Turtles All The Way Down Review

Title: Turtles All The Way Down

Genre: Young Adult

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green is a coming of age novel with a twist. The story starts with the seemingly interesting plot of the main character, Aza Holmes, and her quirky best-friend, Daisy, going on a quest to solve the mystery of a missing millionaire. Throughout their adventure a relationship between Aza and the boy at the heart of the mystery forms and complications arise.

But the further you read the more you realize that it's not about the mystery or the love story, as exciting and fantastical as they may be, but rather Aza's internal struggle with OCD.

The author takes on the daunting task of portraying mental illness in the mind of a teen and manages to do it quite well. The main character isn't just a walking caricature of her mental illness but rather a multi-faceted and three dimensional person who springs to life from the page.

The story itself breaks through the stigma involved in talking abut mental illness and ends up being something that not only shines a light on the topic but embodies it and the experiences of every person who's ever dealt with it. This is a story about finding yourself and learning to live with the things you can't change and even thriving. It's a story about progress and also set backs but still knowing that one doesn't negate the other.

Quotes

"I knew how I looked to him. I knew that my crazy was no longer a quirk...Now it was an irritation, like it was to daisy, like it was to anyone who got close to me."

"Your now is not your forever"

"You are somebody's something, but you are also your you."

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