Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

71 reviews

petrichorandcoffee's review against another edition

challenging reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An honest, compelling representation of OCD in a way I've never read before - very hard to read (emotionally) and very well done. A lot of the dialogue and romance between Davis and Aza is, for lack of a better word, cringey (it feels like it is trying way too hard to be "deep"). Some great one-liners. The crux of the plot (the missing person's case) has some serious holes. Some interesting commentary on the different layers of wealth and privilege - not revolutionary or anything, but interesting. Overdone a little when it comes to the mother/daughter conversations about Davis. I like how it showed how challenging it can be to love someone who struggles with Aza's form of OCD, and also how it isn't Aza's fault.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Blood

choco_bunbun's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Blood

bardic_llama's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I find Green’s stuff to be meh. Like it’s not the worst stuff I’ve read but not the best y’know. He’s definitely has his niche. Last one of his books I read was Paper Towns when the movie was coming out and I didn’t really like that one either. Then again I had only read it at the request of my friends. Main reason I was reading this one was mostly just to give it another try and unlike Paper Towns, I thought I’d actually like this one. Was somewhat surprised to find out I enjoyed reading Paper Towns more.

But with this one, the plot just carried on towards nowhere. It had a mystery aspect to it that was interesting but it was barely touched on in comparison to lackluster romance. One pro of it was the mental health aspect. The main character has OCD and the way her inner dialogue is written really showcases her struggles with it well. I do think that does have to do with John having OCD himself, not that his experience is the exactly the same as the character’s. Overall it was somewhat disappointing as the characters are likable even with their flaws. Granted, while I don’t think teenagers about to go to college are quoting academia as directly to the source as the ones in his book are, the dialogue is still realistic despite it. Like I can see people having the conversations they have.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Car accident

clovetra's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Ableism, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit

chelseeaa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Grief, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Vomit, and Cursing

andramaciuca's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Blood, Car accident, and Panic attacks/disorders

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

---

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.

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

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.

---

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

When I picked up this book I thought it was going to be a story full of mystery, however, in good John Green fashion it was way deeper. I have read a number of John Green’s novels, and this is one that I haven’t read. Just like all of John Green’s books, it was a depiction of real emotion and real life. The main character, Aza, is a young girl in high school who quickly shows that she has a severe mental illness that haunts her. Her friend, Daisy, is the complete opposite of her. Daisy loves adventure and trying out new things and can’t completely understand why Aza is the way that she is. They discover that the billionaire in their city was missing and Aza admits that she knows the billionaire’s son. In response, Daisy decides for them that they were going to go over to his house and find the hidden camera that would have detected the billionaire running away from the house. They decide to take a canoe and go to the house and connect to the camera which they managed to find the video and save it. However, they were caught and Daisy decided to smash the boat so that they could have an excuse to see Davis. After seeing Davis, Aza and Davis decided to rekindle their friendship. While trying to rekindle their friendship, Aza and Daisy start looking into researching the disappearance of the billionaire. However, Davis doesn’t want any information found and gives Aza $100k just so she can leave the case be. She splits the money with Daisy but decides that she doesn’t want to stop working on the case. While Daisy is spending her money, Aza is still trying to figure out the case for Davis’s brother. They continue on with life but Aza starts reading Daisy’s fanfiction and quickly discovers that Daisy had created a character that represented Aza that hurt her feelings. She stays quiet for a long while until she and Daisy are going to Applebee’s and Aza starts yelling at Daisy because she is hurt by the accusations which leads to Aza getting into a car accident. After the car accident, Aza has a mental breakdown and ends up on house arrest for a few weeks before going back to school where her relationship with Daisy is healed and they move on with life. Even though Aza wants a relationship with Davis, she also wants to get better so she decides that she doesn’t want to have a relationship. Aza and Daisy go to an art show for their friend and discover that they made it to the last clue Davis’s father had left. After telling Davis, Davis and his brother decide to tell the police and the body is quickly found. This story had a deep connection to me. When I was in high school I had a debilitating anxiety that constantly plagued my mind so to see that written in a book made me feel seen. I could understand every single emotion that was written and I would honestly say that everyone needs to read this book to gain some insight on what it is like to have anxiety.

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