Turtles All the Way Down

Extrêmement touchant. A mes yeux le résumé du livre ne lui rends pas du tout justice et ne pousse pas à le lire alors qu'il est vraiment profondément touchant. Aza est extrêmement attachante malgré ses problèmes, ou même plutôt grâce à eux. Un livre rempli d'espoirs, de moments extrêmement doux ou au contraire emplis de réflexions profondes. Un très beau moment à nouveau avec John Green.

“Anybody can look at you. It's quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see.”

Everyone who has read Looking for Alaska or The Fault in our Stars were all waiting for John to release a new novel, I have been following him ever since, he has this nerd humor that I love and well of course Hank, the brother you have a crush on. Hah! 😉

But what is Turtles All the way down about? If you know John's books, you will have at least an idea of what you have in store, because as everyone guessed, yes, it's almost like his other books. Is that a good or a bad thing? I would say it's a good thing because you know what to expect—with my experience on his books, I was expecting someone to die. Someone did. HAHAHA did he? Read the book. Is it a bad thing? Hmmm, not really, the thing is since reading Papertowns and The Abundance of Katherine, I thought his setting was a little monotonous, in what way? THE PARENTS. They are all the best you can have. The coolest, the smartest, the most supportive you can ever have. In face as I was reading Aristotle and Dante discover the World, I thought it was a John Green because of the parents. I mean, his books for me are identified with that.
Now what is wrong about that?

One might say, not every have cool parents like that, okay, maybe that's a valid point but mine is, they were so perfect that the adventures the main characters were having are a little boring, maybe because they did not leave an angry parent behind? Or the parent fully supports the trip and they trust their kid that they will come back in once piece and that they expect them to be smart and not die. There was no drama and I do love drama on my books.

And so Turtles all the Way Down did have this factor. What's new about it is that this one had one asshole parent, the book did circle around that fact but did it have a difference? Not really because it was a fact that was laid out to us and was not really dealt with, it was I thought put there, this broad idea, and it wasn't explored. Sure that Aza, the main character did have more to offer, but I was looking forward to understanding why this plot was the plot in the first place.

It was a good job on interpreting what Aza was going through, I thought it was something a lot on young people are experiencing that it's a relief someone noticed. Which leads me to Daisy, that best friend who knows what's up and do not judge.

So what the cover description of this book doesn't explicitly mention is that Aza, the main character, has a pretty severe anxiety disorder. That's really the core topic of the book - her thought spirals and dealing with life while caught in them. I trust John Green to write about these because he also suffers from severe anxiety. He's talked about it in interviews and his vlogbrothers Youtube channel. (I'm a big Green brothers fan - what's known as a nerdfighter.) So when John Green writes a character with anxiety, I believe that it's a realistic portrayal. I loved the integration of technology in the story - two characters don't just text each other, the text conversation is on the page, formatted differently, so it's obvious these are text messages. I always love books that do that.

There's not a whole lot I can say about the book without giving things away; a lot of John Green's characters tend to wax eloquently about philosophy and things outside themselves, and Aza doesn't do that because she's so trapped within her own thoughts. She can't think of the future or existential dread because she's too worried about the microbes in her stomach getting out of control and giving her diseases. Definitely a departure from his usual story, though it does fit his standard MO of Main character meets other character who profoundly changes main character's life in some way. (There's a third part that is also consistent with most of John Green's novels but it's a spoiler.)

I think the book is a really good book for anyone who loves someone with anxiety. Or even for those who have anxiety themselves, to see that they're not alone.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

My friends, if I told you that I have never been so excited to read a book, I would not be lying to you. I've been looking forward to reading this book since I read the first page a few months ago and yesterday, I took full advantage of a rare snow day in Louisiana and read it in one sitting.

Don't worry, I won't spoil anything.

This story is about Aza, who has always had self confidence issues. Her struggles affect her life everyday and it's not just her, but her friends too. After an old friend's dad disappears, they reconnect and Aza tries to solve the mystery. Again, I'm not here to spoil anything!

