Turtles All the Way Down (Review)

If there is one YA author that is completely divisive, it’s probably John Green. People either love him or hate him. Personally, I’ve only ever read one of his other books (Looking for Alaska) and thought it was…fine. But Turtles All the Way Down has changed some of those against Green to the other side. 

And I can see why.

 Turtles All the Way Down is the story of Aza, who has somehow found herself sleuthing with her best friend Daisy, attempting to find on-the-run billionaire Russell Pickett. She is also attempting to be a good friend, a good daughter, a good…girlfriend?…but let’s not call it that. 

 But it’s hard when Aza’s thoughts keep getting in the way, nagging at her that she’s going to die from this bacteria or that, and trying to coax her into unhealthy habits that she convinces herself are healthy. And the spirals just keep tightening and tightening and tightening… 

“What was my part in this play? The Sidekick.”

 The plot of Turtles is pretty standard John Green. There’s a dramatic element (a mystery) which turns out not to be very important and is all but forgotten for a good chunk of time. There’s a romance (or two) with troubled teens that find their love for one another quickly but seem perfect for each other. The love interest in said romance always says the perfect thing or something perfectly poetically or both and is perfectly romantic despite being a privileged 16-year-old boy. In the end, almost nothing works out, but also everything does. It’s a classic troubled teen life with a coating of sweet frosting and a cherry on top. Green’s specialty. 

 As always, John Green’s writing style has you learning random facts and famous quotes on every other page, from the lifespan of a Tuatara to the symptoms of C.diff, to the difference between medical and legal death. A style that leaves you wondering how much time this guy spends on research or whether he was born into his life as a walking encyclopedia. My condolences to the editor who has to fact check all that stuff, you probably needed a good long rest after this. But I do enjoy how Green’s stories are jam-packed full of information. Even if you don’t like the story, you will have learned something. 

“Life is a series of choices between wonders.”

 But in the middle of this is what readers are switching sides for, the cause of all the high praise. 

Aza’s struggle with her mental health is raw and realistic. Green’s representation of intrusive thoughts and thought spirals have been applauded for their realism and accuracy (so much so that some readers have found themselves having thought spirals of their own thanks to Aza’s).

 I loved how Aza’s diagnosis isn’t laid out on the page, making her experiences more accessible to more readers. And I agree that the way Green shows how intrusive thoughts nag at you ceaselessly, carrying you down into a spiral that is very difficult to get out of, is accurate. It should be, considering Green has personal experience on the subject. Yay for #ownvoices!

Also, seeing Aza’s need to take medication and go to a therapist, and that sometimes that is less needed and sometimes more needed, is something that is very important to show in teen literature and I definitely applaud its inclusion here.

 The mental health representation certainly carries the weight of the rest of the story, bulking up its ratings (in my opinion). Not that that’s a bad thing. More good mental health representation is what we need and I think this story should be recommended and read because of it, especially by people who don’t experience these symptoms, since it may help them to understand how it feels to those who do.

“I can no more choose my thoughts than choose my name.”

 That being said, the story surrounding that representation is…average. 

 Aza is not a very strong character. In fact, it’s difficult to find any characterization of her outside of her thought spirals. Although, then again, I think this is realistic to how she feels, often consumed and inseparable from her dominating thoughts. 

 But, if you asked me to picture or describe Aza, I could not. Other characters are fleshed out and described somewhat, but I can’t recall Aza’s hair color, eye color, anything, ever being mentioned. Perhaps this was intentional, in order to make her a blank slate that any reader could project themselves on, but I don’t think that was necessary if that was the intention, and I doubt whether it was. 

I also felt that the story could have tackled more issues. I appreciated how discussions of socio-economic status began to emerge in the story, making it more multi-faceted, but I would have liked to see more. There’s the perfect canvas; an unbelievably rich family, a lower-middle-class family, and a poor family. Daisy and Aza ‘discuss’ (fight about) their economic divide for a moment, but its resolution is quickly tacked on as other issues take president. Although discussions like this aren’t necessary to the other parts of the story, I think they would have been really great to be included. I would have liked to see it pointed out that Daisy might not have been able to afford therapy, or medication, like Aza could if she ever needed it. A fact that, in real life, means that many teens (and adults!) simply can not afford the help they need and therefore are stuck with their suffocating symptoms. These issues sometimes lead people to lose their jobs and therefore become homeless and sometimes drive people to drugs that are cheaper and more readily available to them instead of the medication they should be prescribed.

Sorry, I got carried away there…

My point is that there started to be really good conversations that could have lead to discussions on wealth in association with mental health care but it never got there and I was a bit disappointed that the opportunity was missed. It could have added another whole layer. 

“I don’t mind worriers. Worrying is the correct worldview. Life is worrisome.”

 I rated Turtles All the Way Down  3.5 out of 5 stars. I applaud its mental health rep, but that is certainly its strongest and only revolutionary quality. But for that alone, I would still highly recommend it. Fans of the rep in Eliza and Her Monsters will probably enjoy this.