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mack_urdaddy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Talks about OCD and the character’s struggle with compulsions. Illustrates the realistic struggle of someone with ocd very well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Car accident and Mental illness
Minor: Toxic friendship and Sexual content
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.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
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual content, and Alcohol
laurbubbles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Self harm, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
kashby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
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