What I love about this book is how much I can relate to it. People don't understand how hard living with depression and OCD can be. Throughout the book, Aza has to deal with intrusive thoughts. John Green does a great job representing how these thoughts can totally take control. I deal with this myself. People assume that OCD means you like to clean things, but they don't understand the “obsessive” part of OCD. Aza's thoughts make her question everything to the point where she hurts herself - therein lies the compulsion.

If you want to get an idea of what it's like living with OCD, dealing with it on a regular basis, and finding the strength to find help, you need to read this book.

Thank you for this, John Green.

I gave this book ★★½, but ★★★★ for the last two pages, because reflections on first loves give me all the feels.

This book is just so special to me. It felt like I could finally find a character who has experienced the same overwhelming feelings of being confined into myself. I'm not even sure if I'm making sense but I've never felt more connected to a character than I did with Aza.

There's so much to say. This was my first John Green book and, according to my reading buddies who fancy his other novels, it's also his most ‘non-textbook John Green' effort (which will be a cool thought to grapple, should I pick up another one of his books in the future) It's an interesting place to start!One of the first things I loved about this book is that the narrative isn't what it seemed. Around six chapters in I began wondering “The ‘story' seems quite plain...I think the real story of this book is Aza's mental journey” - which I believe to be true, for all intensive purposes. I tend to read more non-fiction, and some of those particular book endeavors have covered mental illnesses, many of which we read about in this book. [b:Turtles All the Way Down 35504431 Turtles All the Way Down John Green https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503002776s/35504431.jpg 21576687] seems like a faithful representation of someone in the darkest of cognitive corners, and there isn't an inch of glorification about such matters, which is refreshing in an age where mental illness terms are thrown around loosely, and cheapened by shallow self-diagnoses and general disregard for the gravity of such conditions.When my thoughts spiraled, I was in the spiral, and of it. And I wanted to tell him that the idea of being in a feeling gave language to something I couldn't describe before, created a form for it, but I couldn't figure out how to say any of that out loud I felt quite emotional at several points in this book, as one would when one reads about the inner dwellings of a lost, confused adolescent in a constant thought spiral. It brought things up; many of which I thought I'd long since buried. The quote above could easily describe the thought worlds of millions of people, regardless of their age - and as Green wrote I felt like the spotlight was on my mind, both how it was ‘back then' and now.I love that he gave Aza the license to entertain often disastrous thoughts, but also managed to push back against any overindulgence (several times throughout the book, really) - perhaps most beautifully when Dr. Singh corrects Aza's mentioning of René Descartes' famous philosophical proposition Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), as she mentions the often ignored precursory statement: I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am - rendering the extensional chaos of the phrase with a layer of ease, humanizing the entire thought experiment (and relieving the burdened mind with temporary surety of existence)Argh. There's so much to unpack. But for now, I shall put this book down and continue to reflect on how it's helped my own thinking about a great many things (had to put a Star Wars quote in there somewhere for Daisy) and how extraordinarily John Green manages to capture the chaos of growing up with some lessons for surviving a world which is just as chaotic as Aza's mind!

I can't really say I enjoyed this, as enjoyed isn't the right word. I found this book well written, interesting, and compelling, and Aza had a unique voice and perspective. The John Green hyper-literate verbal teen trope was still in effect, along with a few zany plot points, but the central premise was interesting and thoughtful and personal.

The story doesn't have really have a motive, it doesn't wanna achieve something and that's the beauty of it. It tells a tale about people and how much we affect each other.

P.S Not the greatest from John Green but something vastly different from his other works.

My least favorite of Mr. Green's novels thus far. It feels unfinished and in need of more editing and time.

It seems John Green can't not write an extremely engrossing book. The look inside the mind of a young girl with a mental disorder made me feel fascinated, saddened and encouraged. It was no Fault In Our Stars for me personally but this book was powerful in its own way and I can see how for people with an interest in this specific topic could say this is the best John Green has done.

I admit when it comes to YA John Green usually does it well. This time I feel he knocked it out of the park. Love love love this book.

I read this in a day and a half. I couldn't put it down except for when I had to go to class. I don't want to oversay anything about this book and leave it to the reader. But I do think it's his best work yet.

Oh Holmesy, I want to give you a hug and take away your bandaids. Another great story with Green's verbose teens, sarcastic humor, and serious feels. Sadly, no actual turtles but a weird lizard does appear.

Man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills. —ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER



But I was beginning to learn that your life is a story told about you, not one that you tell.



The thing about a spiral is, if you follow it inward, it never actually ends. It just keeps tightening, infinitely.



True terror isn't being scared; it's not having a choice in the matter.



I was so good at being a kid, and so terrible at being whatever I was now.



“I don't mind worriers,” I said. “Worrying is the correct worldview. Life is worrisome.”



And if you can't pick what you do or think about, then maybe you aren't really real, you know? Maybe I'm just a lie that I'm whispering to myself.



“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.” —ROBERT FROST



When I was little, I knew monsters weren't, like, real. But I also knew I could be hurt by things that weren't real. I knew that made-up things mattered, and could kill you.



I don't understand why he's so stuck inside himself, when there is this endlessness to fall into.



It's so weird, to know you're crazy and not be able to do anything about it, you know? It's not like you believe yourself to be normal. You know there is a problem. But you can't figure a way through to fixing it. Because you can't be sure, you know?



In the best conversations, you don't even remember what you talked about, only how it felt. It was like we weren't even there, lying together by the pool. It felt like we were in some place your body can't visit, some place with no ceiling and no walls and no floor and no instruments.



You're a we. You're a you. You're a she, an it, a they. My kingdom for an I.



You are like pizza, which is the highest compliment I can pay a person.



I'm doing my best, but I can't stay sane for you, okay?



You're both the fire and the water that extinguishes it. You're the narrator, the protagonist, and the sidekick. You're the storyteller and the story told. You are somebody's something, but you are also your you.



Imagine you're trying to find someone, or even you're trying to find yourself, but you have no senses, no way to know where the walls are, which way is forward or backward, what is water and what is air. You're senseless and shapeless—you feel like you can only describe what you are by identifying what you're not, and you're floating around in a body with no control. You don't get to decide who you like or where you live or when you eat or what you fear. You're just stuck in there, totally alone, in this darkness. That's scary.



The problem with happy endings,” I said, “is that they're either not really happy, or not really endings, you know? In real life, some things get better and some things get worse. And then eventually you die.

Review to come. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. But I can promise that it will come.

3.5

A series of detailed descriptions

If you love the style of describing every sight, sound, thought, or smell that each character experiences in detail, this is the book for you.

The story is very simple with a reasonable surprise at the end. The book is more experiential rather than plot driven.

Wow, this book blew me away, and I did not expect that at all. Our main character, 16-year-old Aza, lives with OCD and anxiety. I personally don't have OCD, but I do have depression and anxiety. Much of what Aza describes in this book - wanting to get outside of herself, away from her body, away from her thoughts - was extremely relatable for me, and I was on the verge of tears at many different points. It's been a long time since a book made me cry. I can't tell you how much I loved this book. I recommend this to everyone, but especially those who live with mental illness and those who want to understand what it's like to live with mental illness.

John Green did it again and I loved it! My only complaint, it was way too short!

Definitely bumped up to my #2 favorite John Green novel because through his writing I was able to get just a tiny glimpse of what those living with anxiety have to go through. Every. Single. Day. John Green helps ignorant people like me understand even if for just a tiny bit what people living with anxiety have to go through.
My #4 #favoriteread2017

“You are as real as anyone, and your doubts make you more real, not less.”

John fricking Green did it again. I LOVED this book.
He wrote an amazing novel, not as heartbreaking as some of his other works, but still very beautiful.

I thought there was a good effort put into this book, but it didn't reach the high hopes that I had. It was too slow paced for me and I didn't get into the story until about half way through. Learned a lot about OCD though!

4.75 stars I didn't even think I would pick this one up, but I impulse-bought it on my birthday and I'm super glad I did because it was great :)

Starts off strong, but then it just meanders. It felt like reading the same scene over and over, with just the characters' pretentious references to art and literature changing.

Starts off strong, but then it just meanders. It felt like reading the same scene over and over, with just the characters' pretentious references to art and literature changing.