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eliotts_library 's review for:
Turtles All the Way Down
by John Green
That was probably one of my favourite endings to a book I’ve ever read. Just the last couple pages brought this book from 3 stars to 4, that was fantastic
There were good and bad things about Turtles All the Way Down.
I really liked Aza’s romance and how it turned out in the end.
The best thing about this was the representation of mental illness. Aza’s OCD is so present, it’s not just something that mentioned once in a while but doesn’t really do anything. In TATWD, OCD completely takes over every part of Aza’s life. There are very few times where Aza isn’t at least thinking about it. John Green did a fantastic job of portraying an extremely realistic character with OCD without romanticizing it in the slightest. Mental illness is a really hard thing to translate into spoken or written language, and I know that’s something Green was really worried about, but I think he was extremely successful at it.
I also really liked Aza’s relationship with her mother. Throughout the whole book her mom was constantly asking her if she was getting better, and putting a lot of pressure on Aza to not be sick. And there was a part where Aza told her that her putting all the pressure on her was actually making things worse. That kind of conversation between a child and parent, and having her mother actively try to listen afterwards, that’s not something I see too often and I really liked that that was in there.
One thing I didn’t like was Daisy. I wish she had been a better friend. I understand that Green was again just showing the reality, that even people closest to you can be hurtful about your mental illness because they don’t understand. So on one hand I’m glad he did it because it is the reality of the situation a lot of the times, but at the same time I wish there could be more representation of good supportive friendships.
The ending though was just amazing. Green again made sure to not romanticize anything. I really appreciate that he emphasized that Aza will live with OCD for the rest of her life, and it’ll always be a struggle but she’ll also still have a happy successful life. So often in stories of mental illness, people just want to hear a “success” story where the person is “cured” of their illness and goes on to lead a normal happy life. That isn’t the case for the majority of people, so here’s a big thank you to John Green for not going down that route, and actually giving us a satisfying ending that is still realistic
I know quite a few people who have vowed to never read a John Green book, who dislike him just on principle and say all his books are the same. I agree with them to a certain extent, a lot of his books are the same. But if you’re one of those people, if there was ever a John Green book that you should read, it’s definitely this one. It’s not a typical book of his, it actually has a lot of depth to it and isn’t just about romance. Romance is hardly even a concern in TATWD. It’s definitely my favourite John Green book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone
There were good and bad things about Turtles All the Way Down.
I really liked Aza’s romance and how it turned out in the end.
The best thing about this was the representation of mental illness. Aza’s OCD is so present, it’s not just something that mentioned once in a while but doesn’t really do anything. In TATWD, OCD completely takes over every part of Aza’s life. There are very few times where Aza isn’t at least thinking about it. John Green did a fantastic job of portraying an extremely realistic character with OCD without romanticizing it in the slightest. Mental illness is a really hard thing to translate into spoken or written language, and I know that’s something Green was really worried about, but I think he was extremely successful at it.
I also really liked Aza’s relationship with her mother. Throughout the whole book her mom was constantly asking her if she was getting better, and putting a lot of pressure on Aza to not be sick. And there was a part where Aza told her that her putting all the pressure on her was actually making things worse. That kind of conversation between a child and parent, and having her mother actively try to listen afterwards, that’s not something I see too often and I really liked that that was in there.
One thing I didn’t like was Daisy. I wish she had been a better friend. I understand that Green was again just showing the reality, that even people closest to you can be hurtful about your mental illness because they don’t understand. So on one hand I’m glad he did it because it is the reality of the situation a lot of the times, but at the same time I wish there could be more representation of good supportive friendships.
The ending though was just amazing. Green again made sure to not romanticize anything. I really appreciate that he emphasized that Aza will live with OCD for the rest of her life, and it’ll always be a struggle but she’ll also still have a happy successful life. So often in stories of mental illness, people just want to hear a “success” story where the person is “cured” of their illness and goes on to lead a normal happy life. That isn’t the case for the majority of people, so here’s a big thank you to John Green for not going down that route, and actually giving us a satisfying ending that is still realistic
I know quite a few people who have vowed to never read a John Green book, who dislike him just on principle and say all his books are the same. I agree with them to a certain extent, a lot of his books are the same. But if you’re one of those people, if there was ever a John Green book that you should read, it’s definitely this one. It’s not a typical book of his, it actually has a lot of depth to it and isn’t just about romance. Romance is hardly even a concern in TATWD. It’s definitely my favourite John Green book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone