwear to go swimming when one of them has no guardian/parents. It wasn’t the thing itself so much as the normalization/casualness of it. Like that would be a situation where a lot of teenage girls would be extremely uncomfortable in if not get taken advantage of and I don’t think we should treat it flippantly.
The characters in this drive me bonkers. The main character had zero personality outside of the OCD. Daisy was a terrible friend from the beginning (which increased throughout) and was honestly a liberal SJW stereotype more than any other defining characteristics, and the love interests felt flat and one-sided. I don’t remember this in Looking For Alaska, for example. I wish John Green would give us socially awkward, heavily nerdy characters again.
The OCD descriptions in this are intense. If you have any sort of inclination towards mental illness I don’t think you should read this. I say this as someone who battled it for nearly a decade. Even if you don’t have OCD, you might be susceptible to the problematic thought patterns and/or behaviors described regularly and in immense detail by the narrator.
Aza makes a comment saying she’ll always be this way and that never got corrected or amended later. This was so incredibly sad to me as someone who recovered from OCD (among other things). I know John Green also lives with it, but it is possible to get better and mental illness in general is rarely a lifelong thing. I feel like someone struggling may read that and internalize it, which is another reason I don’t think it should necessarily be YA.
The characters in this drive me bonkers. The main character had zero personality outside of the OCD. Daisy was a terrible friend from the beginning (which increased throughout) and was honestly a liberal SJW stereotype more than any other defining characteristics, and the love interests felt flat and one-sided. I don’t remember this in Looking For Alaska, for example. I wish John Green would give us socially awkward, heavily nerdy characters again.
The OCD descriptions in this are intense. If you have any sort of inclination towards mental illness I don’t think you should read this. I say this as someone who battled it for nearly a decade. Even if you don’t have OCD, you might be susceptible to the problematic thought patterns and/or behaviors described regularly and in immense detail by the narrator.
Aza makes a comment saying she’ll always be this way and that never got corrected or amended later. This was so incredibly sad to me as someone who recovered from OCD (among other things). I know John Green also lives with it, but it is possible to get better and mental illness in general is rarely a lifelong thing. I feel like someone struggling may read that and internalize it, which is another reason I don’t think it should necessarily be YA.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Medical content, Vomit, and Sexual content
uss_mary_shelley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Car accident, and Panic attacks/disorders
sarahuwu's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Relaxed read. Sort of emotional. I really appreciate the depiction of mental illness without just magically “getting better.” I’m not blown away by it but I certainly don’t regret having read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment