Friday 20 October 2017

Review: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.



Review: It's always really hard to review a book that has had a lot of hype around it isn't it?

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a real hon eat take on what it is like to be a teenager in today's society. It is also a good account of what it is like to be a young person struggling with mental health, and anyone struggling with their mental health really. It is very appropriate that it came out on World Mental Health day because I really think that this book tackles the issues surrounding anxiety and OCD really really well. It was encouraging to read, gave m hope and educated me to some extent.

I really loved Aza as a main character. She seems to have much more of a handle on life the  other people do, I have to admit I was a little bit jealous of that. She can recognise when she needs help, she doesn't always make the right decision when it comes too seeking help, but she also has a great relationship with her mother, which I love. There are far too many books out there that have main characters who have awful relationships with one or both parents and so it was really refreshing to read about a young person who has such a good relationship with hers.

Aza also has some great friends and these make for great characters to read about, whether they are new friends or old friends. The friendships are realistic and it is good to see them going through the usual ups and downs of high school life together.

This book gave me an education of not only someone else's mental health issues but also what a tuatara is! I loved the fact that i learned so much from this book as well as having it take me on a journey with a character and entertain me. A lot of people think that John Green's books will only make them cry but I did not cry over the course of this book, I did laugh though. Proper laughing out loud, this was definitely entertaining.

Of course one of the main selling points of this book to me was John Green's writing, i just love the way he writes, his turn off phrases is just lovely, there are so many beautiful metaphors and nothing is ever dumbed down, language that should be used is used. And then of course there is the fact that he is so honest with his audience. We don't need another story about someone with issues over coming them, we don't need a story where nothing realistic happens, this is honest writing about being in high school and all that that entails. It is about having issues in your life but learning to live with them and showing how the can affect your life.

I really did enjoy this read, it is a very different from John Green's last book but different isn't always a bad thing, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone out there.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

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