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A review by berlinbibliophile
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It's a more mature exploration of the protagonist's life than Green's earlier books, I think, and I really liked that protagonist and her supporting cast. I don't have OCD, but the descriptions of Aza's thought spirals were so visceral that I started feeling anxious myself, and couldn't stop worrying for some time after I finished the novel. I was also very impressed by the fact that Green has his characters call out each other's privileges very openly. Neither Aza nor Daisy were entirely innocent of wrongdoing in their friendship, and I liked that Green was able to show that while still having them keep their strong friendship. The very ending, almost epilogue, in which we learn what happens to the characters after the end of the book, seemed a little too pat for my taste, but that is explained in-universe, and it is more of a stylistic preference on my part than a real criticism. The detective story the characters live through (and partly invent about themselves) was interesting, but very rightly played the second fiddle to the possibilities it offered for the exploration of characters. That was what the book was really about, and for me, John Green has hit the mark.
Re-read 2018: I still really enjoyed this book, and what I think I liked most on this re-read was the fact that these characters are teenagers - they go to school, do homework, get into relationships, get back out of them, and it's not the end of the world. There is no expectation here that they will find true love at sixteen, and that was refreshing in a YA novel.
I also paid more attention to the parent-child-relationships this time around, and that was very rewarding as well, to see the different approaches of the teenagers to dealing with their parents, sometimes in normal circumstances, sometimes in quite extraordinary ones.
2024 reread: I keep reading this book ine one day. It's so engrossing I can't put it down, even after reading it twice before. That's the mark of an excellent writer and an excellent story.
Re-read 2018: I still really enjoyed this book, and what I think I liked most on this re-read was the fact that these characters are teenagers - they go to school, do homework, get into relationships, get back out of them, and it's not the end of the world. There is no expectation here that they will find true love at sixteen, and that was refreshing in a YA novel.
I also paid more attention to the parent-child-relationships this time around, and that was very rewarding as well, to see the different approaches of the teenagers to dealing with their parents, sometimes in normal circumstances, sometimes in quite extraordinary ones.
2024 reread: I keep reading this book ine one day. It's so engrossing I can't put it down, even after reading it twice before. That's the mark of an excellent writer and an excellent story.